Cheesy Green Bean Casserole With Bacon

Whether you make this fresh green beans casserole for Thanksgiving, Christmas or for any weeknight dinner, your guest will be raving about this recipe!

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• Made with plenty of fresh green beans and for this reason, we can add it to our healthy(-ish) menu list!

• It is easy - It can seem intimidating to make a Green bean casserole from scratch but it actually isn’t that difficult at all. Requires a few steps and determination and you’ll get there! Just follow the recipe 🙂

• Creamy mushroom sauce is the real deal, combined with green beans, bacon and cheese - a proper treat for the holiday season. Green beans ARE delicious IF cooked properly and combined with other flavorful ingredients.

• Easy to meal prep - read my tips for this below!

If you like creamy recipes be sure to check out Creamy Au Gratin, Mushroom Risotto, Chicken Pasta, and this delish Cheddar Chicken or simply type the word ''creamy'' into the search bar.

• Mushrooms - cremini, white button, or anything similar will give the sauce the mushroom flavor it needs to have. For an easy meal prep, you can also make my Condensed Cream Of Mushroom Sauce. It's without cheese, but you can add the cheese like instructed in this recipe.

• Cajun - gives a little kick and makes the casserole more interesting. Start with 1 teaspoon, taste, and decide if need to add more. Also, a pinch of chili flakes would be awesome.

• Green beans - fresh is best! I am sad to say this, but you will not achieve a great result if using frozen ones.

• Heavy cream - is the best option but nondairy similar options could work here too. If you don’t have cream, whole milk might be an option too but the sauce will not thicken so easily and may require more flour and cheese to be added.

• Cheddar - is optional as you already have the creamy sauce but I love my green beans tangy and cheesy!

• Bacon - Will enhance any dish! I added about 7 slices for a little bit of flavor but it wont hurt to double this for sure!

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Blanch green beans. Take a medium to a large pot, fill with water enough to cover the beans later.

Add salt and take it to a boil. Reduce the heat and lower the green beans into the water.

Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.

Remove the beans from water with kitchen tongs or a slotted spoon and lower them into prepared ice-cold water to stop the cooking process.

Once cooled to touch, drain in a colander and pat dry the beans with a kitchen towel.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F (180C).

Fried red onions. While the oven is getting warm, prepare the fried onions.

In a large bowl, mix flour, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper.

Toss the onions in the mixture making sure they are fully coated.

Heat oil in a medium or large saucepot (or a wide and deep skillet). When the oil is hot enough (about 375 F) that it is sizzling (make a test by lowering one onion slice into the oil, if sizzling, your oil is ready!)

Add a bunch of onion slices and fry until they become golden brown turning them over once making sure they are browned on all sides.

You may need to do it in batches depending on the size of your pot or skillet. Don't overcrowd the pot.

The process is quick, don’t leave them unattended! Once browned, spread them out on a cooling rack to remove the excess oil making sure the fried onion slices don’t touch one another.

The onions will darken even more once cooled.

Make the creamy mushroom sauce. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute for about 1 minute. Make space in the middle and add garlic, season the mix with salt and pepper.

Stir to combine and saute until garlic becomes fragrant and mushrooms golden brown.

Next, lower the heat and stir in the flour making sure to coat the mushrooms.

Pour in ½ of the chicken/vegetable broth, stir and continue slowly adding the broth until all is used.

Simmer for few minutes and follow with cream, cajun, and parmesan.

Stir constantly until sauce has thickened. The sauce will not thicken in the oven later.

Lower the green beans into the skillet and stir again until well combined. Remove from the heat.

Casserole Assemble and Baking. Place the green beans sauce in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, add a layer of bacon and cheddar cheese on top.

Top with fried onions in the middle or all over the dish (your call!).

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes,.

Take off the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted and the sides bubbly.

Your Green Bean Casserole With Bacon is ready! Serve immediately while warm.

• The fried onions will darken even more after drying, so when they are becoming golden brown during cooking it is time to remove them from oil. Don’t wait until they are dark brown and burned.

• Onions - I used red onions but you can use brown onions instead. However the flavor and color will be slightly different. Alternatively, to make it easy and quick, there are ready-made french fried onions that you can get from the store.

• Flour - I used gluten-free flour from Schar (Universal) or same Brand but Bread Mix. Basically, any all-purpose gluten-free flour should be fine here as it is used mainly for the sauce and onions and not for baked goods where the type of flour and ingredients really matter a lot.

• Make-ahead tips - blanch the green beans 2 days before and keep them in the fridge. Onions can be fried a day before too, leave them on the kitchen counter, do not cover or refrigerate as they will lose the texture. On the day of making the casserole, proceed with the rest of the recipe instructions.

• Creamy mushroom sauce - when adding the flour to mushrooms, try to stir and coat the mushrooms quickly, the lumps may happen and do not worry, they can be easily whisked out. Happens! If the sauce doesn’t thicken, simply cook a bit longer until you reache the desired result. You can also add a little more parmesan if this happens, but it shouldn’t if the recipe quantities have been followed correctly.

• A little squeeze of lemon juice into the sauce will balance the flavors even more but is not necessary.

• Green beans need salt, make sure to season generously when blanching the green beans as well as adding enough later in to the sauce.

• Green beans should be always cooked prior, either blanched or boiled until slightly soft. Especially if consumed right away. Although they contain tons of healthy nutrients, there can be a reverse effect if not cooked properly. We bake them in the casserole later so it shouldn't be an issue!

• Reheating and freezing - I wouldn’t recommend freezing this green bean casserole but you can keep it in the fridge for up to 2-3 days and reheat in the oven at 400-425F for about 10-15 minutes or until the middle part is warm.

Any meats or fish main courses would be your best bet here.

But try these dishes that would, in my opinion, go well with Cheesy Green Bean Casserole With Bacon:

• Homemade Gluten-Free Tater Tots

• Mashed Potatoes

• Pork Tenderloin With Lingonberry Sauce

• Potato Salad

• Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins

• Avocado Corn Salad

• Roasted Pumpkin Hummus

To make sure your green beans are actually green you'll need to blanch them for 2-3 minutes as mentioned in the recipe instructions. You will bake them in casserole later, and yes, they will change the color slightly but will not be as dark as they would after just baking or boiling and no blanching prior.

The best way to pair green beans casserole is to serve them with a delicious main course such as Thanksgiving Turkey, Pork Tenderloin, Baked Chicken, or any other type of meats or fish. I also love to pair the green beans with a couple more side dishes such as Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread, Potato Salad.

I hope you'll enjoy this Cheesy Green Bean Casserole recipe and if you make it, please let me know down below in the comments or by tagging @theyummy_bowl under your picture on Instagram.

Thank you for reading,

Love,

Julia

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For more festive recipes be sure to take a look at our Christmas recipes.