Green Bean Casserole From Scratch (With Fresh Onions)

​Green bean casserole from scratch, with fresh green beans and onions. This recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving!

If you love classic green bean casserole, but you don’t love using canned soups, this homemade version is so good!

The sun went down before I could get a good photo of this casserole in natural light. Even though the fried onions look a bit dark, they were so delicious! I may have eaten a pile of them that didn’t make it on the casserole. (But ideally, they should be removed from the oil before getting this dark—I may have been a bit distracted while making it this time around. 🙂 )

Green Bean Casserole From Scratch

​Every Thanksgiving, classic green bean casserole is one of the main items on the menu. It’s a favorite at our house!

Years ago, I set out to transform all of our family’s favorite recipes into healthier versions. This led to healthy cranberry sauce, healthy sweet potato casserole, and sourdough pumpkin pie.

​In the case of this healthy green bean casserole recipe, the canned soup has been replaced with a homemade white sauce.

Instead of canned green beans, we’re using fresh green beans.

And instead of premade fried onions, we’re making our own homemade crispy onions fried in coconut oil (or the oil of your choice).

I think the taste of this casserole is amazing!

This green bean casserole recipe is the perfect side dish for holiday get-togethers and potlucks!

You’ll love the taste of the crispy fried onions and fresh ingredients that can’t be matched by canned ingredients.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

First of all, homemade is almost always better than premade ingredients. And it’s better for you!

You get to decide each ingredient that goes into the recipe when you make things from scratch.

To make green bean casserole from scratch, we’re going to replace the cans of cream of mushroom soup with a creamy mushroom sauce made with fresh mushrooms.

We’re replacing canned green beans with fresh, and premade french fried onions with freshly fried onions.

There are more steps to making homemade green bean casserole, but it’s worth it.

And, you can always make the casserole a day in advance and then just make the onions the day you plan to serve it.

Fresh green bean casserole with real ingredients is always a hit.

Green Bean Casserole Notes

• You can use just about any type of mushroom in this recipe.
• Make your own chicken stock with this tutorial.
• Feel free to add more salt if you wish. I recommend tasting the sauce before serving and adding more salt if it needs more.
• To make in advance: make the green bean casserole up to a day before you plan to serve (without the fried onions). Reheat in a 350 degree oven. Make the fried onion topping shortly before serving, and top casserole with onions just before serving.

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Supplies Needed for This Recipe

• Large bowl
• Glass measuring cup
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Large stock pot
• Colander
• Slotted spoon strainer
• Tongs
• Whisk
• Large 12-inch cast iron skillet
• 11″ x 7″ (2 quarts) baking dish or a casserole dish of similar size (you can also bake the casserole in the cast iron skillet)

Ingredients

Green beans and sauce ingredients

• Fresh green beans
• Salt
• Butter
• Mushrooms: you can use any kind of mushrooms
• Garlic cloves
• Black pepper
• Ground nutmeg
• All purpose flour
• Chicken broth (you can make your own broth in the Instant Pot)
• Heavy cream

Fried onions ingredients

• Onion
• Flour
• Salt
• Onion powder
• Coconut oil

How to Make Green Bean Casserole From Scratch

Full instructions and ingredients are found below in the recipe card.

Make the Fried Onions

1. In a large bowl, combine sliced onions, flour, salt, and onion powder. Mix together making sure onions are coated with the flour/seasoning mixture.

2. Add 2-4 inches of oil to a deep skillet. Heat the oil to about 350 degrees. Add about half of the onions to the hot oil and cook, stirring occasionally until they are golden brown (about 3-5 minutes).

Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and place on a wire rack or plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining onions and set aside.

Make the Casserole

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 11″ x 7″ (2 quarts) baking dish. Or, you can just cook the casserole right in the cast iron skillet if you prefer.

4. Add water to a large stockpot until about half full and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

When water is boiling, add the trimmed and halved green beans and boil for about 5 minutes. Remove beans from boiling water and place in the bowl of ice water.

Leave in ice bath for a couple of minutes, then drain and set beans aside.

5. In a large skillet, heat the 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for about 2-4 minutes, stirring often. Add minced garlic, salt pepper, and nutmeg. Stir everything together.

6. Add flour to the mixture, and then whisk in chicken broth, simmering for about 4 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium and whisk in the heavy cream. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, until sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat.

I recommend tasting the mushroom sauce at this point and adding more salt if needed.

7. Pour blanched green beans into the skillet and mix well with sauce. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish (you can also bake in a large cast iron skillet if you prefer).

8. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until casserole is bubbly.

9. Remove casserole from oven, top with the fried onions, and serve.

More From-Scratch Recipes

• Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole
• Easy Yeast Rolls
• Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Healthy Cranberry Sauce
• Sourdough Pumpkin Pie
• Mini Cheesecakes

Green Bean Casserole From Scratch Recipe