Green Bean Casserole with Cheese and Bacon
If you’re still making green bean casserole with canned beans and condensed cream of mushroom soup, it’s time you made a batch from scratch using all fresh ingredients! That’s right, no canned or condensed soups in sight in this homemade scratch recipe. Homemade green bean casserole takes more time to prepare than using all canned goods, but it’s worth the extra effort, I promise! Crisp-tender green beans, a creamy mushroom sauce, gooey cheese, and crispy fried onions on top. Still not convinced this casserole is worth making from scratch? What if I told you this version is made with bacon! That’s right, this is similar to your favorite green bean casserole recipe but with crumbled bacon thrown in for an extra dose of savory, salty flavor. This cheesy bacon green bean casserole can be prepared in advance and then baked the day you plan on serving it. The last time I served this casserole, I forgot to tell my family I’d added bacon to it and I’ve never seen bigger smiles when they discovered the surprise! Keep this smothered green bean casserole recipe on rotation this holiday season — it’s so good you’ll never have to worry about ‘what to do with all those leftovers’.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Bacon Green Bean Casserole
Making cheesy green bean bacon casserole is a cinch and each ingredient is easy to find – if you don’t already have them on hand in your refrigerator or pantry anyway during the holiday season! Green Beans with Bacon Classic Best Green Bean Casserole Cheesy Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole Gather the following: Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
What Kind Of Green Beans are Best for Green Bean Casserole?
Without a doubt, this is the time to pick up some fresh green beans. Generally they’re easy to find, inexpensive, and abundant before the holidays so I strongly recommend using fresh green beans.
As a compromise, you can use frozen green beans that you thaw and drain well if you aren’t going to use fresh.
However, I draw the line and cannot suggest canned green beans for this holiday casserole. Apart from their less-than-appealing color, the mushy factor would not be desirable this baked casserole as they would turn even mushier upon baking.
How to Prepare Fresh Green Beans for Green Bean Casserole
When making cheesy green bean casserole with fresh green beans, you must blanch them. Blanching means to partially cook them in boiling water and then submerge them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Blanching the green beans before adding them to the casserole ensures: To prepare green beans for green bean casserole: Writing about it makes it sound like a bigger “production” than it really is. Just drop them in a pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes, and then into an ice bath. Same concept as hard-boiling eggs.
How to Make Cheesy Bacon Green Bean Casserole
After blanching the green beans as instructed in the section above, you can assemble the rest of the casserole. The total time for this recipe is about 45 minutes from start to finish, including blanching the beans. Step 1: Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms and cook on both sides until lightly browned, then add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Step 2: Move the mushrooms to the perimeter, add the flour to the pan, and cook for 1 minute over medium heat to remove the raw flour taste. Step 3: Add the broth, soy sauce, milk, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the sauce thickens up slightly. Step 4: Stir in the mozzarella cheese. Step 5: Add the green beans to a 2-quart baking dish. Spoon the mushroom sauce over top, then sprinkle the green bean mixture with more cheese, the cooked and crumbled bacon, and the fried onions. Step 6: Bake at 425ºF until the edges of the casserole are bubbling and the topping is golden brown.
With far less bacon grease to contend with than if you were cooking it from scratch because all of that was largely cooked out beforehand – no bacon drippings this way. I like to use this type of bacon when I’m adding it into a recipe and don’t have time or desire for a big bacon cooking production. Truly the best shortcut!
Make-Ahead Instructions for Green Bean Casserole
To reduce the amount of prep time you spend in the kitchen when guests are over or about to come over, I highly suggest preparing this bacon green bean casserole ahead of time and storing it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake it. The entire casserole can be assembled up to the point of baking it up to 24 hours in advance. Set it on your counter for about 20-30 minutes prior to baking it so you’re not putting a fridge-cold casserole dish straight into the oven which will increase baking time significantly. Note that the green beans can be trimmed and blanched up to 3 days before assembling the entire casserole too. So if you just want to prepare an element of this recipe in advance, that’s an option too.
Tips for Making Green Bean Casserole with Bacon
Fresh green beans are best! Canned green beans are far too mushy for this recipe. Frozen green beans would work for this recipe, and you can skip the blanching step since they would have been blanched before being frozen. Let frozen green beans thaw overnight in the fridge and drain off the excess moisture before adding to the casserole. But again, fresh is preferred for this special holiday side dish. Blanch the green beans for best results. Blanching the green beans keeps them green in color after being baked and also ensures they cook fully in the oven. Cook the flour for 1 minute. After adding the flour to the skillet, it needs to be cooked for a full minute to remove the raw flour flavor. If you add the remaining sauce ingredients to the skillet without cooking the flour, your finished casserole will taste weirdly like paste — no, thanks! Use another cheese, if desired. I love using mozzarella in this recipe since its mild flavor doesn’t compete with the savory mushroom sauce or salty bacon. However, white, regular cheddar cheese, or sharp cheddar cheese can be used as well. Use low-sodium products, when possible. That includes the broth, soy sauce, and butter. I prefer using low- or no-salt products and then salting my bacon and cheese green bean casserole, to taste.
What Goes With Green Bean Casserole?
Whether you’re enjoying this bacon green bean casserole at Christmas or Thanksgiving, it pairs well with all of your favorite holiday sides or entrees: Sides
Creamed Corn Casserole Cauliflower Gratin Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping Classic Marshmallow Sweet Potato Casserole Balsamic Brussels Sprouts Classic Mashed Potatoes Perfect Gravy Mushroom Gravy The Best Traditional Stuffing Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing Easy Stovetop Stuffing Cheesy Funeral Potatoes Candied Yams Red Wine Cranberry Sauce Apple Cranberry Sauce
Entrees
Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Foolproof Oven Roasted Turkey Honey Baked Ham Orange Pineapple Glazed Ham Glazed Pork Loin Roast Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
Storage and Reheating Instructions
If you wind up with leftovers (unlikely!), store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week. The casserole techincally can also be frozen for up to 3 months, but this isn’t really ideal. The topping will be soft and not crispy and the frozen-to-thawed green beans will be mushy. Not for me. To reheat green bean casserole, I prefer warming smaller portions in the microwave at 30-second intervals. Larger portions can be transferred to a baking dish, covered with foil, and baked at 350ºF until hot. Be careful not to overcook it.
More Easy Vegetable Side Dish Recipes:
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