I have been picked to bring the green bean casserole to Thanksgiving dinner next Friday (long story short, my SIL has obligations with her in-laws that necessitate us putting off celebrating on Thursday.)
I don’t mind green bean casserole, although I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms or cream of mushroom anything. I have cheddar flavored onion crunchy things for the top, and I was thinking of roasting a head of garlic and mixing that in as well.
What are your variations?
I usually use cream of chicken soup and throw in some tarragon.
Lose the cheese and go with the middle american standard. I can even make green been casserole. I like it and the family does also. Don’t stress yourself out.
The crispy onion things are a must.
I love green bean casserole. The only variation I’ve tried is using better green beans – the frozen ones from Schwan’s instead of canned beans.
Tarragon – brilliant! I think the roasted garlic would be awesome too. Maybe a few sauteed onions?
Oh yeah, I always use frozen green beans (French-cut). Canned are just nasty.
The sauteed onions would be a good idea but my family is really boring. God forbid anybody suggesting doing anything with the turkey or the stuffing. Shots could be fired.
This is the recipe you need to use. It’s from Cook’s Illustrated, where they break apart every factor possible and then some in order to come up with the best possible version of your favorite old recipes. This is close enough to the classic “can-o-soup” version to keep the traditionalists happy, but with fresh beans and a homemade cream sauce, it’s of much better quality and will please those with more, uh, refined tastes, as well.
Is it more work? Yes. Will it make you a hero *and *a green bean casserole convert? Hell, yes.
That actually does sound amazing, WhyNot. I’m also one of those weird green bean casserole lovers, so I’m definitely going to try this this year instead of the standard. I might skip the extra ingredients in the topping though, as the onions themselves are sufficient to me, plus, I don’t have a food processor and don’t particularly want to buy one for one part of one dish at one time of the year.
For a simple start, use HOME MADE onion rings, instead of the canned. People will rave! Also, DO NOT USED CANNED GREEN BEANS. I have never tested the following, but here are a couple more. Now, you’re ready to kill me! 
From Martha:
You would be able to simplify this a lot, but it seems like a pretty good place to start:
WORLD’S BEST GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, November-December 2006
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 8 in small-ish servings for a big dinner
BEANS
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon table salt (salt is key to the flavor so don’t skimp; if you don’t have table salt, use twice as much as the relatively ‘less salty’ kosher salt or sea salt)
1 pound fresh green beans, ends snapped, snapped into bite-size pieces
Bring the water to boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. While it comes to a boil, prep the beans. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the salt and beans to the boiling water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes or until crisp-tender and still bright green. Drain beans in a colander, then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain a bit in the colander again. Place a double layer of paper towels on a baking sheet, arrange beans in single layer to dry, top with a double layer of towels. (If doubling/tripling the recipe means cooking the beans in batches, start each batch with fresh water; at minimum, re-salt the water with each new batch. Don’t skip the drying process.)
MUSHROOMS & SAUCE
8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms (I like the color of the brown portabella but taste-wise, they’re the same as white button mushrooms)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon dry sherry
3/4 cup half & half or heavy cream (don’t use fat-free half-n-half, it won’t thicken)
Salt & pepper to taste
Clean the mushrooms; break off and discard the stems. (Better yet, use the stems to make a night-before-Thanksgiving mushroom soup.) Break the mushroom tops into pieces. (Breaking the tops is important to the texture for slicing them with a knife makes the mushrooms more like the ones in canned soup.) Melt the butter in a skillet til shimmery. (To save a pan, use the pot used for cooking the beans.) Add the mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper. Stirring often, cook til mushrooms begin to soften and exude their liquid, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook a minute. Add the chicken stock, sherry and bring to a simmer. Add the half & half, simmer til sauce thickens, about 10 - 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in the cooked beans til they’re evenly distributed throughout the sauce.
TOPPING (the quantity below is half what the inspiring recipe used; the full amount seemed way over the top to me, plus you can see from the picture, the topping isn’t in the least bit skimpy)
1 slice good whole grain bread (I used this whole grain bread, the version without beets)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 a 2.8 ounce can of French fried onions
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1/16 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In the food processor, process the bread, butter and seasonings in about 10 quick pulses. Stir in the onions – but don’t process. If making ahead, transfer to a storage container and refrigerate.
COOKING RIGHT AWAY Preheat oven to 425F. Transfer hot bean mixture to a greased quiche pan or baking dish. Top beans with topping and bake for 15 minutes.
COOKING LATER Transfer bean mixture to a greased quiche pan or baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Return to room temperature. Remove plastic wrap. Heat in 425F oven for about 10 - 40 minutes until hot and bubbly. (Ten minutes works okay for a shallow wish like a quiche pan. Allow more time for a deeper dish.) Add topping and bake for another 15 minutes.
TIMING MULTIPLE BATCHES For larger gatherings, I’ve doubled and tripled this recipe. The prep is easy enough but the timing changes since it takes longer to bring the casserole to room temperature (allow 3 hours for a triple batch) and longer to heat it through (allow at least 30 - 40 minutes for a triple batch, especially one prepped in advance or not quite at room temperature).
TO PREP AHEAD
DAY BEFORE Make the entire casserole but don’t apply the topping.
BEFORE DINNER Bring to room temperature. Bake for 10 - 40 minutes at 425F. Apply topping and bake for another 15 minutes.
NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving: 138 Cal (54% from Fat, 12% from Protein, 33% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 9 g Tot Fat; 5 g Sat Fat; 12 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb8; 54 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 218 mg Sodium; 16 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points
My family would lynch me if I didn’t bring the canned soup variety, but I mix enough stuff in there to keep in interesting – garlic, bacon, and a handful of fresh mushrooms sauteed in the bacon leavings. Bad for us, but comes out pretty good.
I actually love green bean casserole and make it for myself every once and a while. One time, I added tuna and it was great! Basically just tuna casserole with green beans. I named it “tuna glop.”
I don’t mind the can o’ soup kind, but it was never a staple in our house. I only ever have it at potlucks or when visiting.
I once visited someone who made it pretty much the way the recipe reads on the “french fried onions” can, but there were also water chestnuts in it. It was a nice variation.
Shayna, you can make fresh bread crumbs by balling up a couple pieces of bread and rubbing it in small circles on the sharp pokey side of a box grater.
ivylass, there are some nice cream of wild mushroom soups now available if you don’t want to go with a mushroom sauce from scratch. The roasted garlic, a splash of sherry and the chicken stock would make an awesome dish.
I love the taste and the squeak of a perfectly cooked fresh green bean.
I gag and heave at the thought of the “traditional” green bean casserole but some of the variants you all have mentioned make me want to make one. The one from Cook’s Illustrated looks like a little bit of work but worth it.
I won’t be doin’ it for Turkey Day cause well, that’s already planned and I ain’t addin’ in anything else. However, maybe a Sunday lunch sometime in the near future will include a green bean casserole.
Oh, all those from-scratch recipes sound amazing, but I don’t know if I’ll have the opportunity to do more than dump everything in a casserole dish and shove it in the oven. My SIL will be using the kitchen to make the turkey and such, and I don’t want to get in her way.
Ivylad says to make it the day before and reheat it with the onion crunchies on top, but I don’t know how well that will do.
The Cook’s one does fine if you skip step 5 and follow the directions in step 6:
That’s a good point…I can do that!
Word. My husband loves canned, but I won’t do them.
I am trying to make a less fattening holiday meal this year, so the green bean casserole is being replaced with just plain ol’ green beans (French cut) with a little dish of slivered almonds on the side for those who want them. Festive, yet healthy.
I freakin’ love green bean casserole. I don’t know why. Probably the same gene that makes me take a swig of canned cheese every once in a while.
Can of green beans, can of cream of mushroom, dash of worchestershire sauce, handful of almonds. Bake till bubbly and add the crunchy things that they say are fried onions but who really know.
Awesomeness in a dish.
The only reason for the existence of canned green beans is three-bean (or five-bean or seven-bean or every-kind-of-bean (as my gramma’s recipe calls for)) salad. For everything else, if you can’t get fresh beans, then frozen are far superior to canned.