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We load our gourmet green bean casserole with bacon, Gruyère, and caramelized onions. Then topped with crispy fried onions, and bake golden brown! No canned cream of mushroom soup (or cream of celery) required. This is the holy grail of green bean casseroles, and basically heaven in a baking dish!
Gourmet Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Growing up, my mom made the same kind of green bean casserole I’m guessing a lot of you grew up on. Canned green beans covered in cream of mushroom soup (or any soup with milk in it) and topped with cheddar cheese and a pre-made onion topping. I think she even put a dash of soy sauce in there! ‘Twas the wild wild 90’s!
And honestly, as a kid, I loved it. But somewhere in my adulthood, despite the nostalgic memories, I stopped enjoying “moms” recipe. And craved something a little more refined… and dare I say it, gourmet! Which is where this recipe comes in.
Inspired by mom’s green bean casserole recipe, but elevated a bit to make this humble casserole “conversation” worthy.
Start with fresh green beans!
Can I use frozen green beans? What about canned green beans?
My brutally honest answer? Yes, of course you can use them. Canned green beans as well as frozen green beans will both technically “work” in this recipe.
But should you use them? No. I don’t suggest using them because they make a mushy casserole. Whereas fresh green beans will yield a deliciously firm texture with tons of flavor!
You’ll blanch them for 4 minutes (and only 4 minutes!), then plunge them into a frigid ice bath. This stops the cooking process and keeps them niiiice and green. We want that!
Goodbye Cream of Mushroom Soup, Hello Cheese Sauce
Next up, make the sauce! This is a two-step process, but it’s worth every ounce of the work involved.
- Step one involves frying the bacon, then – in the same pan – caramelizing the onions. The onion part will take around 25 minutes, but holy cow is it worth it! The onions really make this casserole shine, so be sure to start with enough time to let them do their thang.
- The second step is quite simple and fast! You’re just going to make a white sauce using butter, flour, milk, and cream. Once that mixture thickens up, you’ll add the cheese and some spices. Then mix the creamy sauce with the onions and bacon and garlic – OH BOY! Things are getting really really yummy!
Let’s Make Green Bean Casserole
- Cook the Fresh Green Beans: Be sure to only cook them for a few minutes. Then plunge them into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
- Fry the bacon and caramelize the onions: To save time, do both of these things up to 3 days before making the casserole. Cover and store in the fridge until needed.
- Make the Cheese Sauce: This should be done right before assembly.
- Preheat the Oven to 350: Then assemble the casserole and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
You can also assemble up to 3 days before needed, cover, and refrigerate. Then bake right before serving! I don’t suggest freezing this green bean casserole, as it can get mushy in the freezer. But leftovers are delicious for up to 5 days if stored properly!
Who’s making this for Thanksgiving?!
Gourmet Green Bean Casserole with Bacon, Gruyère, and Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Fresh Green Beans, ends trimmed
- 6 slices Bacon, Cut Into 1/4 Inch Pieces
- 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 whole Yellow Onions, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 4 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
- 3 cups Whole Milk
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 2 teaspoons Salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional, but it breaks up the richness quite nicely)
- 8 ounces Gruyère, Grated
- 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs or french fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
- Trim the ends of both sides of the green beans; cut them in half if you prefer the pieces to be bite-sized.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rapid boil. Blanch the green beans by dropping them into the boiling water and allowing them to par-cook for 4 minutes. Remove them from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and immediately emerge them into an ice bath (a large bowl of ice cold water) to stop the cooking process. Drain the green beans once they’re cool; pat them dry; and set aside.
- Add bacon pieces to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook bacon for 3-4 minutes, or until it’s cooked through but not crispy; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the olive oil, thinly sliced onions, and brown sugar to the same pan the bacon was cooked in. Cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the onions have deepened in color and caramelized; about 25 minutes. Stir in garlic and bacon and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
- In a separate skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Once it’s completely melted sprinkle the flour into the pan and whisk immediately, evenly mixing it into the butter. Cook for a minute or two, then pour in milk and heavy cream. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens up; about 2 minutes. Stir in salt, pepper, cayenne, and gruyere. Stir constantly until cheese has melted completely into the sauce, then remove pan from heat. Stir the bacon/onion mixture into the cream sauce, mix well to combine.
- Pour sauce over green beans and stir gently to combine. Pour the mixture into an oven-safe casserole dish, then top with panko bread crumbs.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and panko crumbs are golden.
I have made this 3x in the past and it is a big hit. Making it again today and I’m going to add mushrooms.
Fantastic! Highly recommend making this. If you are considering different green bean casserole recipes, you found the right one. I swapped out the bacon for sliced white mushrooms to accommodate a vegetarian at our Thanksgiving. It was perfect and a big hit. It is time consuming with processing the green beans and caramelizing the onions etc, but it is worth the effort.
Can red onion be used instead? Or does it loose something with red over yellow onion?
Sure, that’ll work!
LOVE not using cans except that just this time, I had no fresh green beans but did have some French style green beans that I really needed to use!
Also, I was making Brachial Almandine Broccoli casserole from an age-old recipe, but I didn’t remember the kind of cheese to use and bought Gruyere cheese $12 worth and got home to find it was supposed to be Gouda! So I went on a search for what to do e the Gruyere, and Voila! A new 5-Star Green bean casserole was created with only one small improvement… Please don’t get mad at me, but I’ve borrowed from two recipes to create what I will now call THE BEST Green bean casserole recipe ever!
For the topping instead of Panko I borrowed Laura Vitale’s crispy fried onions to top off Ashley Manila’s Gruyere Green Bean Casserole
I made the sauce the night before and put it in the fridge. Next morning, I added a little water and heated the sauce slightly. Mixed it with thawed and drained French-cut green beans. Then, I combined it all and cooked the mixture in the crock pot on low for 4 hours. Just before serving, topped sparingly with crisped French onion strings. It turned out great! We took it to our friends’ Thanksgiving gathering as a dish to pass. Compliments galore!
Can I make the day before??
I know this is an older post, but several years ago I decided there must be a better “Green Bean Casserole” out there… and here it is. I make this every year now, and it has become a family favorite. Some of our family still make the green bean casserole that is a can dump, but this is far superior.
Omg. I’m in love. I made this minus the sugar and with a Keri friendly “bread crumb” topping. It was AMAZING. A-MAZ-ING. man in my again for thanksgiving and every week after.
Sorry, Keto-friendly
Can I substitute The Who.e Mike for more half and half? It the one thing I forgot at the market
Wow love this recipe, Thanks for posting!