Don’t want to cook your casserole with canned cream of mushroom soup or canned green beans? Here is my favorite easy homemade Green Bean Casserole Without Mushroom Soup from scratch for Thanksgiving and Christmas using frozen green beans, fresh mushrooms, and sour cream. Recipe makes 4 servings, ideal for two people to share.
I’ve been eating some variation of Green Bean Casserole every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember.
Growing up, Mom made the famous version with canned cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans, and French fried onions. It was my absolute favorite thing to eat for the holiday.
As I started cooking for myself and my palate matured, I could no longer eat a lot of canned items, especially cream of whatever soup.
Not wanting to give up the casserole, I was on a mission to make it from scratch.
And I succeeded using sour cream and fresh mushrooms plus some Worcestershire sauce to add some depth known as umami (bonus points if you can pronounce it).
Mom always added cheese, and I didn’t know until a few years ago that there is no cheese in the original. You’ll definitely want to make a cheesy green bean casserole.
What are the ingredients for green bean casserole?
I don’t think a year has gone by where we don’t make this casserole for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Dad doesn’t even need me to write a shopping list anymore. It’s like, holiday shopping list? Green beans, fresh mushrooms, French fried onions, sour cream, broth, cheese. Done.
Because green bean casserole is typically made in the winter, I opt for frozen green beans rather than fresh.
They’re still technically fresh green beans because they’re frozen during peak season. Regardless they’re a million times better than canned green beans.
I use frozen French cut green beans when I can find them, which means the beans are cut lengthwise into thin strips.
However, they aren’t easy to find, so you can definitely use regular cut green beans.
When I originally posted this recipe, I was on a mission to replace everything, included the French fried onions on top.
Nowadays I cut myself some slack and buy them. There’s too much going on with Thanksgiving dinner, so I have no regrets.
How do you substitute for cream of mushroom soup in green bean casserole?
To substitute for cream of mushroom soup, I used sour cream, sliced white button mushrooms, and broth.
I also added a bit of Worcestershire sauce to bring some earthiness to the dish, which pairs well with the mushrooms.
One note – Worcestershire sauce is not vegetarian because it has anchovies in it. If you’re making green bean casserole for vegetarians, leave it out or buy a brand specifically labeled vegetarian or vegan.
Can you make green bean casserole ahead of time?
Yes, you can make green bean casserole ahead of time! Make the green bean filling, refrigerate, then add the French fried onions on top right before baking.
You may need to add an extra 10 minutes in the oven since you’re baking cold filling straight from the fridge.
More Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes
Green Bean Casserole (Without Canned Soup)
Don’t want to cook with canned cream of mushroom soup or canned green beans? Here is my favorite easy green bean casserole from scratch for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Ingredients
- 1 bag (12-16 ounce) frozen regular cut or French cut green beans
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped white or yellow onion
- 4 large white button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock/broth
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (*see Note about being vegetarian)
- 1 cup French fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Have a 1 quart casserole dish ready.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add a big pinch of salt then add green beans. Cook for 3 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
- Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet, melt the butter. Once hot, add the onion, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Stir in flour until a roux (paste) forms. Slowly stir in the broth.
- Stir in the sour cream, cheese, milk, Worcestershire sauce, and salt to taste (up to 1 teaspoon) until smooth and cheese has melted.
- Stir in the green beans and 1/4 cup French fried onions.**
- Transfer to the casserole dish and top with remaining 3/4 cup French fried onion. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbling.
Notes
*Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. If you’re making this for vegetarians, leave it out or buy a brand specifically labeled vegetarian or vegan.
**To make the casserole ahead of time, make the filling then refrigerate. Right before baking, top with the remaining French fried onions. You may need to add extra bake time since you're baking cold filling straight from the fridge.
RawInTheMiddle says
This looks SO much better than the canned variety. I’ve posted a link to this recipe on my blog. Happy Thursday!
Carla says
Thanks for including me!
Ruthy @ Omeletta says
This is so helpful! I always loved green bean casserole, too, but we haven’t had it in ages because, well, on Thanksgiving Day, ridiculous amounts of sodium aren’t needed on top of all that food! I like the addition of Worcestershire sauce, too- although I think i pronounce it a different way each and every time :)
Carla says
Ha most of the time I just say Worcestshhhshhh sauce.
Caroline says
I love that you’ve made this without the canned soup, Carla! I love that dish too and have always avoided it for that very reason…I am looking forward to making this!
Carla says
Down with canned soup! ;)
Kalamity Kelli says
This is the first green bean casserole that has ever looked good to me – when I clicked and saw you made it I pinned quick and then came right over – it looks delish and I have never said that about any GBC I have ever seen or tasted. Now I have found 2 things on Yum Goggle today that I want to make for Thanksgiving.
Carla says
Aw thanks Kelli :) I was a little worried with the onions on top because ideally I’d use shallots for those golden brown onions everybody knows and not the very little onion I had left in the drawer. Either way it still tasted very good!
miranda says
this looks great! can’t wait to try it…do you think i could sub the sour cream with FF greek yogurt?
Carla says
I actually thought about that too! I haven’t tried it yet, but I know it would give it the same creaminess. Of course the flavor will differ slightly, but both should still have a little bit of that tang. Just adjust to taste if you decide to try it.
Rachel says
I’ve made the Great Plains’ favorite Tater Tot Casserole without the traditional Cream of Chicken or Mushroom soup. I’ve never had Green Bean Casserole before…The mushrooms scare me off!
Carla says
The mushrooms are my favorite part! You can always leave the mushrooms out if you do decide to try this.
Kirsten@FarmFreshFeasts says
This looks delicious, Carla! I’m trying to muster the enthusiasm to make green bean casserole this year, and your lovely photos are helping. Want to come dig through the freezer to see if I put up some beans when I got them in the farm share? Yeah, me neither. :)
Thanks!
Carla says
Haha guess we can make a party out of it ;)
Justin says
This sounds delicicious! I have traditionally been the one to make green bean casserole for Thanksgiving potlucks. For the past 15 yrs or so, I have made another alternative recipe that consisted of somewhat similar ingredients. I, too, am not a fan of canned condensed soup which was my motivation for doing so. I always use fresh green beans as well. I will give this recipe a whirl this year. Thank you!
Oh, and I say it like this…Worsh-teh-shur. :)
Carla says
Yes I’ve seen different variations and ended up combining several ideas into this recipe. Let me know what you think of this one if you do try it!
Susan says
Yum! This sounds wonderful. I’ve never had green bean casserole for Thanksgiving – my mother always did succotash, and I guess there have been a lot of years when I’ve done nothing for Thanksgiving. This recipe makes me want green bean casserole.
I have one recipe I’ve always loved, which dates back to college, which my husband affectionately calls ‘road kill’ (real name Skid Road Stroganoff), which calls for cream of chicken soup. I’ve been making my own soup for it, and also subbing plain, nonfat Greek yogurt mixed with a dab of sugar for the sour cream.
Carla says
Green bean casserole has always been on our Thanksgiving table (although it started out as the canned soup version and has evolved over the years). I’ll have to look up that stroganoff recipe. I don’t make it often but think a casserole would be the perfect way to serve it up. Thanks for sharing!
Susan says
Carla, if you can’t find the stroganoff, let me know & I’ll give it to you. I’ve never seen it in print anywhere, and I got it from a college roommate back in 1966.
Carla says
Is it this? http://old.post-gazette.com/food/20020926mailbox1.asp
Susan says
No, that’s not it. Mine uses 1 pound ground beef, enough flour to soak up the grease from the meat, 1T Hungarian sweet paprika, 1 chopped medium onion, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom) and 1 cup sour cream. Brown beef with onions and garlic, mix in paprika (& flour), cook for 5 minutes, add soup (undiluted) and cook for 10 minutes. Add sour cream, warm through, and serve over rice. Serves 4.
Enjoy!
KalynsKitchen says
Pinned! And thanks for the shout-out for my recipe!
Jennifer says
recipe looks great! Any chance this can be made ahead of time??
Carla says
Yes, I did just that a few weeks ago. Make everything but the onion topping ahead of time, put in your casserole dish/pan, cover, and refrigerate. Cook the onions the day you’re serving. However if you can’t, you can substitute store bought French-fried onions (I was traveling with my casserole and wasn’t sure how homemade fried onions would hold up).
Ana-Hayley Jacobs says
The ingredient list did not include green beans so I had no way of knowing how much green beans to use. I just used the whole bag and it was way too much. Other than that it was delicious! The soup base turned out great and I will use that for other recipes that call for mushroom soup
Carla says
I’m so sorry about that! I recently switched recipe card plugins, which messed up formatting on a lot of my recipes, including erasing instructions and other important information. I’m in the process of fixing all 11 years worth. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! It’s fixed now.
Emily watson says
Almost exact recipe is out of the oven! (I used almond milk). Beautiful and tasty! Thank you so much for this recipe I never thought to use cheese before! I will post a pic where you said. Thanks again!
Carla says
Wonderful! Love the adaptation with almond milk.
Suzy says
So happy about how this recipe came out! I have some kiddos who won’t eat mushrooms and this was a great alternative to our favorite casserole!
Carla says
Awesome! Happy to hear everyone loved it.
kim says
This was a hit with the family! I’ll be making again and again!
Carla says
Awesome! Happy to hear everyone enjoyed it.
Aileena Thamer says
Does this dish freeze well ahead of baking?
Carla says
I haven’t tried it, but I believe you can! Don’t add the crispy onions on top until ready to bake or they’ll get soggy.