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Made completely from scratch without canned soup, this fresh green bean casserole is the ultimate Thanksgiving side dish. With fresh green beans, a creamy homemade mushroom sauce, and crispy fried shallots – this 30 minute recipe is all made in one pan. Can easily be made dairy free and gluten free, if needed.
A Quick Look: Green Bean Casserole with Fresh Green Beans
- Cooking time: 45 minutes total, with 15 minutes of prep time.
- Servings – This will serve 4-5 people as a side dish, but can easily be adjusted.
- Ingredients: 12 main ingredients including fresh green beans, shallots, panko, milk, mushrooms, and garlic.
- When to serve: Holiday side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
- Dietary information: Fits a gluten free and dairy free diet with edits. Also a Mediterranean diet, vegetarian diet, and migraine diet. It’s also lower sodium when you don’t use mushroom soup or canned green beans.
- Why you’ll love it: This green bean casserole with fresh green beans is made from scratch without cream of mushroom soup, french fried onions, or canned green beans. It is still easy to make and prep for a holiday dinner.
While I used to love the traditional recipe growing up, once you make green bean casserole without canned soup it’s hard to go back. I have found through recipe testing that it’s easiest to make this all in one cast iron pan, so there is minimal clean up. This family favorite recipe takes about 10 minutes longer to put together, but the effort is worth it.
This fresh green bean casserole is a perfect pairing with cranberry sauce without orange, stuffing balls, broccoli rice casserole with fresh broccoli, bang bang brussels sprouts, savory mashed sweet potatoes, and a turkey or cast iron roast chicken for Thanksgiving dinner.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Here are a few notes on some of the ingredients with the full recipe and amounts in the card below.
- Green beans – Although these are quickly boiled to soften them, they maintain a crisper texture than using canned green beans. While you can use French green beans or “haricot verts”, which are thinner, they do cook much faster and could get too soft. I recommend chopping into smaller bite-size pieces as well. For a time-saver, buy pre-trimmed and washed green beans in a bag.
- Shallots – Used instead of onions, the flavor is much softer and with smaller rings, and they add a little crunch to the top of the casserole without feeling heavy.
- Milk – You can use whole milk or oat milk for a dairy free green bean casserole.
- Garlic – I find one clove doesn’t overpower, but if you’re a garlic lower throw in 2 cloves. You can use garlic powder in a pinch – use 1 teaspoon.
- Button mushrooms – Button or cremini mushrooms are the best for this recipe, but I’ve also made it with portobello which have a more earthy flavor. Buy pre-sliced for a shortcut.
- Flour – This helps thicken the mushroom sauce. Use arrowroot powder for a gluten free alternative.
- Vegetable or chicken broth – I recommend a low sodium store-bought version or rotisserie chicken broth.
- Panko – Adds a great texture and crunch to the top of the casserole. You can also use only panko for a topping if you don’t want to fry the shallots. For gluten free, I like to use Jeff’s Naturals or Aleia’s.
- Oil – Use a high heat oil for frying shallots. My preference is for avocado oil or vegetable oil for a more cost-effective option.
How to Make Green Bean Casserole with Fresh Green Beans
Homemade Fried Shallots
- Begin by tossed cut shallot rings in flour or cornstarch (for gluten free).
- Heat oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat until shimmering and add coated shallots, frying for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove the shallots from the pan and drain on paper towels.
Shallots can be made the morning of, but avoid putting them in an airtight container or else they will get soggy. Leave them out on top of paper towels and cover lightly with another paper towel.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/200C. Boil green beans for 1 minute and 30 seconds, which softens them without making them mushy and brings out the bright green color. Place them into an ice bath immediately and then pat dry with a towel.
Step 2: In the same cast iron pan you fried the shallots (drain the oil), melt oil over medium heat and brown mushrooms, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and flour, tossing everything well to coat. Then pour in the broth. Pan should sizzle, but stir till the flour becomes combined with the sauce and starts to thicken.
Step 3: Add milk and bring to simmer 5-6 minutes, until sauce thickens and can coat a spoon. Then add in the cooked green beans and toss to coat with the sauce. Taste and adjust the kosher salt and black pepper as needed.
Step 4: Top the green bean casserole with fried shallots and panko and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. You will need to watch the shallots so they don’t get overdone!
Expert Tips
- If you have over-fried the shallots and they are very dark, leave them off from the final dish until after you’ve baked it.
- A cast iron pan does double duty as a great place to fry the shallots and also make your casserole. Only one dish to clean! If you don’t have a cast iron pan, you can transfer everything to a casserole dish for baking and serving,
- Don’t drain the hot oil down the sink. Instead put it in an empty can and freeze it. Add oil to it any time you fry until it’s full and you can throw it away. Draining oil down the sink isn’t good for your pipes!
Storage and Freezer Tips
Because this is typically a holiday dish and you may be making this for Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s important to know how you can prep this green bean casserole with fresh green beans ahead so it’s not all in the oven at the same time. Here are some tips:
- Fried shallots are best when fresh – Shallots tend to get soggy if made more than 12-24 hours in advance, especially stored in a container. Make these the morning you intend to serve or right before reheating the casserole.
- Make ahead – Make ahead green bean casserole can save you a lot of time on Thanksgiving day. This recipe can be made at least 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator, directly in the cast iron pan. Then bake the casserole and make the crispy shallots the day of.
- Freezer storage – Cool the casserole and place into Souper Cubes freezer packs. Freeze until solid and then transfer to a bag for long term storage, up to 4-5 months. This is best frozen without the fried shallots.
How To Reheat
The best way to defrost is overnight in the fridge.
- Microwave – Reheat the green bean casserole in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, till fully reheated. Then top with crispy shallots
- Oven – My favorite way to reheat! Cover the dish and bake at 350F for about 10-15 minutes, or until warmed through. Add the shallots and bake uncovered for 3-4 minutes until they crisp up again.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, you can omit the mushrooms from this green bean casserole easily. I would just add about 4 more ounces of green beans.
Using fresh green beans will help, but make sure you drain them and pat them dry with a paper towel so there is no extra moisture. If the creamy sauce isn’t thickening as well, you can add more flour or arrowroot powder to thicken. The sauce may just need to simmer a bit longer too.
While you can do this, you will have some texture changes. Frozen green beans tend to have a more rubbery texture and could add more moisture to the sauce, making it watery. And canned green beans will be much softer and more salty with a higher sodium content.
Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes
Recipes
Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole with Fresh Broccoli
Side Dish
Stuffing Balls
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Fresh Green Bean Casserole (Without Soup)
Ingredients
Fried Shallots
- 5-6 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced into rings
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- avocado oil, refined/light olive oil, or canola oil
Casserole
- 16 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed, cut into bite sized pieces, if desired
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour, * see notes for GF
- 1¼ cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup milk, (whole milk or oat milk recommended)
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
Homemade Fried Shallots
- In a bowl, add 1/4 cup of flour with a small sprinkle of salt and pepper. Toss cut shallots in the flour and shake excess off. In a cast iron pan, pour enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan about 1/2 inch. Heat over medium high until it sizzles if you flick a bit of water into it. Add the floured shallots, in batches if necessary, spread out with enough room so they're not on top of each other, and fry until light golden brown – about 4 minutes. Remember they will cook more in the oven. If they're dark brown, just save them to top at the end. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Drain the remaining oil out of the pan.
Green Bean Casserole
- Preheat oven to 400℉/200℃. Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat until boiling. Also prepare a large bowl with ice water. Toss the green beans in the boiling water for 1 min and 30 seconds. Immediately remove, drain, and put in an ice water bath. Drain and pat dry with a towel.
- In the same cast iron or oven safe skillet you made the shallots, melt 2 tablespoons of butter or oil and add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until browned – about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and saute about a minute more, stirring frequently with a wood spoon.
- Add 3 tablespoons of flour (or 2 tablespoons of cornstarch) and stir to coat the mushrooms. Gradually add in the broth, whisking it until smooth and bubbling, about a minute. Pour in the milk, whisk, and bring to a steady simmer, stirring frequently for about 5-6 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper, or more to taste.
- Add the fresh green beans to the mushroom mixture and stir to coat. Then sprinkle the fried shallots and the remaining panko on top. Place in the oven at 400℉ for 15 minutes, until bubbly and browned on top.
Notes
- Green beans – Buy a pre-washed/trimmed bag of green beans to make it easy. Use the full size green beans for best results. If you use haricot verts or “French” green beans, this recipe will cook much faster. You may not even need to boil them before.
- Refined/light olive oil has a higher smoke point than extra virgin. Graza has a type for this. Avocado oil is still the best option.
- Gluten free – Use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or substitute your favorite gluten free all purpose flour for a gluten free sauce, and arrowroot or cornstarch for the fried shallots. Aleia’s or Jeff’s Naturals has gluten free panko.
- Dairy Free – I like to use olive oil and Oatly full fat oat milk for dairy free.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have made this with and without mushrooms and it’s really good even without the mushrooms. I’d never had the kind using soup so can’t compare but love this one and make it when doing roast chicken, not just for big holidays and pop it in the oven when I take the chicken out to rest.