Green Bean Casserole Perfection

PLUS my tried and tested for the BEST way to make green bean casserole ahead of time!

Green Bean Casserole

I have some opinions about Thanksgiving food. Firstly, I’m of the view that marshmallow has no place in anything that appears before dessert. (yes, I’m glaring at you Mr Sweet Potato Casserole topped with marshmallows!!). Secondly, I believe that everyone should get to eat what they want they want on Thanksgiving, traditional or otherwise. Which totally contradicts #1 above. But hey – I said I have opinions. I didn’t say I had logical reason! Thirdly, there shalt never be any canned soup near my green beans*. Not at Thanksgiving, not at Christmas, not ever. The creamy mushroom sauce is simple to make, tastes better and for the cherry on top – it’s completely devoid of all things artificial. 🙌🏻

To the doe-eyed innocents reading this, there are many quick ‘n easy recipes “out there” involving not much more than dumping canned mushroom soup, canned green beans and canned fried onions into a baking dish.

What goes in Green Bean Casserole

For such a highly coveted classic Thanksgiving dish, there’s actually not that many ingredients required! My one tip is to use Panko breadcrumbs instead of normal breadcrumbs. Larger crumbs = superior onion crunch.

How to make Green Bean Casserole

And here’s a summarised visual and description of how to make it. The short recipe video above the recipe card is also useful for this recipe!

Onions – tossed in flour and panko then deep fried just until light golden and quite crispy (but not fully crispy, will become fully crispy in oven); Blanch beans to your taste, then pat dry (otherwise creamy sauce goes watery); Creamy mushroom sauce – starts by cooking the mushrooms, then add flour which will thicken the broth/stock and cream. TIP: When you can draw a path across the back of the spoon, the sauce is the right thickness; and Assemble & bake! Toss the beans in the mushroom sauce, top with onions then bake until bubbly and onions are crisp!

Those crispy onions!!! They’re everything! (PS this recipe makes extra onion. Buffer for frying practice runs + snacking. You’ll thank me later)

Some Practical Tips

Best way to make Green Bean Casserole ahead of time – blanch the beans, make the sauce, store these in the fridge for 2 – 3 days (possibly longer, I just did 3 days). Fry the onions the day before, let them cool 100% completely before placing in a container. Do not refrigerate! Then on the day of, mix the beans with sauce, place in baking dish, COVER then bake to heat up. Remove cover, top with onions then bake for 20 minutes to crisp the onions up and make them golden! Freezing – not recommended for this one, sorry to say! Sauce will split, onions will be dismal when it defrosts and gets watery. Don’t want to fry? Buy ready made Crispy Fried Onions (French’s in the US, Asian aisle in Australia). No one is allowed to judge – frying is not for everyone! NEWBIES: Plan for extra onions – Frying the onions is the hardest part. Not because frying itself is hard, it’s just that if you don’t fry regularly, you might struggle to get the oil temp right or pull the onions out at the right time, or you try to cook too much in one go etc etc. Preparing the onions for frying is super simple – so if you really want to be the Green Bean Casserole Queen (or King), just make extra onion then use the best ones for the casserole! (Leftovers make great snacking) Frying FAIL?! It’s the big day, and you’ve had a frying disaster…. Don’t fret! Melt some butter and mix into 3/4 cup panko with 1/4 cup parmesan and pinch of salt. Taste (more salt? Add it!), sprinkle and bake 20 minutes or until golden. Been there, done that, SO GOOD! Don’t stress about the creamy mushroom sauce – it’s so easy to salvage / adjust. Lumps can be whisked out, if it gets too thick you can thin it, if it’s too thin just keep cooking. If it’s a bit too brown who cares – the most important thing is does it taste delish, and if you follow the recipe quantities, IT WILL!!!

And that, my friends, is all I have to say about Green Bean Casserole! This recipe has been a long time coming, probably since my early 20’s when I had it at one of the very first Thanksgiving celebrations I attended here in Sydney (and I will never reveal how long ago that was, a woman’s age should remain a mystery, always!). Ahh, memories of the turkey not fitting into the tiny apartment oven, the weird lumpy textured pumpkin pie and the dry homemade bread rolls that were my offering to the feast. We spatchcocked the turkey, bought bread rolls and salvaged the pie by chopping it up and serving it as a sundae with cream and ice cream (deeeelish!). And really, so much wine had flowed by 5pm, we would’ve eaten anything. Thankfully, my cooking skills have somewhat improved since then! – Nagi x PS All my Thanksgiving-centric recipes here. I plan to do some Thanksgiving housekeeping in the coming days, will let you know when I do! ❤️