Green Bean Casserole
A homemade green bean casserole made from scratch with a creamy sauce and crispy fried onions. A classic old-fashioned Thanksgiving side dish recipe.
Growing up, I always had the green bean casserole straight from the back of the cream of mushroom soup can. There had to be a better way! I wanted to make a homemade from scratch green bean casserole that had all of the flavors, but used fresh ingredients. After some experimenting, I have to say that we were blown away by these creamy green beans with crispy onions! You will definitely forget you are eating a vegetable.
The key to a killer green bean casserole is to create layers upon layers of flavors. This all begins with sauteeing onions in a good amount of butter in order to caramelize them. Once the onions are tender and golden, the mushrooms are added to the pan to bring out their natural nutty flavors. Garlic is the ultimate flavor enhancer, bringing a punch to the sauce.
The cream sauce is made with half-n-half, spices, and flour or cornstarch to thicken it. It is a simple cream sauce, but the caramelized onions, mushrooms, garlic, and spices make it taste so savory.
The star ingredient is definitely the green beans. I use fresh green beans in this recipe and just snap off the stems. It is important to cook the green beans in boiling water before baking them with the sauce. This will give them the right amount of crispness! If you want the green beans to be a little more bite-size, I suggest cutting them in half.
If you want to use frozen or canned green beans, go for it! Canned green beans don't need to be cooked ahead of time.
The green beans and creamy white sauce are topped with crisp fried onions. This is what brings another textural element to the dish while adding some salty goodness. These fried onions are addicting!
This Green Bean Casserole will be a huge hit at your Thanksgiving feast! Even if you don't love green beans, you will love this green beans side dish.
If you are looking for more amazing Thanksgiving Recipes, click the recipes below:
- The Best Award-Winning Pumpkin Pie Recipe
- Caramel Apple Pie
- The Best Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Sweet Potato Brown Sugar Pecan Bake
- Gulliver's Creamed Corn
- Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing
- Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
- Honey Butter Glazed Carrots
- Green Beans with Almonds
- All Butter Flaky Pie Crust Recipe
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Homemade Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Fresh Green Beans (ends snapped off)
- 8 Tablespoons Salted Butter (divided)
- 1 Large Onion (chopped)
- 8 ounces Sliced Mushrooms
- 3 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 2 ½ cups Half n Half
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Flour or Cornstarch
- 2 cups Fried Onions (such as French's)
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated (optional)
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 4 Tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until tender and caramelized, about 7-8 minutes, stirring often. Add mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes longer. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
- After the onion-mushroom mixture has been removed, use the same skillet. Heat skillet to a medium heat and add remaining 4 Tablespoons of butter. Add flour or cornstarch and begin to quickly whisk the mixture. Let cook, whisking often, for about 2 minutes. Stir in half-n-half, salt, and pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes until mixture thickens. Taste and check for seasonings.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and cook for 6-7 minutes. Drain and transfer to ice bath to cool (optional).
- Add onion-mushroom mixture to cream sauce and stir. Add green beans and stir to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if using. Pour into a 9 x 9 baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from the oven and cover with fried onions. Bake for 5 minutes longer. Serve immediately, if possible.
Notes
- May use fresh, frozen or canned green beans. If using canned green beans, they don't need to be cooked ahead of time.
- Don't use anything less than half-n-half in these green beans as it creates a thick sauce.
- If you want bite-size green beans, cut the fresh green beans in half.
I hope you love this homemade creamy green bean casserole with fried onions!
Veronica
Can you please give some insight on whether or not this can be made ahead of time?!
Modern Honey
You bet! You can make it ahead of time and do everything but bake it and top with the fried onions. The green beans will soak up some of the cream mixture once it is in the refrigerator but that is okay. If you desire, you can always add 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream before baking. I hope that helps! 🙂
Katie
This is a wow! I cut the butter down, did 2Tbs avocado oil for the veggies, then like others did 4Tbs butter and 4Tbs flour for the roux. I doubled the beans, used frozen haricot vert, but thawed before cooking. It was wonderful! Thank you!!!!
Ellie
Oh my goodness! This green bean casserole is fabulous. Best I’ve ever had!
Thank you and Happy Holidays.
Kim
Hello, I was wondering if this recipe can be made in advanced?
Modern Honey
Absolutely! You can put it all together (except for the fried onions), place in the refrigerator, and bake the day of (don't forget to add the fried onions). I hope this helps!
Alicia
Hi all - If you’re finding this turns out soupy for you, it’s because the roux is off. It’s a 1:1 ratio. Increase the flour to 4 TBS. Melt the butter, add the salt & pepper, then add 4 TBS. of flour - whisk as you slowly add the half & half. I also take my half & half out of the fridge as ai start prepping this recipe so it’s not such a hot to cold contrast. This recipe turns out absolutely delicious and perfect (and thick) with the above change - trust me. It’s my favorite!
Amanda Howe
I was looking specifically for a made from scratch (no canned soup) green bean casserole recipe. I am so glad I found this. It was hands down the best green bean casserole we have ever had. The only thing I did differently was I used a mixed peppercorn grinder instead of black pepper. We did use the parm as well. Amazing dish and will now become part of our family gatherings! Thank you.
Robin
Dude! All I’ve got to say is YUM!!! I tweaked it a little because it’s what I do...
-added 4 slices of diced up cooked bacon ???? drained off most of the fat then caramelized the onions in it added mushrooms and garlic.
-added 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper to the sauce
-doubled the amount of beans but kept the other ingredients basically the same, seemed like it was a lot of sauce for 1 lb of beans plus I already had 2 lbs... sauce was perfect not overly soupy at all as some other comments stated..love that this recipe doesn’t use canned condensed soup with MSG and other yuck. This is definitely going to be part of our holiday tradition... thanks so much.
Danielle
Made this yesterday for a side for Thanksgiving and it was AMAZING. I cannot go back to the canned condensed and canned green bean recipe now that ive had this version. 100x better.
JillyB
Absolutely AMAZING and DELICIOUS casserole! It was a huge hit for Christmas Eve dinner tonight! I used a 24 oz bag of fresh green beans, baby bellas, and followed the recipe (even added the parm). Seriously... SO GOOD! Thank you for great instructions... easy to follow!
Corynn
Hi! This is my favorite green bean recipe but I’m going to triple the recipe Should I triple all of the Ingredients? I don’t want the rue to be off!
Alicia Jones
Loved this recipe! I grew up with the recipe of everything comes from a can, making it all from scratch made this a thanksgiving favorite.
Modern Honey
I appreciate so much the kind words! I am with you...I will only eat homemade green bean casserole made from scratch from now on! It is a Thanksgiving staple in our home. Thank you for trying it!
Adrienne
Trying this recipe this year. What can I use instead of mushrooms? My NEW mother-in-law hates mushrooms...!
Corina
I also hate mushrooms and I like to use diced up cauliflower instead
Christine
This version is easy and amazing! I’ve never liked the traditional green bean casserole due to high saltiness, but I love this and will be making again. Thank you!!
C Story
Way better than the canned soup version! I added more liquid just for personal reasons (I have swallow issues). This is well worth the time.
Suzanne
My family loved it! Want it again gir Christmas dinner.
Modern Honey
Hi Suzanne! I am so happy your family loved it! It is the only green bean casserole my kids will eat. 🙂 Thank you for trying my recipe!
Kailey
I'm planning on making this for Christmas this weekend! It looks delicious 😋 How much of each ingredient is needed to use a 9x13 baking dish instead?