Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole

This Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole recipe incorporates fresh green beans and a homemade cream-of-mushroom soup that is delicious enough to be eaten on its own. 

(Updated post.)

In my mind, green bean casserole is to Thanksgiving Dinner what fruitcake is to Christmas.

Like fruitcake, green bean casserole can be good…but it can also be really, really bad.

In the BAD cases, they used concentrated cream-of-mushroom soup and canned green beans.

That isn't happening here.

I'm going to show you how to make homemade cream of mushroom soup that is so good, you can eat it by itself.

Also, nothing can substitute fresh green beans for this casserole.

The best news is that this can all be done a day or two in advance, saving you time on the big day.

Check out how easy it is to impress your family and friends with this holiday favorite!

The perfect recipe for Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole is a dish that I have explored in-depth.

I've tried it all.

I've used canned, frozen, and fresh green beans, as well as canned and homemade cream-of-mushroom soup.

I’ve topped with breadcrumbs, French’s fried onions, and homemade fried onions.

After all that, I’ve settled what I believe is the perfect green bean casserole recipe.

It's not as simple as dumping together cans of this and that, but boy is it worth it!

More importantly, you can make most of it ahead of time so that all you have to do is pop it in the oven when the turkey comes out.

I've found that homemade cream-of-mushroom soup is a must.

The soup comes out so delicious that you'll have to restrain yourself from eating it all. It's not even in the same universe as that canned cream-of-nasty stuff that many of us grew up with.

I prefer to leave the mushrooms chunky.

But you can chop yours up fine—or even pureé the soup—if you have chunk-averse, fussy eaters in your gathering.

Fresh green beans are the other absolute must.

I like to use the thin French green beans (a.k.a. haricots verts).

I prefer their flavor and find them easier to work with.

Costco always seems to have 2-lb. bags of these in stock.

I've discovered that homemade fried onions are messy to make, a general pain in the...you know, and too fussy for true green bean casserole aficionados.

French’s fried onions, which I mix with buttery breadcrumbs, are now our required topping.

A picture collage is below, but make sure to review the recipe card below too, so you can see the exact steps of the entire process.

Can you make green bean casserole ahead of time?

Absolutely! (You might have noticed the title)

It's totally OK to make green bean casserole ahead of time.

I've made the casserole as much as a month in advance.

After assembling, I press some plastic wrap down onto the surface of the casserole to press out as much air as possible.

Then, I wrap aluminum foil over the top of the casserole dish and pop the whole thing in the freezer.

2 days before the big event, I pull the casserole out of the freezer and store it in the fridge.

Then I bring it up to room temperature an hour or two before cooking it.

Right before cooking, I add the fried onion/breadcrumb mixture and bake it while the turkey rests.

I've also prepared the casserole 2 days in advance, in which case I keep it in the refrigerator, wrapped as I've explained above.

In my many years of eating and making green bean casserole, this Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole is by far my favorite.

It's always a hit.

I hope it becomes a favorite on your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table as well. Happy Holidays!

Continue to Content

Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole

Yield: 10 -12

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Make-Ahead Green Bean Casserole is made with fresh green beans and a homemade cream-of-mushroom soup that is delicious enough to be eaten on its own. It can be made in advance up to (but not including) the topping. It freezes well, so how far in advance you want to make the dish is up to you. If you’re making this for Thanksgiving, simply pop it in the oven when the turkey comes out and let it bake while the bird rests.

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Ingredients

FOR THE SAUCE

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed, and roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, minced (don’t skimp on these!)
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ cup dried mushrooms, preferably porcini, rehydrated
• 1 ½ cups of mushroom-rehydrating liquid, strained; you can mix with chicken stock (the proportion to make 1 ½ cups is up to you)
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 ½ cups cream
• 1 tablespoon sweet marsala, optional
• Additional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, if needed

FOR THE GREEN BEANS

• 2 pounds fresh green beans, preferably haricots verts, stems trimmed, snapped into bite-size pieces
• ¼ cup cornstarch

FOR THE TOPPING

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups canned fried onions*, coarsely chopped

Instructions

WORK AHEAD

1. Rehydrate dried mushrooms in 1 ½ cups of scalding water for at least 30 minutes. Strain the mushroom rehydrating liquid into a measuring cup and mix (as needed) with broth to make 1 ½ cups. Remove the rehydrated mushrooms and rinse. Chop finely.
2. Blanch the green beans by boiling them 3-5 minutes, until still crisp-tender. Drain and plunge into a large bowl of ice water. When cooled, drain and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have given up their liquid. Continue cooking until liquid is evaporated. Add the garlic and thyme; cook for ~1 minute more. Sprinkle flour over the mixture; stir to combine. Slowly stir in the rehydrating liquid (a tablespoon at a time), allowing each addition to absorb completely before adding more. (This will prevent lumps, so be patient!) Stir in the cream and wine; bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened (~15 minutes). Add the marsala (if using); stir. Simmer for 2 additional minutes.
4. While the sauce simmers, toss the green beans with the cornstarch. Add to a 9x13 baking dish.
5. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning as needed with S&P. (NOTE: you want the sauce to be on the salty side, since the green beans are not salted.) Pour the sauce over the beans and push the beans down so that they’re completely covered with sauce. Press plastic wrap over the surface of the casserole, making sure there are no air pockets. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Refrigerate or freeze (see below).
6. You can do all of the above and freeze the dish; thaw three days before serving. Otherwise, make the dish up to two days before serving and keep in the refrigerator.

ON SERVING DAY

1. Make the topping by mixing the melted butter with the panko, fried onions, and S&P. Unwrap the dish, discard plastic wrap. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the casserole; re-cover with foil. Allow the casserole to sit at room temperature for about an hour before it goes in the oven. Bake the casserole at 350° for 20 minutes, covered. Remove foil; bake an additional 10 minutes or until topping is golden-brown.

Notes

*If you'd like, you can chop up an additional cup of the fried onions and mix them in with the beans and sauce to kick the flavor up even more. However, I don't recommend this strategy if you're planning to freeze the casserole.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 406Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 647mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 6gSugar: 7gProtein: 8g

Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate: if you are tracking this information for medical purposes, please consult a trusted external source. Thanks!

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