Green Bean Casserole

8 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Easy Green Bean Casserole with green beans, mushroom soup, cheese and fried onions prepped in 5 minutes will make you skip the canned stuff.

Whether you’re making a Classic Roast Turkey or Baked Ham check out our Thanksgiving Recipes for all your favorites!

Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Green Bean Casserole has been a family favorite for millions of happy Thanksgiving diners for decades. Even at other family holiday get togethers with extended family, it always makes an appearance on the table. One reason only, it is SO DELICIOUS…easy AND kid friendly.

Green bean casserole was invented by Campbell’s Soup in 1955 because it wanted to create recipes that could utilize its cream of mushroom soup (Note: You can also use Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup for this recipe). With the addition of crispy onions on top it became a hit around households and with kids because of the crunchy topping.

Now, let’s discuss this recipe, because there are a lot of swap options available here even though this green bean casserole is made from scratch. Making a green bean casserole with fresh green beans isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Once you trim the green beans it only takes 5-7 minutes in your microwave to soften them as you would find in the canned variety.

Serve this Green Bean Casserole along classic sides like Mashed Potatoes, Baked Mac and Cheese, and Dinner Rolls for a wonderful homemade holiday feast.

Green Bean Casserole on plate with turkey breast

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use fresh green beans?

Well as with anything the less ingredients you have the more important it becomes to use the absolute best quality ingredients you can. Canned green beans are certainly an option (and an easy one) but fresh or frozen are preferred because those beans haven’t been sitting for long. The fresher the better.

Using fresh green beans only has one downside, trimming. Do all green beans have strings? Yes, they do but they are not as tough as they used to be so simply trimming off the end with the stem is enough to make these green beans perfectly tender for you to enjoy.

Why use cream of mushroom soup?

Why Use Cream of Mushroom Soup? This is a matter of nostalgia. There’s a version of the recipe out there that has a homemade cream sauce with large sautéed mushrooms. Certainly delicious, but it isn’t that flavor everyone grew up with.
This green bean casserole recipe is like the kind you had as a kid but BETTER. The homemade condensed soup is a great alternative made with whole ingredients and the fried onions from the onion loaf recipe are the perfect topping.

Should you slice the green beans in half?

That is completely up to you, most people who make green bean casserole tend to just use regular canned green beans but if you’d like to slice them in half use a paring knife to carefully slice lengthwise down the middle. The cooking time will be decreased by about five minutes as the green beans aren’t as thick.

Can I make this recipe in the slow cooker?

You will LOVE this recipe made in the slow cooker. Double the recipe and cook on low for 5-6 hours before topping with the onions just before serving. Don’t mix in any of the onions of this version and don’t cook any longer once you top with the onions.

Green Bean Casserole on plate with turkey breast

Key Ingredients in Green Bean Casserole

Cream of Mushroom Soup:

The recipe calls for two cans of it. Pictured in this recipe is a homemade version (doubled) of cream of mushroom soup, but you can certainly use the canned variety. It’s easy to make the homemade version and freeze it for use in these types of recipes.

If using the homemade version and you’ve got it frozen, I’d add ¼ cup of milk to it when gently reheating.

French’s Fried Onions:

You can make your own Tony Roma’s Onion Loaf to enjoy at home, which is a mixture of onions, milk and pancake mix that becomes the most delicious crispy fried onions you’ve ever eaten. The only thing you have to do is once you’ve fried up the onions, use some of them in the mixture then top them after the green beans are done cooking for five minutes in the oven.

These onions are an amazing topping to your Green Bean Casserole recipe, but again the French’s Green Bean Casserole variety is a classic and would work out just fine too.

More Delicious Green Bean Recipes

How to Store Green Bean Casserole

  • Serve: Keep Green Bean Casserole warm for up to 4 hours or at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Store in an airtight container or wrap the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.
  • Freeze: Freezing the finished casserole will result in a mushy dish once thawed. You can freeze homemade mushroom soup on its own and quickly and easily assemble the rest of this recipe if you would like to save some time around the holidays.
Ultimate Green Bean Casserole from Scratch

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Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Easy Green Bean Casserole with green beans, mushroom soup, cheese and fried onions prepped in 5 minutes will make you skip the canned stuff.
Yield 8 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 1/2 pounds french green beans , 6 cans if using canned
  • cans (10.75 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/3 cups fried onions , use French's or the homemade version listed above

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • USING FRESH GREEN BEANS: Trim the ends, put in a microwave safe bowl with a tablespoon of water and cover with wet paper towel and microwave for 5-7 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
  • USING FROZEN GREEN BEANS: Microwave the green beans long enough to thaw, drain and pat dry
  • USING CANNED GREEN BEANS: Drain well and pat dry, no need to microwave.
  • In a large bowl mix the green beans, mushroom soup, cheddar cheese and ⅓ cup of the fried onions, then add it to a baking dish.
  • Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
  • Top with remaining fried onions and cook an additional five minutes before serving.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 159kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 175mg | Potassium: 312mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1120IU | Vitamin C: 17.3mg | Calcium: 154mg | Iron: 1.5mg
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About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

    1. You can make up your casserole and store in an airtight container or wrap the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days. Do not add the Crunchy Onions until you are ready to bake or they will get soggy.

  1. We made this Green Bean Casserole for our 3rd Sunday potluck and it was delicious as per the recipe! We’ll use no other recipe for Green Bean Casserole! Excellent!

  2. Delish! This is old-school Southern cooking and just like my mother-in-law used to make. Big hit with her son (and me). Thanks!

  3. I made this for Thanksgiving and we all agreed hands down that this was the best green bean casserole any of us ever had.

  4. Probably the worst green bean casserole I’ve ever made. The green beans are were way undercooked and you definitely need 3 cans of mushroom soup.

  5. Going to halve this. I’m sure it will be good except…I sure would have liked to know what size dish you made it in. Is it here and I missed it?

  6. I just made 2 of this recipe, one using fresh, & the other using canned. So I’m interested to see how they compare. How do you go about cutting up the fresh green beans? The canned French are so much smaller/skinnier.

    1. If you’re using an American green bean which is a bit thicker, you can just cut them up into pieces. Look for ones labeled haricot vert if you want more of a slimmer style. Hope this helps!

  7. Sabrina,

    If made a day in advance, what is your recommendation for reheating the next day? Would love to try it for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday – with fresh green beans, for sure!

    Thank you…

    1. I would bake in the oven on low until heated through. Or you can assemble the day before and cook as normal. Hope this helps!

  8. i am confused about the cream of mushroom soup recipe do i have to make a double batch for the green bean casserole, because you say to use 2 cans of soup but your recipe says it makes one can of soup??

    1. Correct, my recipe for cream of mushroom soup makes the equivalent of 1 can. If you are using it for my green been casserole you will need a double batch because the green bean recipe calls for 2 cans of soup. Hope this clears up any confusion!

    1. I was planning on using frozen green beans because I have to work the morning of thanksgiving. Would letting them thaw in the fridge have the same effect as cooking them to thaw?

      1. Yes, that would work just make sure that they are completely thawed and pat dry. You don’t want any extra liquid from them still being in even the slightly frozen state. It’ll make your casserole soupy. Enjoy!

  9. If slow cooking, skip the microwave part with the fresh beans and throw them right into the cooker? Can’t wait to make :}

  10. Hello there. Im just curious what is your opinion on size glass baking dish?
    My thought was to cut this recipe in half were having a rather small thanksgiving this year. I though tour option would be best! Thanks Sabrina!!!

    -Brandi

    1. I used a 9×13 baking dish for this recipe but if you’re cutting it half, just use a smaller size. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

    1. I made this last year, using your homemade cream of mushroom soup recipe. I was thinking of making this for a party at work. How would you recommend cooking this and transporting using a crock pot? There is no way to heat it in an oven at work. Could I bake it in the oven before work and then put it in a crock pot to take?

      1. When is your party? I have a slow cooker version coming early next week. Can you wait until monday? I have a full slow cooker friendly version you could take. I’m doing final testing tomorrow.

        1. Hi Andrea,

          You motivated me to finish this recipe for you last night, so I posted it this morning instead of the pineapple meatball recipe I was going to post. Enjoy!