This Green Bean Casserole recipe is a classic holiday side dish that needs just a few minutes of prep and can be made with fresh, frozen, or canned green beans.
Tender green beans and crispy fried onions are tossed in a shortcut creamy mushroom sauce. Top this casserole with more crispy onions and bake until golden and bubbly.
This is the perfect side dish to serve along with your roast turkey for the perfect meal!
A Classic Holiday Casserole
I love green bean casserole, it reminds me of holidays from my childhood. This is a version of Campbell’s green bean casserole developed by Dorcas Reilley in the test kitchen (although I do love my from-scratch version too)!
- This dish needs only 5 minutes of prep time making this the easiest side dish ever.
- Can be made ahead of time, placed in a baking dish, and baked just before serving.
- Top with crispy onions or even a Panko mixed with butter and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
- It’s perfect as a Thanksgiving side dish, for Easter or Christmas dinner but it’s also great alongside Sunday supper too.
Ingredients in Green Bean Casserole
Green Beans – For this recipe, you can use fresh, frozen, or canned.
Canned green beans are softer but are easy to use because they require no prep. Simply drain and enjoy.
Frozen green beans require no cutting and have a tender-crisp texture. You can skip cooking frozen green beans but I prefer the texture if they’ve been cooked in boiling water for about 5 minutes (and you’ll need a bit more salt).
Like frozen, fresh green beans have a tender-crisp texture and a fresher flavor. Simmer for 8 minutes.
Sauce – Using a can of condensed mushroom soup is what makes this recipe so easy (and is the base of the creamy mushroom sauce). Any “cream of” soup will work just fine in this recipe or you can use homemade condensed mushroom soup or chicken soup!
Crispy Fried Onions – Crispy Fried Onions (or french fried onions) are essential to this recipe (so much that it’s even sometimes called French’s Green Bean Casserole)!
If you’ve never had them, these onions are delish and great on all kinds of casseroles, burgers, and more! They’re added both in and on this casserole!
Variations
- I love to add cheddar cheese to this recipe (optional of course!), it melts into the sauce making it extra yummy.
- Make your own homemade mushroom cream sauce instead of canned and/or swap out the onions for fried shallots.
- Add minced cloves of garlic cooked in butter, some roasted garlic, or a dash of garlic powder.
- Simmer the green beans in chicken broth. Reserve the drained chicken broth for making your stuffing!
How To Make Green Bean Casserole
There’s a reason this dish has been around for years, it’s simple. It’s delicious. Perfect in every way.
- Cook Beans: Simmer fresh or frozen green beans. (drain them if they’re canned)
- Mix Sauce: Combine mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, and pepper (per recipe below).
- Toss Together: Add the sauce, green beans, some crispy onions, and cheese to a bowl.
- Top & Bake Top the green bean mixture with more crispy onions and bake until golden and bubbly!
Voila!
How To Prep Ahead of Time
You can make green bean casserole ahead of time.
- Prepare as directed except keep the crispy onion topping in a separate container. I usually place them in a sealed sandwich bag right in the dish and sprinkle on top before baking.
- Refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
- Remove the dish from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before baking. If it’s really chilled, you may need to add up to 10 minutes of extra cooking time.
Green bean casserole needs to cook for about 40 minutes at 350°F. Ff your green bean casserole has been in the fridge, you will likely need to add some extra time!
Yes, it can be made up to 48 hours ahead of time. Add about 10 minutes to the baking time.
Yes, this casserole can be frozen. Prepare as directed and freeze before baking. Thaw in the fridge overnight and bake as directed adding 10 minutes to the baking time.
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
A turkey dinner wouldn’t be complete without a spread of our favorite side dish recipes!
Did you enjoy this Classic Green Bean Casserole? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Classic Green Bean Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups frozen cut green bean defrosted (see notes for canned or fresh beans)
- 10 ½ ounces cream of mushroom soup
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon seasoning salt or to taste
- 1 ½ cups crispy fried onions divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- If using fresh or frozen green beans, boil just until tender crisp.
- Combine soup, green beans, milk, soy sauce, pepper, salt, 1 cup of crispy onions, and cheese (if using) in a casserole dish.
- Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or bubbly.
- Remove from oven and stir. Top with remaining onions and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes or until golden.
Video
Notes
- drain 2 (14 ½ ounces each) cans of green beans
- 1 ½ pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and simmered for about 7-8 minutes
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (favorite!)
- fried mushrooms, onions, garlic, and/or shallots
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I wish these companies and recipes would stop having us jumping through hoops to find the recipe I don’t wanna have the history of the meal I just want the recipe do you think these guys can do that
Hey Greg! Some newer cooks need tips and substitution suggestions. If you want to get right to the recipe, just click the “JUMP TO RECIPE” button right at the top of the post.
For some weird reason, I have never been able to make a good green bean casserole. I’ve tried homemade sausage, using all fresh ingredients, nothing seemed to turn out the way I like it. Well, finally found one I love – yours! Have used this recipe for thanksgiving and Christmas now, and it’s delicious and fresh tasting every time. I dislike using canned soups, and my daughter keeps wanting to “add one more can, it doesn’t look like enough” – I just told her “trust the recipe”! It surprises her that it comes out so good – and me, too! Thank you so much for your recipe, love it!
I meant “sauces”, not sausages, lol.
You’re so welcome PJ, glad to hear you loved the casserole so much!
I don’t have soy sauce. Would Worcestershire sauce or something else work in it’s place?
You could add a dash of Worcestershire and a bit of salt.
Made this tonight for the family Christmas Eve dinner. It was fabulous! I got so many compliments from picky eaters! I made this for a serving size of 10. Baked it for 40 minutes and again for 10 minutes more after adding the fried onions. Used fresh beans. Used 1 container and a smidge of the second of fried onions. Did the option of adding shredded cheddar cheese. Yum.
When would I add the cheese?
The cheese can be added in step 3.
I made this for Thanksgiving and WOW, this side dish was yummy. The only ingredient I changed was the soup. Reading through others comments I took someone’s advice a used Cream of Asparagus, a shallot, and garlic. It was a big hit, not the usual Cream of Mushroom after taste. Making again for Christmas Dinner.
I plan to make this for Christmas, so unable to rate at the moment. Can you tell me what size casserole dish you use? Thanks so much.
I use a 2qt dish. Enjoy the recipe!
Awesome! Thanks so much for replying. Happy Holidays!!
Added the cheddar cheese and one small shallot. Amazing! Will definitely put this in my Holiday rotation.
This was a delicious holiday staple, that was easy to prepare. I definitely recommend giving it a try, you and your family’s taste buds won’t regret it.
This was my first attempt at making the annually loved green bean casserole, I’m so glad I found yours for my first try … it turned out fabulous, just like your picture and every bit as tasty. Creamy, green beanie, fried onion deliciousness.
The only thing I could have added was some garlic which I will do next time.
I got a 10.5 oz can of condensed campbell a soup. Do I actually make the soup (adding the water) or do I use the condensed content?
Use the condensed soup without adding water. Enjoy the recipe.
This was the best green bean casserole I’ve ever had. I used frozen cut green beans because I’m not a fan of mushy green beans in the casserole. The sharp cheddar I think is what really elevated the recipe from your standard casserole. I will definitely make this every year.
I was wanting to make this in the Crock-Pot as we will be traveling with it. Will I put the onions on top before starting, so they cook for the whole 2-3 hours as well? I just don’t want them to be mushy when it’s time to eat them
Hi Allie, I would add the onions right before serving!