This vegan green bean casserole will steal the show at your holiday table! It's bursting with savory mushrooms and green beans in creamy white wine sauce, all topped off with crispy French fried onions.
Green bean casserole is nice. Yes, nice. Sorry, but that's all I'm giving it. For me, it was always one of those holiday dishes that evokes an "Oh, that's nice," sort of reaction. Not nearly the level of enthusiasm you'd get for stuff like mashed potatoes and vegan gravy or candied yams. No yelling, jumping, superhero stunts or anything like that...until I made this green bean casserole.
Oh yes.
It's dairy-free, but believe it or not, it's the best green bean casserole I've ever had. With a creamy white wine mushroom gravy, and French fried onions, you better believe there was some excitement in my house a few weeks ago when I made this. It's meant to be a side, but we happily ate it as our dinner.
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Why This Recipe Works
It's the ingredients that make this vegan green bean casserole amazing.
Most conventional green bean casserole recipe call for canned green beans, which are just not good. We're using fresh green beans here, so the flavor and texture are on point. Having said that, you can take a shortcut and use frozen beans, which are still a zillion times better than canned.
And on the subject of bad canned goods that go into green bean casserole, it's also usually made with canned cream of mushroom soup. We're making our own base using a formula I've adapted from my vegan cream of mushroom soup recipe, with ingredients like white wine, creamy coconut milk and herbs. This gives our casserole incredible flavor.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Green beans. Ideally you'll want to use fresh green beans, but frozen green beans will work just fine and cut down a bit on the work involved in making this dish.
- Vegan butter. Look for brands like Earth Balance and Miyoko's near where regular butter is sold at your supermarket. Oil can be substituted if you prefer — use a high smoke point variety such as olive oil or avocado oil.
- Button mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms can be substituted if you'd like.
- Onions.
- Garlic.
- White wine. You can leave this out if you'd prefer to cook without alcohol. If you do use it, check with Barnivore to ensure your wine is vegan.
- Flour. The recipe calls for all-purpose wheat flour. You could probably substitute with a gluten-free blend, but I haven't tired it, so no promises.
- Non-dairy milk. Use something unsweetened and unflavored. Soy milk, almond milk, and cashew milk are all great choices.
- Coconut milk. In addition to the non-dairy milk mentioned above we're using full fat coconut milk in a can, which will make our sauce super rich and creamy. Feel free to leave it out and use some extra non-dairy milk if that's your preference.
- Vegetable bouillon. Use bouillon cubes or, if you prefer, a paste.
- Dried thyme. Feel free to use fresh thyme if you'd like — just double the amount!
- Salt & pepper.
- French fried onions. Check the ingredients to ensure that your fried onions are vegan, even though I haven't come across any non-vegan brands. I used French's. As an alternative, you cold use panko breadcrumbs as a topping.
How It's Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd prefer to skip right to the recipe!
- Boil your green beans first so they're partially cooked. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the beans and let them cook for about 5 minutes, just until they turn bright green and start to become tender.
- Drain the beans into a colander and immediately rinse them with cold water. Rinse until they feel cool. This will stop them from cooking and prevent them from overcooking in the casserole.
- Sauté the mushrooms while the beans cook. Heat up some of your vegan butter in a skillet and add sliced mushrooms. Let them cook for a few minutes on each side, until they start to brown.
Tip: Don't crowd your mushrooms in the skillet. This might mean you need to cook them in batches.
- While the mushrooms cook, melt some more vegan butter in a medium pot, then add your diced onion. Cook the onion for a few minutes, until it begins to soften up and become translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook it very briefly with the wine, stirring the whole time to prevent it from burning.
- Carefully pour the wine into the skillet and bring it to a simmer. Let it cook until the liquid has reduced by about half.
Tip: If you happen to have an oven-safe skillet (about 10 inches), use it to make the sauce. You can then add the beans to the skillet when the sauce is done, and bake the casserole right in the skillet.
- Sprinkle the flour into the pot with your onion and stir it up until the flour forms a thick paste coating the onion.
- Begin stirring in your non-dairy milk, a bit at a time, followed by the coconut milk. Add the bouillon, thyme, and sautéed mushrooms. Bring the liquid to a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes to thicken up.
- Arrange the green beans in a casserole dish, then pour the sauce over them. You can stir it up a bit with a spoon to distribute the ingredients if needed.
- Bake the green bean casserole until the sauce is bubbly, then top it with the French fried onions and pop it back into the oven for a few minutes, until the onions darken slightly.
Make-Ahead Option
Cook the green beans, make the sauce, and mix it all up in your baking dish up to 2 days before serving the casserole. Cover it tightly with plastic, then uncover, bake and top with fried onions on the day of serving.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan green bean casserole will keep in it's original baking dish tightly sealed in plastic wrap for up to 3 days in the fridge. It can also be transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated for 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Holiday Side Dishes
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Classic Vegan Green Bean Casserole
This vegan green bean casserole will steal the show at your holiday table! It's bursting with savory mushrooms and green beans in creamy white wine sauce, all topped off with crispy French fried onions.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 5 cups of beans)
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter, divided
- 12 ounces white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, crushed (Note 1)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup French fried onions (or more, if desired)
Instructions
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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the beans and boil them for about 5 minutes, until bright green and tender-crisp.
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Drain the beans into a colander then rinse them well with cold water, until they feel cool. Set the beans aside.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. (Note 2)
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Melt 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
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Add the mushrooms to the skillet in a single layer (Note 3). Cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes on each side, until tender and browned, and then transfer them to a plate.
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While the mushrooms cook, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a medium pot (Note 4). Add the onion and cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft and translucent.
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Add the garlic and cook it with the onion for about 1 minute more, until very fragrant.
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Stir in the wine, raise the heat slightly and bring it to a simmer. Allow the wine to simmer for about 5 minutes, until reduced by about half.
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Sprinkle in the flour, a bit at a time, stirring between each addition to form a paste that coats the onions.
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Begin pouring in the non-dairy milk, a bit at a time, followed by the coconut milk, whisking the milk and flour mixture together between each addition.
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Return the mushrooms to the skillet, and stir in the bouillon cubes and thyme.
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Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a simmer. Allow the mixture to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 7 minutes.
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Remove the pot from heat and season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
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Arrange the green beans in a 2 quart casserole dish, then pour the mushroom mixture over the beans. You can stir it up a bit if needed to distribute the ingredients.
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Place the baking dish into the oven and bake the casserole until the sauce is bubbly, about 15 minutes.
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Arrange the fried onions over the casserole and continue baking for about 5 minutes more, until they darken slightly.
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When the casserole has finished baking, remove it from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
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Serve.
Recipe Notes
- Make sure you only use as much bouillon as you'd normally use to make 2 cups of broth. Some brands produce large cubes made for 2 cups. If you get one of these, just use 1 cube.
- You can cook the casserole at a temperature as low as 325°F or as high as 400°F if you have other dishes in cooking in there. Just keep a close eye on it, as the cook time will likely need to be modified a bit as well.
- Cook the mushrooms in batches if needed in order to avoid crowding them in the skillet.
- Optionally, you could use an oven-proof skillet for this portion of the recipe, then instead of transferring everything to a baking dish in step 14, simply add the cooked green beans and bake the casserole right in the skillet.
I am trying this recipe for the first time. Looking good so far. Have just transferred into an ovenproof baking dish, but your recipe does not say how long in the oven for?
Apologies! It's 20 minutes. :)
Hi there. I’m confused about the onions that are part of the mixture and the ones that are supposed to be fried. I don’t see a recipe for them.
Hi Sita! The fried onions are a store-bought product that's traditionally used to top green bean casserole. I've added a link in the recipe to help clear up any confusion.
Hi there! Is this 1 pound = 16 oz of green beans? Not sure where the 5 cups is coming from. Thanks!
Yes, 1 pound = 16 ounces. 16 ounces ounces is the weight and 5 cups is the volume (approximately). :)