In many households, the holidays REQUIRE that one serves green bean casserole during family gatherings. The problem is, I have never liked the stuff. As you might have read in my post on Chicken Divan, I loathe cream of anything canned soup. So I set out on my own path to create a green bean casserole that contained no soup, but retained the beloved flavors of the recipe. My husband, who is also not a fan of original green bean casserole, declared that my version was good and a big improvement. I’ll let you decide. 🙂
No Canned Soup Green Bean Casserole Recipe…
With green bean casserole, there are a couple of components that are a must: the crunchy topping and the creamy interior. The second issue was no problem: I love making roux. It is super simple, fast, and I always have the ingredients on hand. It was the crunchy topping that presented the biggest challenge. However as I was watching an episode of America’s Test Kitchen a week ago, the answer came to me. The recipe they were making required a crunchy topping using bacon and panko (Japanese bread crumbs).  I decided to also incorporate onion, and the lovely toasted topping for the green bean casserole was born.
While creating the roux was easy, seasoning troubled me a bit. I didn’t want just a creamy, bland, sauce to coat the green beans, but I wanted something with flavor. A hint of fresh garlic, kosher salt, and black pepper made a lovely coating for the beans. If I was serving this recipe to those who love mushrooms, I would have added a few cremini mushrooms, chopped fine, with the beans. In my house, I’m the only one who loves mushrooms, so I decided to leave these out. If you do end up adding them to the recipe, please let me know what you think!
Green Bean Casserole–No Canned Cream Soup Required!
Notes
I used home canned green beans for this recipe. However, when measured, the equivalent was 2 (14.5) oz. cans of beans. Be sure to drain the beans very well, otherwise the sauce will be too watery. French cut green beans may not work well in this recipe.
Store leftovers in a tightly covered container. The topping will not be as crispy when reheated, but the flavor will still be great!
Ingredients
- 3 slices of bacon, cut into 1/4 inch squares
- 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
- 3/4 c. minced yellow onion
- 1 T. butter
- 1 T. flour
- 1 1/4 c. milk
- 1/2 t. minced fresh garlic
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 1/2 t. black pepper
- 2--14.5 oz cans green beans (or use one quart home-canned green beans), drained well
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Topping
- In a medium skillet, fry bacon and onion together over medium high heat until bacon is crispy and onion is translucent. Stir in panko and cook until golden brown, stirring constantly. Place in small bowl and set aside for later.
Casserole
- Wipe out the skillet used for the topping with a paper towel and add the butter. Melt over medium low heat.
- Sprinkle flour over butter, increase heat to medium, stirring and cooking until bubbly and mixture cooks 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly add milk to mixture, whisking well until there are no lumps. Cook and stir over medium high heat until mixture becomes thickened and bubbly. Stir in salt and pepper.
- Mix drained green beans and milk sauce well. Pour into greased casserole dish.
- Evenly place topping over casserole and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly.