This is the best green bean casserole recipe we have ever made! Made with fresh green beans, an easy and oh-so-creamy homemade cream of mushroom soup, and traditional crispy fried onions for the perfect crunch. Easily prepared the day before, it’s guaranteed to be your new favorite Thanksgiving side dish!
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Test Kitchen Review
Haley
We have been making this recipe for years and it truly is the BEST green bean casserole! We like to add a splash of Worcestershire sauce to the mushroom sauce, otherwise we follow it exactly. Even a few self proclaimed green bean casserole haters have been converted by this version at our Thanksgiving!
This green bean casserole has been a long-time family favorite (I have been making it since I was 18!) and our loyal readers agree. According to their reviews, this fresh green bean casserole beats the retro easy green bean casserole recipe hands-down. If you grew up with the canned version, you will be so surprised the first time you taste this homemade version alongside your Thanksgiving turkey!
Why Is This The Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe?
- Fresh green beans and fried onions stay crisp, not soggy.
- Garlic, onion, and mushroom cream sauce is insanely flavorful.
- Recipe is easily doubled if you’re feeding a crowd.
- Easily prepared ahead of time and baked when you’re ready.
- Travels well if you need a side dish to take as a guest.
Looking for more tasty holiday side dishes? You can’t go wrong with our decadent sweet potato casserole, best homemade stuffing recipe with fresh herbs, or this easy corn casserole!
Key Ingredients
Simple and wholesome ingredients make this the best green bean casserole recipe, ever. Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full ingredient list.
- Green Beans: For unbeatable flavor and texture use fresh green beans. The next best choice is frozen green beans, prepared just as you would fresh. See the tips section below for canned green beans.
- Vegetables: We’ll be using sweet yellow onion, freshly minced garlic, and portobello (large or baby) mushrooms. You can use a white onion instead, but do not substitute the fresh garlic!
- Flour: Regular, all-purpose flour is used to create a roux, which thickens the sauce perfectly.
- Half and Half: Evaporated milk or whole milk will both also work really well. You can use heavy cream too, but you may need to cut it with a little water. Using a lower-fat content milk will make your sauce much less creamy.
- French Fried Onions: Homemade onion strings NEVER beat French’s Fried Onions crunchy texture. I have tried making my own a few times, just trust me and grab a can instead.
- Breadcrumbs: While totally optional, we love adding these on top for a little added texture!
How To Make This Fresh Green Bean Casserole
Here’s a quick tutorial showing you how to make this fresh green bean casserole recipe. Please scroll down to the recipe card for full instructions or to watch the recipe video.
- Green Beans: Boil green beans until just tender. Immediately drain and place beans in ice water to stop the cooking process. This keeps the green beans crisp and prevents them from becoming super soft and soggy.
- Cream Sauce: Sauté the onions and garlic in butter until softened. Stir in mushrooms, salt and pepper. Add the flour to the vegetables to create a roux for the sauce. Slowly add in the broth and half and half, stirring to combine. Then simmer sauce until thickened.
- Combine: Toss the green beans with the mushroom sauce and transfer to a large baking dish. Top with bread crumbs and French fried onions.
- Bake: Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Allow casserole to rest for 5 minutes after baking, then serve immediately!
Chef’s Tips and Variations
- Not a Mushroom Fan? Nix the mushrooms and double the onions in the cream sauce to create a homemade cream of onion sauce instead! You could also add celery!
- Individual portions: Bake the casserole in ramekins for fun and impressive personalized servings. You can use a 6 oz or 8 oz ramekin, checking to be sure they are oven safe.
- Cheese: Craving a cheesy green bean casserole? Add up to 2 cups of shredded cheese to the green bean mixture. Or, sprinkle cheese on top of the casserole before breadcrumbs and fried onions. Try white cheddar, parmesan cheese, fontina, or regular cheddar.
- Nutmeg: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg can be added to the cream sauce for surprising warmth and depth of flavor.
- Slow Cooker: While this recipe sadly isn’t made for it, I do have an easy crockpot green bean casserole if you don’t have oven space!
- Canned Green Beans: Fresh green beans will hold their texture much better than canned. However, if that’s all you have access to, you can use 6 cans and drain them well before cooking.
Holiday Time Saver
Make Ahead Directions
- Prepare casserole, but do not top it with bread crumbs and fried onions.
- Instead, cool and store casserole tightly wrapped in fridge for up to 48 hours.
- To bake, allow casserole to sit at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.
- Top with bread crumbs and fried onions, then bake according to recipe.
Travel Tips
- Long Drive: Refrigerate until leaving, then pack in a cooler with ice packs. Top with toppings at location and bake as directed.
- Quick Drive: Want to arrive with your dish almost ready? Skip the toppings, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Carefully transfer to car. Top with toppings and bake uncovered, until hot and bubbly, at your final destination.
Storing and Reheating
- Fridge: Store leftovers tightly wrapped in fridge for up to 4 days. You can also store it in the baking dish, just wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or foil.
- Reheat: For best results, reheat in the oven at 375°F for 15 minutes, or until warmed through. Or, microwave until warm. Adding fresh fried onions on top will make it taste more like it did fresh.
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing leftovers as they will never be as good as fresh. However, you can freeze the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in oven or microwave.
Yield: 10 servings
The Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe, Ever!
This is the BEST green bean casserole recipe! Made from scratch with fresh green beans and an easy homemade cream of mushroom soup, with the classic French's fried onions on top!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1.5 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and ends trimmed
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced or diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, to taste
- ½ – 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth, or vegetable stock
- 1 cup half-and-half, or evaporated milk
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, optional
- 10 oz French Fried Onions
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish, set aside.
- Blanch the green beans: In a large pot, bring about a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil. Add the green beans and boil for 8 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside. You can skip the ice bath, your green beans just won't stay as crisp!
- Melt butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and stir to combine. Then add the half and half and simmer until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in all of the green beans. Transfer green bean mixture to prepared casserole dish.
- Top with the bread crumbs (if using) and then layer the french fried onions on top. Place casserole in the oven and bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes. If your onions start to brown too quickly, cover the casserole with foil. Serve immediately!
Video
Notes
Prepare Ahead: Prepare up to 48 hours ahead of time. STOP at step 5 in the directions. Do not top casserole with the bread crumbs and french fired onions. Instead, wrap cooled casserole tightly and store in fridge. When ready to bake, let casserole rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before baking. Then bake following recipe directions.
Storage: Store leftovers tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also store it in the baking dish, just wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or foil.
Reheat: For best results, reheat in the oven at 375°F for 15 minutes, or until warmed through. Or, microwave until warm. Adding fresh fried onions on top will make it taste more like it did fresh.
Green Beans: For unbeatable flavor and texture, use fresh green beans. The next best choice is frozen green beans, prepare them just as you would fresh. To use canned green beans, use 6 cans of green beans, well drained.
Nutmeg: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg can be added to the cream sauce for a surprising warmth and depth of flavor.
Cheese: Add up to 2 cups of shredded cheese to the green bean mixture. Or sprinkle on top of the casserole before breadcrumbs and fried onions. Try sharp white cheddar, shredded parmesan cheese, fontina, or sharp cheddar.
Not a Mushroom Fan? Nix the mushrooms and double the onion in the cream sauce to create a homemade cream of onion sauce instead!
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 359kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 2515mg, Potassium: 341mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 782IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 85mg, Iron: 1mg
More Must Try Holiday Side Dish Recipes
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This is the best green bean casserole recipe ever! It’s been on our Thanksgiving table for the past 10 years. My family loves it including those who do not care for mushrooms, it’s that good.
This is my absolute favorite version of green bean casserole! Even my family members who were did hards for the old version have been converted thanks to your recipe & using FRESH green beans. Every recipe I w tried of yours has been a hit that we make again & again!
Make this every year for both thanksgiving and Christmas! Simply the best green bean casserole we have ever had!
This recipe was a game changer! My husband was never a fan of green bean casserole and making your homemade recipe changed his mind. Thank you. Also, I am team nutmeg, I am Italian and my nonna always taught me to add nutmeg to white sauces.
I tested this recipe this weekend because I do *NOT* play around on Thanksgiving and I just have to say… this is seriously the BEST Green Bean Casserole recipe I have ever made. My husband, who is not a GBC fan, LOVED IT. Asked me to make it again this week! So much flavor in the sauce. Thanks for sharing this!
I love using fresh green beans and mushrooms in this recipe, sooo delicious!!
The greenbeen casserole looks amazing. Will try for Thanksgiving yum
I am so embarrassed that I have been so lazy and have done the bare minimum making the green bean casserole every year. I am so impressed with this recipe that this is what I am making this year. I just know this will be such a big hit. This sounds so yummy. I can’t wait to see their little faces be surprised this year.
I’ve never posted a comment on a blog before but I feel obligated to do so for this recipe because it is absolutely incredible! I searched for green bean casserole as a new dish to try 4 years ago and have used this one ever since. I’ve even pushed out the “queen” of green bean casserole in our family because this recipe just blows it out of the water. Thank you so much for sharing! I highly recommend!
I will never use canned cream of mushroom soup again!! This is the first Thanksgiving dinner ever that there wasn’t a huge bowl of leftover green bean casserole. People were all over it like junkyard dogs! Thank you!
I made this for Thanksgiving last year – OMG, AMAZING! This is definitely the BEST green bean casserole and will be my new go-to recipe.
While making it, my husband tasted the cream of mushroom soup and it was the best he’d ever had. (Yay!) Due to his intolerance to dairy, I used all chicken broth and left out the cream. It was still amazing.
So this week he is sick with strep and asked for something other than more chicken soup (I can’t imagine why. . .) and I thought of your cream of mushroom soup. This time I did 1 cup of chicken stock, 1 cup of beef broth, and 1/2 cup of heavy cream to make it a thinner soupy consistency. He LOVES it!
Thank you for posting such great recipes. <3
I made this for our Thanksgiving dinner this year because I liked NOT using canned mushroom soup. This is an amazing recipe! Everyone loved it!!! This is now my go to recipe for green bean casserole and will be served for many regular dinners too.
I found this recipe on Thanksgiving, and it is so delicious!!!!! Definitely my go to green bean casserole recipe now, and new favorite thanksgiving dish. It’s so easy. The only thing I did differently was add a bit more garlic (used canned minced version) & add lots of bacon! So yummy thank you for sharing 🙂
Love the idea of added bacon!! So glad you enjoyed it Jessica!!!
I love this recipe! Made for the first time last year for a potluck at work and ended making it for my family’s holiday meal too. What a big hit! Never have I made green bean casserole before this recipe and this is the only recipe I will use. I did tweak it a little because I wanted to add bacon (I always look for ways to add bacon) so instead of butter I used bacon fat. I think added a small amount of butter like a 1/2 tbsp or so but thats it. Worked out great!
All of you girls adding bacon are my favorite! Such a fun and delicious twist. I’m glad you all enjoyed it Christine!! 🙂
I made this last year for thanksgiving and Christmas! It was a HUGE hit! My family were bit looking forward to having green bean casserole, but when I showed them and told them it was from scratch, they were blown away and this recipe is my favorite! I’m about to make it right now! Thank you so much for sharing!
Love that they now love it! Happy to be a small part of your Thanksgiving! Enjoy!! 🙂
I left out the mushrooms the last few times I’ve made it, but this time I’ve added them! I’m cooking it now and it’s coming out great!
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Yup! This IS the Best Green Bean Casserole! Thanks for sharing!
I think it’s an excellent recipe. I used 4 cans of green beans but the 9×13 casserole was only about 50% full. Also, I’d like more mushroom sauce. I’m going to make it for Christmas and use fresh green beans. Do you think it would work if I double the mushroom sauce and use about 3 pounds of green beans?
Hi Nell! Canned green beans tend to be smaller than fresh green beans in volume, they are cut smaller and just work a little differently than fresh. And yes, just fully double the recipes for 3 lbs of fresh green beans. If you want, hit the PRINT button in the recipe card and it will allow you to double the recipe there, which will double the ingredient amounts for you. Hope this helps!
Looking for a green bean casserole recipe to try. Fresh green beans should be tender crisp. How would they turn out in this recipe ?
Hi Ric, if you follow the directions for blanching the green beans in an ice bath, they will stay crisp-tender.
I’ve been making your recipe since 2015!!! Thank you for this absolutely heavenly recipe! This year I need to double the recipe. Is it ok to bake it in the 9×13 pan?
Hi Stephi! If you double it, I would recommend using a 10×15 casserole dish, or going with two 9x13s!
Approximately how many servings are in this dish?
Hi Lori, 8 Servings! (The yield is always located in the recipe card right above the recipe name!)
Can this be made in a crockpot and if so how long should I cook?
This version can not, but here is a crockpot version!
https://thenovicechefblog.com/crock-pot-green-bean-casserole/
I made this recipe last year and loved it! However, my oven is broken! Have you ever tried smoking the green bean casserole in a Trager? Would I change the temp and cook time?
Hi Nicole! I do not have a smoker, so I am not sure. If you tried it, I’d love to hear how it turned out to be able to share in the future if anyone else has this same question! 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hi. Is there a substitute of not using mushrooms?
Absolutely! Just double up on the onion! It will still be delicious with tons of flavor. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!
Awesome recipe really good thanks for the update
KEEP CHEFFING
Thanks Jabar! Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Can the cream of mushroom sauce be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge?
Yes, absolutely! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
How do you make the mushrooms soup? What are the measurements?
Hi Annette! The homemade mushroom soup recipe is included in the recipe or the green bean casserole! The full printable recipe is right at the bottom of the post!
How many cans of green beans should be used for this recipe if I can’t get fresh?
4 cans if you like it with a good amount of sauce/gravy, or 5 cans for less saucy. Make sure you drain them well!
This is the BEST green bean casserole! I love that it’s made from scratch! SO good!!
Made this yesterday for a trial for Thanksgiving. WOW. My husband is not usually a fan of green bean casserole, but he went back for THIRDS. Excited to bring this to Thanksgiving! My mother in law is going to freak! Thanks!
I use fresh green beans!!
I use frozen beans, canned soup, and the good ole’ canned onions! Not healthy by anymeans!!!! This I think I will try yours!
I normally like fresh green beans for anything, but to prepare this dish in a way that reminds me of the holidays when I was a kid – canned green beans it is! 🙂
Fresh green beans! I sauté mine with mushrooms and garlic then top with a little parm cheese and crispy onions! Yum!
Just made this tonight. Generally use my garden beans that were frozen. I do use canned soup. Very interested in trying your recipe. Your recipes are Delicious.
I prefer to use canned green beans for this recipe every year. One of my favs
Canned green beans , right out of the 50’s recipe .