Green Bean Casserole: When I’m ready to make a vegetable side I reach for this green bean casserole recipe. Fresh green beans surrounded with a creamy mushroom sauce which are baked until warm and bubbly, with just the right amount of savory tones from the crispy bacon and french’s onion crust make this a recipe that you’ll want to use more often than just Thanksgiving.
This is southern comfort food at it’s finest. A green bean casserole Paula Deen would love. Making your own cream sauce, and using fresh veggies and crispy bacon, the delicious factor is taken to the next level. Comfort food as comforting as cozy blanket on a crisp November day.
How do you make a green bean casserole?
There are as many variations on this Thanksgiving side as there are Grandmas and Aunts saying they have the best green bean casserole recipe. There’s crockpot green bean casserole, green bean casserole from scratch, green bean casserole with cheese, green bean casserole with bacon, and the list goes on. The basic elements are:
- Green beans
- Cream sauce, often with mushrooms
- Onions
- And a crispy top.
French’s green bean casserole recipe or Campbell’s green bean casserole recipe have you use cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and French’s fried onions. For decades this recipe has used canned ingredients mixed together and baked, a beloved method of many families. You’ll notice that this recipe is different than the dump and go method. It uses fresh ingredients, and an homemade cream sauce. But don’t worry, it still fits the bill of Eazy Peazy. It takes only a slightly more time but it kicks it up a notch because you can produce a cleaner flavor that’s less processed.
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How do you make the best green bean casserole?
Fresh homemade ingredients are always the way to go when you want to make a topnotch delicious dish. With the exception of French’s fried onions this recipe hits all the classic elements the fresh way.
- Use green beans from the produce section.
- Make your own cream sauce and saute mushrooms into it for a less processed take on cream of mushroom soup.
- Add bacon, because everything is better with bacon.
Do you drain the green beans for green bean casserole?
If you’re using canned green beans it’s important to drain the green beans before adding them, otherwise it’ll add too much liquid and make you casserole more soupy. The nice thing about using fresh green beans is that you don’t have to worry about draining the can. Of course, feel free to substitute, just know the canned are already cooked. So reduce cooking time.
How do you make chicken green bean casserole?
If you’re looking to mix it up and add a protein and change this side dish into an entree, chicken is a great way to go. Some tips to consider:
If making this french’s green bean casserole recipe:
- If adding chicken you will want it to be a little saucier, so double the sauce portion of the recipe
- Cut about 4 chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and saute them for about 5 min until they’re cooked through.
- Add the chicken the same time you combine the bacon, and green beans.
Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs salt
- 1 pound fresh green beans rinsed, trimmed and halved
- ½ pound bacon
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced into halves or quarters
- 1/2 tsp each salt and ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsps minced garlic
- 2 TBS all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
- 1 cup french fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Clean, trim and halve green beans, set aside
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 Tbs of salt
- Add the green beans to the boiling water and blanch for 5 minutes.
- While beans cook, prepare a bowl filled with ice water.
- Drain the beans, then immediately place into a large bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking process. Let sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Drain again and set aside.
- Over medium-high heat, cook bacon in a large ovenproof skillet.
- When bacon is crispy, remove from skillet, but leave 1-2 Tbs bacon grease in skillet for cooking mushrooms.
- Rough chop the bacon and set aside.
- Add the mushrooms to the skillet with the bacon grease, add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes until mushrooms start to soften.
- Add the garlic, stir, and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour on top and stir until combined.
- Add the chicken broth and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to a medium low, and add sage, thyme, and half and half.
- Let cook down to thicken, about ten minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add the bacon and the green beans.
- Stir in the skillet, then top with the french fried onions.
- Bake until bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.
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