Green Bean Casserole {From Scratch}

Green Bean Casserole made fresh! A homemade version of the traditional side dish, no canned anything!  From scratch and worth the little bit of extra work! Bring this to the table today.

Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole, the traditional thanksgiving side dish.   It seems like every family has it’s ‘must-haves’ at the Thanksgiving table.  Green bean casserole is one of our must haves.  Confession:  I don’t like mushrooms.  I never have.  I don’t know if I ever will.  I have a tendency to not cook dishes that I don’t like the ingredients in.  Makes sense, right?  But this dish, I will make, despite the mushrooms.  I know I’m in the minority, most people love fungi, but no matter what you do to them, I just don’t like ’em.  My secret?  I cut them big enough so I can pick them out.  haha!  My kids haven’t noticed yet.  🙂

I’m not a fan of canned cream soups either.  Especially when you pour them out of the can and it’s a big solid gel-like plop.  Ick.  Sorry if you like it.  I don’t mean to offend.  A few years ago, I volunteered to make this, but I didn’t want a processed straight from the cans recipe.  Yes, can-s.  Don’t you just usually open up 3 cans?  Beans, soup, and french fried onions?  I know that’s easy.  And I know, that when it comes to hosting Thanksgiving and making a bunch of food, that the canned version of this is much easier and much more convenient.  And sometimes convenience wins.  Well, anyway, I made this one year and my  family just loved it.  I’m referring to my siblings, not my kids (although they loved it too).  It was surprising to me, because I’m not sure my siblings have the same love of food that I do.  So now my sister requests “Chellie’s home made green bean casserole” every year.  And I love to make it for her.  I love that others enjoy the food I make.  It makes all the effort worth it.  So no cans here.  This is from scratch.  And I hope you’ll try it.  It is soooo worth it!!  It can be made the day before and assembled and baked the day of.

I found this recipe at Smitten Kitchen.  And she nails it.  There is nothing I would change.

There are three parts to this recipe.  The crispy onions, the green beans and finally the mushroom sauce.

First…

First prepare the crispy onions.  You’ll dredge these up in a flour mixture and fry them in 100% vegetable oil.  They only need a few minutes of actual cooking time.  Work in batches, and set them on paper towels to absorb the excess oil.  The worst part of this recipe is me trying to retrain myself from eating these as they come out!  Oh my yumminess!!  I love them!!!

Second…

Next it’s time to make the beans.  I used 1  1/2 pounds of fresh green beans.  Trim off the ends and cut them in half.  Place them in boiling water for 5 minutes.  Then remove them and put them in an ice bath.  I use the biggest bowl I have and fill it with ice cubes and cold water.  Once the beans are finished boiling, you want them to stop cooking immediately.  They will be perfectly crisp tender and bright green.  Remember, they are going to go in the oven again later.

Third…

Time to make the sauce.  Your house is smelling amazing right now!  Melted butter, mushrooms, garlic, mmm-mmm.  I don’t even like mushrooms and I think it smells good!

 Assembly

Just before baking, mix the sauce and the beans together well,

then top with the onions and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the onions are a shade deeper.

You can prepare this dish the day before and assemble just before baking.  Store all the ingredients separately.  Put the beans and sauce in the fridge. The onions can be loosely covered and kept at room temperature.  Just adjust your time for cooking.  I would probably cook the beans for 15 minutes, then top with the onions and cook an additional 15 minutes.  Otherwise the onions will brown up too much.

What makes it to your Thanksgiving table every year?

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4.5 from 2 votes

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Green Bean Casserole {From Scratch}

A fresh take on the traditional side dish made with all natural fresh ingredients! No cans!

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• Crispy Onions:
• 2 medium yellow onions halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons panko or plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans ends trimmed and cut in half
• Mushroom sauce:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 12 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced or coarsely chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

1. Crispy Onions:
2. Toss onion with flour, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
3. Heat a 1/2-inch or so of oil in a 12-inch skillet until a drop of water flicked into it will sizzle.
4. Add onions, working in batches, and fry until a light golden brown (they’ll get more color in the oven) Remove with a slotted spoon,lay onions on paper towels to drain.
5. Repeat with remaining onions.
6. Set aside.
7. Beans:
8. Heat water to boil in a large pot, add green beans
9. Cook green beans for 5 minutes.
10. Drain beans and immediately put them in an ice water bath to stop cooking.
11. Preheat the oven to 400.
12. Mushroom sauce:
13. melt butter over medium-high heat in a 12-inch cast iron skillet.
14. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and saute them until they start releasing their juices, 3-5 minutes.
15. Add the garlic and saute for one minute.
16. Add the flour and stir it until the mushrooms are fully coated.
17. Add the broth, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly.
18. Simmer for 1 minute, then add cream and bring back to a simmer,
19. Add nutmeg and continue cooking until the sauce thickens, about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently.
20. Add the cooked green beans to the sauce and stir well.
21. Place the mixture in a 9x13 baking dish and top with the crispy onions.
22. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.