Although Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, I’ve resisted sharing a green bean casserole recipe for years because, frankly, I am not a fan.
Correction: I was not a fan.
But I’ve returned from a deep dive into green bean casseroles, finally clear on what I like, what I don’t like, and what makes a truly delicious—dare I say, addictive—green bean casserole. (Hint: No dairy required!)
It’s time to promote green bean casserole from “trough of holiday slop” to the super savory, creamy, mushroom-forward masterpiece it was always meant to be—one that not only deserves a spot on your Thanksgiving plate, but has you coming back for seconds.
3 Tips for a green bean casserole glow-up
1. Mushrooms as a main ingredient (not a garnish)
Hot take: the green beans are the least interesting thing about green bean casserole.
This doesn’t mean I don’t love green beans—these charred green beans are a perfect example of green beans with main character energy.
But baking green beans in a casserole can be a texture-zapping, flavor-dulling treatment—which is why you need a cream of mushroom sauce with serious oomph.
I go heavy on the mushrooms—heavier than most recipes, with nearly a 1:1 ratio of green beans to mushrooms—because they bring a crucial, almost meaty savoriness.
NOTE: It will look like a lot of mushrooms in the pan to start, but don’t worry! They cook down pretty quickly and you’ll use a heavy pan to press down on them as they cook, which forces out a ton of water and helps them brown instead of steam.
2. A deeply savory (but balanced) cream sauce
The sauce that coats all those green beans needs to be super savory but also have some brightness.
Here, we build flavor with browned shallots and lots of mushrooms, and then deglaze with white wine, adding the acidity that’s often lacking in this rich holiday dish.
In my recipe tests without wine, the sauce tasted flatter.
Once the bechamel sauce comes together, it gets hit with a mix 😍of miso and soy sauce, which deepen the flavor into a gravy-like richness
3. Distinct, optimized textures
No holiday slop here—every component’s texture is optimized so they are distinguishable and don’t lose their identity in a jumble of squidginess.
- The green beans are blanched for just 3 minutes then shocked with cold water, preventing them from a soggy fate
- The cream sauce sets slightly in the oven (thanks to cashews!) so you get creaminess without heaviness
- The fried onions get pressed into the top partway through the bake so they feel integrated but retain their crunchy texture
Ingredient notes, substitutions, and shortcuts
- Green beans: Fresh green beans are ideal. If you use French green beans, keep in mind that they’ll cook faster.
- Mushrooms: You’ll get the most fun flavor by using a variety of mushrooms. I’m partial to cremini + oyster or maitake, but I’ve also used a mix of beech mushrooms, cremini, and shiitake.
If you’ve only got cremini or button mushrooms, fear not—your casserole will still taste great! But give them a few extra minutes to brown since they are water-heavy.
- White wine: Adds a balancing hit of acidity and a complexity of flavor to the cream of mushroom sauce.
- Flour + vegan butter: The cream sauce starts by toasting flour in melted butter, just like a typical bechamel (but of course the butter is vegan).
- Cashew milk: The neutral flavor of cashew milk makes it the perfect choice for the body of the cream sauce—no sweet undertones like you might get with other plant milks. If you’ve ever made cashew milk/cream, you know it thickens beautifully; here, the heat of the oven causes it to set a bit, which is ideal.
Tips for buying: For the best flavor and maximum richness, choose a brand that uses just cashews and water and possibly salt (my fave is Elmhurst). Or, make your own cashew milk (instructions are in the FAQ).
- Miso + soy sauce: This savory super duo teams up to underscore the umami in the mushrooms, giving the cream sauce a bechamel-meets-gravy vibe.
- Fried onions: If I didn’t love the mushroom cream sauce so much, these crispy curls would be my favorite part of this recipe…as it stands, it’s a tie. If you have access to French’s Fried Onions, they’re the classic option for good reason. We also like the Fresh Gourmet brand.
Substitutes
- Can’t use white wine? Deglaze with ⅓ cup (80 mL) vegetable broth and 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar.
- Don’t have vegan butter? Use extra virgin olive oil.
- Don’t have access to a good cashew milk? Try the homemade cashew milk in the FAQs.
- Cashew allergy? I tried this with soy milk and it was good, but it didn’t have the same amount of richness. You could try coconut milk, but we haven’t tested this and the coconut flavor may come through.
Shortcuts
- Buy trimmed green beans (preferred option). Or, check the FAQs for how to use frozen beans.
- Buy pre-sliced mushrooms
- Skip the shallots in the mushroom mixture
Step-by-step instructions
- Blanch the green beans: Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil w/ 2 TBSP kosher salt. Cook the beans for 3 to 4 min, until bright green and partially tender.
- Rinse green beans under cold water for 1 min and shake dry. Trim the end, then halve or cut into thirds.
- Cook the shallots & mushrooms: In a large frying pan, heat 1 ½ TBSP oil over medium, then add the shallots. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges brown.
- Add the remaining oil and the mushrooms. Raise the heat to medium-high.
- Stir occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes, then place a heavy pan on top of the mushrooms. Press for 1 minute to extract liquid, then remove and cook for 4 to 6 more minutes, or until golden brown.
- Add the garlic, thyme, and a bit of salt and pepper. Stir frequently for 1 minute.
- Add the wine to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits.
- Simmer rapidly for 4 minutes, until the wine smell fades.
- Make the cream sauce: Add the butter to the cold frying pan (or saucepan) over med-low. Add the flour and whisk constantly for 60 to 90 seconds into a roux. Pour in the milk gradually, in stages.
- Whisk the milk as you go until you have a smooth sauce.
- Stir the miso-soy sauce slurry into the sauce.
- Bring to a gentle simmer and whisk frequently until the sauce is a bit thicker than spoon-coating.
- Add the green beans to a lightly greased 3-quart (3L) baking dish.
- Stir in the mushroom mixture.
- Pour the cream sauce over the beans and mushrooms and toss well.
- Bake at 375ºF/190ºC for 15 to 18 minutes, until bubbling at the edges.
- Scatter the fried onions on top, gently pressing them in.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving!
Frequently Asked Questions
I tested this recipe using soy milk with pretty good results, though the cream sauce was slightly less rich.
You could try using canned coconut milk, though we didn’t test this and the coconut flavor may be slightly more noticeable (if you give it a try, let me know how it goes in the comments!)
Absolutely! Here’s what worked in our tests:
1. Soak ½ cup (70g) raw cashews in boiling water for 15 minutes. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, soak them overnight OR add them to a saucepan, cover with water, and boil for 15 minutes.
2. In a high-powered blender, mix together the soaked cashews with 540 mL filtered water (2 ¼ cups).
3. Start blending on low, then gradually increase to high speed and blend until completely smooth and all cashew bits have been pulverized. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, strain the milk through a fine-mesh sieve to get rid of any grit.
4. Shake or stir well before pouring into the pan.
Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t make a decent gluten-free version, largely because we haven’t been able to find a good brand of gluten-free crispy fried onions. The brand we tried (Sprouts) was so bad we had to throw out the entire casserole 😭
We had decent success using gluten-free flour in the sauce (it clumps a bit more so keep the heat on the lower side), and you can easily use tamari in place of soy sauce.
If you’re committed to making a GF version, try this instead of the french fried onions:
• Store-bought fried shallots (commonly sold at Asian grocery stores and usually gluten-free); OR
• Make the Fried Shallots from my cookbook, Big Vegan Flavor (p. 224). The texture will be lightly crispy instead of densely crunchy.
Option 1: Prep the components up to 2 days ahead of time and store them separately.
• Green beans: Cook and cut the beans; store in the fridge in a container with a paper towel.
• Mushroom mixture: Cook the mushrooms/garlic/wine as listed; cool and refrigerate separately.
• Sauce: Make the sauce, then cool and refrigerate with plastic wrap pressed on the surface to minimize skin formation. It will thicken a lot in the fridge, so you’ll want to warm it gently on the stove with a splash of broth until it’s pourable again.
• Day of: Combine beans and mushrooms in the baking dish. Pour in the warmed sauce. Toss well and bake as written, except add ~ 5 extra minutes to the initial 15-18 minute bake time. Add the fried onions as listed and finish as usual.
Option 2: Assemble everything the night before.
• Assemble everything except the fried onions, cover, and refrigerate.
• Let the dish sit out for 30 minutes before baking, then bake for about 20 to 25 minutes (instead of the listed 15 to 18 minutes), until bubbling at the edges and warm in the center.
• Add the onions and finish baking as usual.
Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat in the oven as follows:
1. Let the casserole sit out for about 20 minutes while the oven preheats to 350ºF/175ºC.
2. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of plant milk over it if the sauce has thickened a lot in the fridge.
3. Cover with foil and bake until hot in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes for a full dish (less time for a smaller portion).
4. Uncover, add a fresh handful of fried onions, and bake 5 minutes more to crisp the top.
Fresh green beans will be better texturewise, but you can follow these guidelines if you need to use frozen green beans:
• Use the same weight (~24 oz bag) of regular green beans (French-cut will get mushy).
• Cook them in the same pot of boiling salted water but just for 1 to 2 minutes, or until heated through and bright green (frozen beans are already partially cooked).
• Drain and rinse under cool water. No need to trim them, but spread them out on a towel and pat them dry thoroughly. They need to be very dry—otherwise, your sauce will get runny.
If this green bean casserole was a hit at your holiday table, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a rating and review below 🤗
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 ½ lbs (680g) green beans (or French green beans)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (see Note 1 for other salts)
- 3 tablespoons (42g) extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 large shallots, sliced into rings but not too thinly (~150g sliced; see Note 2 for sub)
- 20 oz (570g) mushrooms, ideally a mix such as cremini, oyster, shiitake, or maitake
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 TBSP fresh thyme leaves)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ cup (120 mL) dry white wine (optional but recommended, see Note 3 for sub)
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons (42g) vegan butter
- 40 g all-purpose flour (this is ~ 4 packed tablespoons)
- 2 ¼ cups (540 mL) cashew milk (see Note 4 for sub)
- 1 ½ tablespoons (30g) white miso
- 1 ½ tablespoons (26g) soy sauce
Topping
- 2 cups (125g) store-bought fried onions (see Note 5)
Instructions
- Blanch the green beans: Bring 12 to 14 cups (~3 L) of water to a boil in a large saucepan (5 quart or larger), then add 2 ½ TBSP (24g) kosher salt. Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes (4 for fatter beans), or until bright green and partially tender. Drain, rinse under cold water for 1 minute or until room temperature, and shake dry. Trim the ends and halve the beans (cut into thirds for large ones).
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 375ºF/190ºC with a rack in the top third of the oven.Lightly grease a 3-quart / 3L (13”x9”) baking dish and add the green beans.Grab a cast iron skillet (or other heavy large pan) to weigh down the mushrooms when they cook.
- Prep the mushrooms: Wipe clean with a dry cloth. Slice cremini and shiitake varieties, removing shiitake stems. For oyster or maitake, tear into pieces, leaving smaller ones whole.
- Cook the shallots: Heat a large frying pan (see Note 6) over medium heat with 1 ½ TBSP (21g) olive oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally until the edges brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Cook the mushrooms: Now add the remaining 1 ½ TBSP (21g) oil and mushrooms to the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high. It will look crowded now but they'll shrink down. Stir occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes, then place a cast iron skillet on the mushrooms. Press for 1 minute to release their liquid, then remove the pan and stir occasionally until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms are golden brown, another 4 to 6 minutes (see Note 7).Add the garlic, thyme, ¼ tsp kosher salt, and pepper to taste. Stir frequently for 1 minute, until fragrant. Pour in the white wine, scrape up any browned bits, and simmer rapidly for 4 minutes, or until the wine smell fades (see Note 3 if skipping wine).
- Combine: Transfer the mushroom mixture to the dish with the beans. Rinse out the pan for the sauce (or use a medium saucepan).
- Make the miso slurry: Using a fork or whisk, whisk the miso with 2 to 3 TBSP warm water until miso is dissolved, then stir in the soy sauce. Set aside.
- Make the sauce: Add the butter to the cold frying pan (or saucepan) and set over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk constantly for 60 to 90 seconds. Gradually pour in the milk in stages, whisking as you go to minimize clumps.Whisk in the miso-soy slurry. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer and stir frequently until a bit thicker than spoon-coating, 3 to 4 minutes (faster with soy milk).
- Assemble: Pour the sauce over the beans and mushrooms and toss to coat very well.
- Bake uncovered at 375ºF/190ºC until the edges bubble, 15 to 18 minutes. Scatter the fried onions on top, pressing them in gently so they don’t just float. Bake 8 to 10 minutes more, until the sauce bubbles throughout and the onions are deep golden brown.Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- If using sea salt or Morton’s kosher salt, use slightly more than half the amount of salt listed. If using table salt, use half the amount of salt listed.
- This is about 4 medium shallots. Feel free to use a small yellow onion instead.
- Can’t have wine? In step 6, deglaze the mushroom mixture with ⅓ cup (80 mL) vegetable broth and 2 tsp white wine vinegar; cook for 2 minutes.
- For the best results, I recommend cashew milk, particularly one that’s made with just cashews and water, such as this. If allergic, soy milk works, though it won’t be quite as rich. Avoid using any milk that has a slightly sweet undertone. For homemade cashew milk, see the FAQ section.
- The classic brand is French’s fried onions. Similar fried onions are also available as store-brands at Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores.
- You can also cook the shallots & mushrooms in a 3-quart cast iron or enameled cast iron pan. And make the cream sauce in a medium saucepan. Add the blanched beans and cream sauce on top of the cooked mushrooms and transfer the cast iron pan to the oven.
- If using only cremini/button mushrooms, they may take an extra couple of minutes to brown since they are water-heavy mushrooms.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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