I just had to write a quick post about this recipe because D. and I just had some for lunch and oh my gosh, it is good! Truly, we were scraping the little casserole dish clean.
This is adapted and plagiarized from Alanna’s World’s Best Green Bean Casserole, and I have to say, the name fits. I made up a full recipe to bring to Thanksgiving at the in-laws’ tomorrow, but I set aside this small dish to bake today just for us (and to photograph just for you). Though I can’t say that either my husband or I were fans of green bean casserole in general, we’re now fans of this one.
I’ve veganized the recipe and taken out some of the butter/margarine, but there’s still Earth Balance margarine in the topping and some fat in the soy creamer. And oh, those fried onions! (Which I accidentally used a whole can of, instead of the half can the recipe called for.) What can I say? You could try it completely fat-free, but for a special occasion, this isn’t too huge an amount of fat. And the taste is amazing. No one will know it’s vegan!
And, in case this is my last post before the holidays, happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it. Thanks to Alanna for the recipe, and thanks to all of you readers for your support this year. Your comments and input make blogging fun!
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Beans
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon table salt (Alanna says it’s essential)
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
Bring the water to boil in a large pot. While it’s heating, cut up the beans. Add the salt and beans to the boiling water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Drain beans in a colander, and then spray for a minute with cold water to stop the cooking. Let them drain in the colander, shaking every now and then to get off all the water.
Sauce
10 ounces mushrooms (I used a combination of regular button mushrooms and shiitake)
3 cloves garlic, minced
generous pinch cayenne pepper (had to add it for the New Orleanians)
Salt to taste
Fresh pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup vegetable broth (I used Imagine’s No-Chicken)
1 tablespoon dry sherry (Alanna’s brilliant addition)
3/4 cup soy creamer (or try full-fat unsweetened soymilk)
Trim and discard the mushroom stems and chop the mushrooms into pieces. Spray a non-stick pan with canola oil and heat it. Add the mushrooms, garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are very soft and exude their juices. Whisk the flour into the vegetable broth and add to the mushrooms along with the sherry. Simmer, stirring, until mixture thickens. Add the soy creamer and simmer until thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and stir in the beans.
Topping
1 1/2 slices whole grain bread
1 tablespoon Earth Balance margarine (the best tasting margarine in the world and no trans-fat)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/16 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3-ounce can of French fried onions
Put the bread, margarine, salt, and pepper into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Pour into a bowl and add the onions. Stir to combine.
To assemble:
Put the green beans into an oiled casserole dish and top with the onion mixture. Bake at 425 F for about 15 minutes. If you are not serving this right away, refrigerate the topping separately; bring to room temperature before sprinkling the topping on the casserole and baking for about 20 minutes or until hot throughout.
If you’re looking for more holiday recipes, don’t forget to check the end of this post!
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks great! I've never liked the overly salty and fatty "classic" casserole, and I much prefer the fresh ingredients. I'm thinking this will be great for Thanksgiving, and topped with home-caramelized onions (it's easy!).
I'd like to make this for my carnivorous in-laws with soy allergies. Would rice/almond milk work as well?
I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with non-soy milks, but to get the thickness of soy creamer, you may need to add some cornstarch or other thickener.
Did a trial run of this recipe last night to see if it is T-day worthy and wolfed down half of the recipe in the taste test … it's a winner!
Hi Susan,
This looks great! I was just wondering how essential the sherry is to this recipe. Is there any way I could do without it? Thanks!
-Kelsey
Kelsey, the sherry just adds a touch of flavor. Feel free to leave it out. Hope you enjoy!
How thick is the mushroom sauce supposed to be? I cooked mine forever and it still didn't seem thick, so I added corn starch, and it is still not very thick.
Best,
Annalee
Annalee, mine thickened soon after it reached a boil, so I don't know what the problem could have been. It sounds like you did exactly what I would have done, though, add corn starch. Maybe my flour was just more starchy than yours!
Have you baked it yet? There's a chance it will thicken as it bakes.
THIS IS REALLY A FANTASTIC BEAN CASSEROLE. The meat eaters will never know what hit them.
this was SO GOOD!!! even my grandparents said it was better than the "other" green bean casserole. I already can't wait to make it again!
Just wanted to say that I've been using this recipe for about 3 years and absolutely love it! Thanks so much. My husband calls it my green bean casserole, but I know who deserves the real credit
Thanks again.
I made this yesterday for a Thanksgiving potluck, and it seems that it was popular because every last bit of it was eaten up. The soy creamer really helped it hold up, and gave it a nice bright color. I followed the recipe exactly (with frozen green beans) except I could not find fried onions, so I bought a bag of fake onion rings (basically just onion flavored snacks), crushed them, and used them instead. It was okay, but I wish I could have tried using the real things.
I enjoyed the casserole so much that I decided to make another tonight (no Thanksgiving leftovers here), except for lack of green beans I just threw in all the frozen vegetables I had – broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts – and some cooked brown rice. I also used regular soy milk instead of the creamer, and added some arrowroot powder to thicken it some more. In the end it was a completely different dish, as this time I added half a chopped onion with the bread into the food processor for the topping. I'm eating it now and it's pretty tasty. Although it is nothing like the original green been casserole, I'm just posting these adjustments so that anyone lacking the proper ingredients can see what you can do with the basic recipe.
Thanks for another great recipe!
This was simply amazing. It was easy to make (I used some homemade soy milk), and had a nice bite to it. Even my non-Vegan husband thought it was great. Thanks for yet another amazing dish!
That really does look like the best green bean casserole… EVER. I'm making this for Christmas dinner. This one looks so fresh.
Since someone asked a while ago, I just wanted to say that I made this with unsweetened plain almond milk this Thanksgiving and it was GREAT. Definitely the highlight of the meal, at least for me! My omni family were still raving about the turkey =(
Is it sad taht I am already thinking about my Christmas dinner menue? The green bean casserol sounds wonderful. I am going to add it to my list of dishes for Christmas and start thinking about making it gluten free and vegan.
I cannot even emphasize how delicious this casserole is. I was so impressed and would say that this is the best green bean casserole I've ever tried! I didn't have sherry so I just omitted it and it was still as good.
I'm so excited to make this for Christmas dinner. I'll post it on my new blog after Christmas. Thanks! Tammy http://www.veganfamilyadventures.com
I made this for Thanksgiving with my omnivore family — now they're all requesting it again for Christmas dinner AND asking for the recipe to share with their friends! Thank you for an awesome recipe
I made this for the second Thanksgiving in a row. Big hit! I used sourdough bread in the topping and chanterelles instead of button mushrooms and soy creamer. My test batch I used what was on hand and I don't recommend using hazelnut coconut milk creamer in this recipe! My husband said it tasted like sunblock! Thanks for such a solid recipe that onmi's love.
thanks so much for posting! green bean casserole has always been my holiday weakness and i've been looking for a vegan version for a while. can't wait to try this one for christmas.
i would like to ask, though–do you think omitting the sherry would be too detrimental to the dish as a whole? i haven't had it before so i don't know what it may add in terms of flavor, but i try to cook without any booze (don't ask!). or perhaps you can think of a similar flavor substitution??
thanks!
Nichole, the sherry is completely optional. It just adds a little extra depth to the flavor that you will never know is missing.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I'd never made green bean casserole before, but with your recipe it was easy, and tasty! It tastes sooo goood!! Thanks for inspiring me to cook something different!
–Cher
Susan, I've been lurking and trying your recipes and singing your praises for a few months now, since my DD found your site while looking for a dinner recipe. I made this for Christmas dinner last night and everyone who tried it liked it. The kids went "ooh, yuch, green vegetables" and my mother went "ooh, yuch, mushrooms", but I expected that. I found it a bit bland, maybe I should have added the salt and pepper in the sauce!
I've been eating vegan for 11 months now, after reading Dr. Neal Barnard's book about reversing diabetes. It's working for me.
Keep up the good work.
Karen G
This was DELICIOUS! I am going to try "vegan weeks" all next year, to see if I can go vegan full-time. I look forward to reading through your blog and trying all the fun recipes!
I made this as part of our Christmas dinner and loved it! I linked to it on my blog. Thanks!
Dear Susan,
I cannot wait to try this recipe! Could you please post nutrition facts on this recipe?
Thanks in advance!
This looks absolutely amazing. I’m going to make this for dinner tomorrow night, what do you think is the approximate calorie count is for one seriving?
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