Thank you to Del Monte and POPSUGAR SELECT for sponsoring this post!
I don’t know when or how or by whom the classic green bean casserole was invented, but whoever did should have a holiday named after them. Or at least a postage stamp, don’t you think? I mean, the green bean casserole is an American tradition, as American as apple pie, and it’s been part of our homespun culinary culture for decades. Virtually every American has eaten it and many if not most have a recipe for it, somewhere. And that says something. The green bean casserole is an American classic.
Today I’m sharing my recipe for Easy Green Bean Casserole…from scratch. A dish that would make your grandmother proud.
You may remember a while back I developed a recipe for the Ultimate Green Bean Casserole. Here is a version of the classic, traditional green bean casserole that we’re all familiar with, except this one is made completely with scratch. None of that canned cream of condensed soup stuff. This version is not only healthier, it tastes so much better.
And did I mention it only takes a few minutes to make?
Joining us today are Del Monte green beans which make this casserole extra quick and easy to throw together without compromising the flavor. The beans require no pre-blanching or cooking. They’re simply drained and added to our from-scratch sauce, sprinkled with French fried onions, and the casserole is ready to go.
If you like millions of others enjoy this classic American side dish, you’ll absolutely love this flavorful from-scratch version!
And if you want to up your game even more, you MUST try one of our most popular recipes, our ULTIMATE Green Bean Casserole that’s loaded with bacon, white cheddar, mushrooms and cream!! It’s to DIE FOR!
Let’s get started!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Chop up the mushrooms and onions and mince the garlic.
Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat and cook the onions until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms have released their juices and are tender, another 5 minutes.
Add the flour, stir to combine, and cook for another minute.
Add the milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumping, and bring to a simmer. Continue stirring until the mixture is thickened.
Add the chicken bouillon powder, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the mixture is simmering, drain the green beans in a colander.
Stir the drained green beans into the sauce. If desired, stir in 1/3 of the French fried onions.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes until hot.
Top with the French fried onions and bake for another 5 minutes until the onions are golden.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
- 6 oz fresh mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2½ cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 (14.5 oz) Del Monte Cut Green Beans, drained
- 6 ounces French fried onions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions until soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms have released their juices and are tender, 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook for another minute. Add the milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumping, and bring to a simmer. Continue stirring until the mixture is thickened. Add the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the green beans and, if desired, ⅓ of the French fried onions. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the mixture into a 1½ quart casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes until hot. Sprinkle with the remaining French fried onions and bake for another 5 minutes until the onions are golden brown.
- Serve immediately.
This post was sponsored by Del Monte through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Del Monte, all opinions are entirely my own.
Donna says
What about using frozen green beans instead? Would I cook them first?
Thank you
Donna
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Donna, yes, you can use frozen and cook then drain them. If you haven’t already seen it, my recipe for the ULTIMATE Green Bean Casserole uses fresh (or frozen) green beans and is a favorite recipe among my readers: https://www.daringgourmet.com/ultimate-green-bean-casserole/
Danielle says
Just what I was looking for! Thank you for providing a canned soup free recipe!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
You’re welcome, Danielle, and happy cooking! You may also be interested in my “ultimate” green bean casserole recipe.
Catherine Thorne says
This looks wonderful! I try to avoid the canned condensed soups whenever I can and appreciate this recipe.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks, Catherine, you’ll love this version!
Samantha J. says
I use canned vegetables all the time and it has never occurred to me to think that my dishes aren’t “from scratch” as a result. I don’t shuck my own corn or blanch fresh tomatoes and dice them before adding them to soups. I use canned corn and canned diced tomatoes. And I would definitely still consider those dishes as being “from scratch.” This casserole looks lovely, looking forward to trying it, thank you!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks, Samantha, happy cooking!
Anonymous says
How would you do it with fresh beans and freshly made
onions?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Check out my Ultimate Green Bean Casserole, it provides instructions for using fresh green beans.
Anonymous says
That recipe looks wonderful! Thanks!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thank you and you’re very welcome!
Carolina says
I don’t believe this would qualify as “made from scratch” since you are using canned green beans and canned french fried onions… :(
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Carolina, sure it does. Canned vegetables like this are 100% pure with no additives, fillers or additional ingredients. They’re canned to provide a long shelf-life and for convenience, just like our grandmothers used to do. If you were to grow beans in your garden and blanch and bottle the harvest to last you throughout the year and then use those beans in this casserole, you wouldn’t consider it “from scratch”?
Same thing with canned corn, canned tomatoes, canned black beans…you name it. We use those all time in “from scratch” recipes. I’ll grant you, the canned onions are pushing it a bit, but it also depends on which brand you use. I use organic French fried onions that are simply that, fried onions, nothing else. I’ve left it up to my readers which brand of onions they want to use.
And the point here is simply that this casserole, unlike the one we’ve been familiar with since the 50’s, doesn’t use condensed soup, it’s made from scratch with pure ingredients.