Classic green bean casserole
Tender green beans in a creamy mushroom sauce under a pile of crispy fried onions, the holiday classic made with fresh beans so it tastes even better.
- 55 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 8
- About $1.29 a serving
- 190 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. Whatever’s left keeps for tomorrow.
Ingredients
For 8 servings.
- 1½ lb green beans
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup, 10.5 oz cans
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 cups crispy fried onions, divided
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 190 calories, 4 g protein, 19 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $1.29 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green beans? Frozen green beans work.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 350°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Bring a large pot of water over high heat and add the salt.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
the beans and cut them into 2-inch pieces.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
the beans 5 minutes, until bright green and just tender, then them in a colander.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Frozen cut green beans work too. Thaw them and skip this step.the soup, milk, soy sauce and pepper together in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish until smooth, then stir in the beans and 1 cup of the fried onions.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Dolly’s tip: To make ahead, chill the beans and sauce up to a day. Stir in the onions just before baking and add 10 minutes.25 minutes, until bubbling at the edges.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 25 min
Scatter the rest of the fried onions over the top and 5 minutes more, until they’re .
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 5 min
Food safety: Keep a make-ahead dish in the fridge until it goes in the oven, then reheat it until it’s steaming hot in the middle, 165°F. Check the center, not the edges; it’s the last part to heat.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
