This Cheesy Green Bean Casserole with Bacon is a fresh, from-scratch take on the holiday classic, complete with homemade fried onions. It's simpler than you might think to skip the canned soup and frozen veggies-trust me, the extra effort is worth it!
With creamy mushroom sauce, crispy onions, and smoky bacon, this dish is guaranteed to steal the show at your holiday table.
Your guests will love to enjoy this with Pork Chops, Cajun Turkey and Cranberry Sauce.
Whether you make this fresh green beans casserole for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any weeknight dinner, your guests will be raving about this recipe!
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Green Bean Casserole
I believe in cooking with fresh ingredients and making things from scratch whenever possible, and this casserole is a perfect example.
From the rich homemade gravy to the golden, crunchy onions, every bite celebrates real, wholesome flavors.
If you're new here, welcome! Check out information about The Yummy Bowl for more easy, made-from-scratch recipes your family will love.
Why It's Yummy
- Made with plenty of fresh green beans and for this reason, we can add it to our healthy(-ish) menu list!
- It is easy - It can seem intimidating to make a Green bean casserole from scratch but it actually isn't that difficult at all. Requires a few steps and determination and you'll get there! Just follow the recipe 🙂
- Creamy mushroom sauce is the real deal, combined with green beans, bacon, and cheese - a proper treat for the holiday season. Green beans ARE delicious IF cooked properly and combined with other flavorful ingredients.
- Easy to meal prep - read my tips for this below!
If you like creamy recipes be sure to check out Creamy Au Gratin, Mushroom Risotto, Chicken Pasta, and this delish Cheddar Chicken or simply type the word ''creamy'' into the search bar.
Ingredients
- Mushrooms - cremini, white button, or anything similar will give the sauce the mushroom flavor it needs to have. For an easy meal prep, you can also make my Condensed Cream Of Mushroom Sauce. It's without cheese, but you can add the cheese as instructed in this recipe.
- Cajun - gives a little kick and makes the casserole more interesting. Start with 1 teaspoon, taste, and decide if need to add more. Also, a pinch of chili flakes would be awesome.
- Green beans - fresh is best! I am sad to say this, but you will not achieve a great result if you use frozen ones.
- Heavy cream - is the best option but nondairy similar options could work here too. If you don't have cream, whole milk might be an option too but the sauce will not thicken so easily and may require more flour and cheese to be added.
- Cheddar - is optional as you already have the creamy sauce but I love my green beans tangy and cheesy!
- Bacon - Will enhance any dish! I added about 7 slices for a little bit of flavor but it won't hurt to double this for sure!
How To Make It
- Blanch green beans. Fill a medium to large pot with water to cover the beans later. Add salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the green beans to the water. Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Remove the beans from the water with kitchen tongs or a slotted spoon and lower them into prepared ice-cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Once cooled to the touch, drain in a colander and pat dry the beans with a kitchen towel. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F (180C).
- Fried red onions. While the oven is getting warm, prepare the fried onions.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Toss the onions in the mixture making sure they are fully coated.
- Heat oil in a medium or large saucepot (or a wide and deep skillet). When the oil is hot enough (about 375 F), it is sizzling. (Test by lowering one onion slice into the oil; if sizzling, your oil is ready!)
- Add a bunch of onion slices and fry until they become golden brown, turning them over once to ensure they are browned on all sides.
- Depending on the size of your pot or skillet, you may need to do it in batches. Don't overcrowd the pot.
The process is quick, don't leave them unattended!
- Once browned, spread them out on a cooling rack to remove the excess oil, ensuring the fried onion slices don't touch one another.
The onions will darken even more once cooled.
- Make the creamy mushroom sauce. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute for about 1 minute. Make a space in the middle and add garlic. Season the mix with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and saute until garlic becomes fragrant and mushrooms golden brown.
- Next, lower the heat and stir in the flour making sure to coat the mushrooms.
- Pour in ½ of the chicken/vegetable broth, stir, and continue slowly adding the broth until all is used.
- Simmer for a few minutes and follow with cream, cajun, and parmesan. Stir constantly until the sauce has thickened. The sauce will not thicken in the oven later.
- Lower the green beans into the skillet and stir again until well combined. Remove from the heat.
- Casserole Assemble and Baking. Place the green beans sauce in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, add a layer of bacon and cheddar cheese on top.
Top with fried onions in the middle or all over the dish (your call!).
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
Take off the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the sides are bubbly.
Serve immediately while warm.
Tips
- Fried Onions - Remove the fried onions when they turn golden brown, not dark brown. They will darken more as they cool.
- Onions - I used red onions, but brown onions work too. You can also buy ready-made French fried onions from the store for convenience.
- Flour: I used gluten-free flour from Schar, but any all-purpose gluten-free flour is fine since it's mainly for the sauce.
- Make-Ahead Tips - Blanch the green beans up to 2 days in advance and store them in the fridge. You can fry the onions a day ahead and leave them out, uncovered, on the counter.
- Creamy Mushroom Sauce - When adding flour to the mushrooms, stir quickly to avoid lumps. If the sauce doesn't thicken, cook it longer or add a bit more Parmesan. A squeeze of lemon juice can enhance the flavor, but it's optional.
- Seasoning - Don't forget to season the green beans generously with salt while blanching, and add enough water to the sauce.
- Cooking Green Beans - Always cook the green beans first-blanch or boil them until slightly soft. They'll bake in the casserole later, so they'll be fine!
- Reheating and Freezing - I don't recommend freezing the casserole, but you can keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat in the oven at 400-425°F for 10-15 minutes until warm.
Serving Suggestions
Any meats or fish main courses would be your best bet here.
Try these dishes:
For more festive recipes be sure to take a look at our Christmas recipes.
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Recipe Card
Cheesy Green Bean Casserole with Bacon
Ingredients
Method
- Blanch green beans. Take a medium to a large pot, fill with water enough to cover the beans later. Add salt and take it to a boil. Reduce the heat and lower the green beans into the water. Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.1 ½ pound fresh green beans, ½ teaspoon salt or more
- Remove the beans from water with kitchen tongs or a slotted spoon and lower them into prepared ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled to touch, drain in a colander and pat dry the beans with a kitchen towel.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F (180C).
- Fried onions. While the oven is getting warm, prepare the fried onions. In a large bowl, mix flour, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Toss the onions in the mixture making sure they are fully coated.1 large red onion, 3 tablespoon gluten-free breadcrumbs, salt and pepper , 3 tablespoon gluten-free flour
- Heat oil in a medium or large saucepot (or a wide and deep skillet). When the oil is hot enough (about 375 F) that it is sizzling (make a test by lowering one onion slice into the oil, if sizzling, your oil is ready!)peanut or canola oil for cooking
- Add a bunch of onion slices and fry until they become golden brown turning them over once making sure they are browned on all sides. You may need to do it in batches depending on the size of your pot or skillet. Don't overcrowd the pot.
- The process is quick, don't leave them unattended! Once browned, spread them out on a cooling rack to remove the excess oil making sure the fried onion slices don't touch one another. The onions will darken even more once cooled.
- Make the creamy sauce. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute for about 1 minute. Make space in the middle and add garlic, season the mix with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and saute until garlic becomes fragrant and mushrooms golden brown.4 tablespoon butter, 8 oz fresh cremini , 4 medium garlic cloves, ¼ teaspoon black pepper , ½ teaspoon salt or more
- Next, lower the heat and stir in the flour making sure to coat the mushrooms. Pour in ½ of the chicken/vegetable broth, stir and continue slowly adding the broth until all is used.½ cup vegetable or chicken broth , 2 ½ tablespoon gluten-free flour
- Simmer for few minutes and follow with cream, cajun, and parmesan. Stir constantly until sauce has thickened. The sauce will not thicken in the oven later.½ cup parmesan, 1 teaspoon cajun spice, 1 cup heavy cream
- Lower the green beans into the skillet and stir again until well combined. Remove from the heat.
- Casserole Assemble and Baking. Place the green beans sauce in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, add a layer of bacon and cheddar cheese on top. Top with fried onions in the middle or all over the dish (your call!). Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Take off the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted and the sides bubbly.7-10 bacon slices, ½ cup cheddar
- Serve immediately while warm.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Reheating and freezing - I wouldn't recommend freezing this green bean casserole but you can keep it in the fridge for up to 2-3 days and reheat in the oven at 400-425F for about 10-15 minutes or until the middle is warm.
- The fried onions will darken even more after drying, so when they become golden brown during the frying, it is time to remove them from the oil. Please don't wait until they are dark brown and burned.
- Onions - I used red onions but you can use brown onions instead. However the flavor and color will be slightly different. Alternatively, there are ready-made fried onions that you can get from the store.
- Flour - I used gluten-free flour from Schar (Universal). Basically, any all-purpose gluten-free flour should be fine here as it is used mainly for the sauce and onions and not for baked goods, where the type of flour really matters a lot.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
FAQs
To make sure your green beans are actually green you'll need to blanch them for 2-3 minutes as mentioned in the recipe instructions.
You will bake them in casserole later, and yes, they will change the color slightly but will not be as dark as they would after just baking or boiling and no blanching prior.
The best way to pair green beans casserole is to serve them with a delicious main course such as Thanksgiving Turkey, Pork Tenderloin, Baked Chicken, or any other type of meats or fish.
I also love to pair the green beans with a couple more side dishes such as Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread, Potato Salad.
More You'll Love
Christina
Sounds lovely! I especially love the idea of making it with fresh green beans instead of canned. (Canned green veggies just taste terrible to me.)
I do have a question about the sauce. I absolutely detest mushrooms (plus I'm technically allergic), so do you have any suggestions for an alternative without having to resort to a canned cream of soup?
Looking forward to trying this soon! ❤️
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
yes, you could swap the mushrooms with chopped celery or shredded carrot. Or just make the creamy sauce but add more green beans.
Julia
An easy to make and creamy beans casserole!