Fresh green beans elevate our vegan Green Bean Casserole, along with a creamy VEGAN mushroom sauce and oven-baked crispy onions.  Healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. Video!This healthy Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. 

Within you, there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. —Hermann Hesse

If you are looking for a cozy, comforting Green Bean Casserole, that is also healthy and vegan, we’ve got the recipe for you! We’ve made this numerous times, and I have to tell you, I love it. 

Love love love it!

It’s an easy recipe that can be made ahead, or made in stages, that takes about 30 minutes of hands-on time with the oven doing the rest of the work.

For an easy weeknight meal, we’ve been topping it with walnuts, spooning it over vegan mashed potatoes and calling it dinner – so homey and delicious.

But is also such a well-loved and classic side dish, perfect for the holiday table. And I’m betting no one would even notice it’s vegan. 😉

Green Bean Casserole | 60-sec video

This healthy Green Bean Casserole Recipe is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. 

What is Green Bean Casserole?

Green Bean Casserole is a classic American side dish created by Dorcas Reilly in 1955. She was Cambell’s Soup’s Test Kitchen Manager, and her original recipe was made with Cambell’s canned mushroom soup, canned green beans and fried onions.

We’ve taken inspiration here, but created a healthier version with a lightened-up homemade mushroom sauce (vegan), crispy baked shallots and fresh green beans.

How to make healthier GREEN BEAN Casserole

blanch the green beans in salted boiling water

Step One: Blanch!

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and blanch fresh green beans until just tender. Set aside.

slice the shallots or use red onions

Step Two: Make the Crispy Shallots

Slice shallots (or red onions) thinly. Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan and toss with salt pepper and olive oil.

making the crispy shallots

Then toss with bread crumbs.  It is OK, if not all the bread crumbs stick.

Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes, stirring halfway through.  Set aside.

crispy onions for green bean casserole, baked in the oven

Step Three: Make the Mushroom Sauce

Saute onion and mushrooms over medium heat until mushrooms release their liquid.

mushrooms and onions sautéing in a pan

Add thyme and garlic.

Feel free to use a mixture of mushrooms if you like- cremini, shiitake, chanterelles, etc.

sautéed mushrooms

Sprinkle with flour, then add veggie broth and miso paste, stirring to let thicken. Stir in a plant-based milk- almond, soy, oat, etc to give it a little creaminess.

stirring in the nut milk to make it creamy

Step Four: Assemble!

assemble the green bean casserole starting with green beans in a casserole dish

Place the blanched green beans in a greased baking dish.

Pour the mushroom sauce over top.

pouring mushroom sauce over the green beans

Spread the mushroom sauce over the green beans evenly.

spreading out the vegan mushroom sauce

Then cover with the baked crispy shallots or onions.

topping the green bean casserole with crispy onions

Step Five: Bake!

Bake uncovered in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbling.

This healthy Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. 

Expert Tips:

Feel free to make this ahead leaving the crispy shallots/onions off until ready to bake. Let it come to room temp before baking.

Leftovers will keep 3-4 days in the fridge.

This healthy Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. 

Other vegan side dishes you may enjoy:

 

This healthy Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. 

On the homefront: It’s cold and rainy here, and since the time changed and darkness comes sooner now, I’ve been feeling a little restless at night. I usually enjoy an evening stroll as the sun sets to calm my mind and bring a peaceful end to my day, but it gets harder to do this as the daylight shortens.

I think of my Finnish family and how they coped with darkness through generations of winters.

I try to summon up what my mother had, and what her mother had, and the hundreds of mothers that came before. The light from within, that can’t be extinguished by the changing of the seasons.

I hold this here in my heart, and feel them with me- the light-bringers and torchbearers.

Somehow it helps…

Enjoy the Greenbean Casserole and give us your feedback below.

Cheers 🥂,

Sylvia

 

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This healthy Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table. 

Green Bean Casserole (vegan)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 40
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Category: side dish
  • Method: baked
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This healthy Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans, oven-baked crispy shallots, and a creamy mushroom sauce that is VEGAN! Easy, healthy and delicious, worthy of the holiday table.


Ingredients

Units Scale

1 – 1 1/2 lbs Green Beans, stems removed

Crispy Onions (or shallots) 

  • 23 shallots, or 1 small red onion
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons panko or breadcrumbs
  • generous pinch salt and pepper

Creamy Mushroom Sauce

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, rough chopped
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 3 tablespoons flour or GF flour
  • 1 cup veggie broth
  • 1 cup nut or soy milk
  • 1 teaspoon miso paste

 


Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Prep the green beans: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the green beans and blanch, until tender 5-6 minutes. Drain.
  3. Make the crispy baked onions:  While water is boiling, thinly slice the shallot or onion into rings, place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, separate the rings, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with panko and salt and pepper, tossing to coat well. Yes, the crumbs may not stick- this is OK.  Bake 17-20  minutes, stirring halfway through, until lightly golden. Note: Shallots will brown faster than onions so watch these closely. ALSO-You’ll bake these again with the casserole, so don’t let them get too dark here.
  4. Make the Mushroom Sauce: In a heavy bottom pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and saute 5-6 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and continue cooking until the mushrooms release their liquid and begin to carmelize, another 5-6 minutes.
  5. Sprinkle with the flour, and toast the flour, stirring for 60 seconds. Add the veggie broth and stir well to incorporate the floured mushrooms. Bring to a simmer, stir in the nut milk and miso paste, stirring well. Bring to a simmer, once simmering, it should thicken slightly, then turn off heat. If you prefer a little tanginess, add 1/2 -1 teaspoon dijon mustard.
  6. Assemble: In a greased 8×8 baking dish, (for 1 lb green beans)  or 9×13 (for 1.5 lbs green beans) place the drained green beans. Pour the mushroom sauce over top, spreading it out. Top with crispy onions.
  7. Bake in the oven, uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until golden and bubbling.

Notes

  1.  If your onions happen to get too dark, during the first go around, add them to the casserole during the last 5-10 minutes of baking- as they will darken even more.
  2. Feel free to make this ahead (leave onions off) and refrigerate. Bring to room temp before baking, top with crispy onions and bake at 350 uncovered, until bubbling, 25-30 minutes.
  3. Leftovers keep 3-4 days in the fridge.
  4. Feel free to add 1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans) for a heartier dish.
  5. 1 lb green beans serve 4-6 people. 1 1/2 lbs green beans serve 6-8. I kept the topping the same for both, so it will be considerably  “lighter” with the bigger portion of green beans.  I prefer the richness of of the topping with 1 lb of green beans. 😉

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 198
  • Sugar: 5.7 g
  • Sodium: 645 mg
  • Fat: 13 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 18.1 g
  • Fiber: 3.5 g
  • Protein: 5.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

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Comments

  1. I trialed making the crispy onions with both Almond flour and semolina. Both worked well, although the semolina was crunchy-er. Next time I will probably do a mix of both!

  2. The best vegan recipe!! I tried quite a few over the years and this one is the keeper. The crispy shallots are so good I would recommend to make a double batch.






    1. So happy you enjoyed this Kara! Thanks so much for circling back and leaving a review, very appreciated!

  3. Love your recipes. This is an excellent replacement for ‘traditional’ green bean casserole. Fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms are so much better. I also made mine gluten and dairy free. I used gluten free panko and flour. Then used what I had on hand… almond milk and replaced the miso with homemade cashew ricotta. Because of the umami properties of miso, I added a few drops (1/4 tsp) of fish sauce. MMMMM!






  4. This was hands down the best “green bean casserole” type recipe I have ever tried. So much better than the soupy/artificial version that I’m used to. I LOVED the mushroom sauce and I was tempted to make it again and cover everything on my plate with it. Instead, I made your mushroom gravy and that was terrific too! Thank you so much for all of you’re great ideas. I really don’t know what I’d be eating without you 😉






  5. Excellent recipe. We used “barista-style” oat milk and the mushroom sauce came out so creamy and rich (in the best way).






  6. Green bean caserole is a favorite of mine. Excited to try this healthier version. If gluten is out for me do you have any ideas on how to get the crunchy topping without breadcrumbs. Perhaps some kind of walnut crumble?

    1. I like that idea Laura! What if you used ground walnuts ( or almond flour) instead of the bread crumbs? Perhaps lower the heat? I also have seen GF bread crumbs out there too!

    2. Laura, if you have extra time you can make gluten free breadcrumbs! That’s what we did last week.

      There are step-by-step recipes online, but all we had to do was toss a couple slices of gf bread in the food processor and bake to a golden brown.

    3. I ended up trying this using a GF flour blend for the gravy. No milk. And a combination of roasted shallots and walnuts as the crunchy topping. It turned out great and has better textures for the green beans and mushrooms than the traditional casserole( the veggies aren’t mushy like they are from the can). I wish I made 10 times more crispy shallots because they are addictively delicious.






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