French Onion Green Bean Casserole
Get ready to forget everything you know about that classic Thanksgiving green bean casserole and welcome its elegant, utterly delicious French cousin: the French Onion Green Bean Casserole!
Inspired by the brilliant minds like Erin Clarke from @wellplated, this dish takes the creamy green bean comfort you crave and infuses it with deep, savory flavors reminiscent of rich French Onion Soup.
Instead of canned soup, we build a from-scratch creamy sauce loaded with caramelized onions, rich broth, and a hint of fresh thyme. The traditional crispy fried onions are still there, but we sometimes elevate the crunchy topping with Gruyère cheese and savory breadcrumbs, giving it that classic gratin finish.
The result is a side dish that is sophisticated, savory, and so much better than the original. It’s a side dish guaranteed to earn rave reviews at your holiday table!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
Ingredients
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced (we use sweet onions)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 Tbsp butter, divided
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp pepper, divided
- 1 1/2 lbs green beans (cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces)
- 12 oz mushrooms (we used baby bella), sliced
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half & half
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup croutons, crushed
- 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded & divided
Instructions
- Preheat your oven 375F.
- You can use a 8×10 baking dish (with non-stick spray) or a 10 inch dutch oven skillet.
- Add 2 Tbsp butter to a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add in your sliced onions and cook until very soft and golden and caramelized brown, about 10-15 minutes. Add in your garlic about half way through when they are translucent and just starting to brown.
- Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- In that same skillet, add another 2 Tbsp and then add your sliced mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms brown and are soft, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over your mushrooms. Cook – stirring constantly until the flour has absorbed the butter and the pan will look dry.
- Add in your chicken stock and mix until it starts to thicken and then add your half & half, stirring constantly until all combined. The flour mixture will thicken the sauce and resemble a creamy gravy. (This needs to come to a boil so the flour flavor is gone.)
- Add in your spices and mix well.
- In another pot on the stove with water, blanch your green beans in boiling water – cooking only for 5 minutes max.
- Immediately drain the water and plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain & set aside.
- Add you beans to your mushroom (gravy) mixture and mix well to combine & coat all the green beans.
- Once mixed, take out half of this mixture and set aside.
- Then add half of your caramelized onions on top of your green beans & spread evenly.
- Add half of your gruyere cheese on top of the onions.
- Repeat layers by adding remaining green beans, remaining onions, and the last half of your gruyere cheese.
- In a small bowl, add your crushed croutons, melted 2 Tbsp butter and Parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly. This is the topping to now add on the top of your beans. (We love tops of topping – so we will often double the amount of topping!)
- Put into your oven & cook until hot & bubbly for 25-30 minutes. Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- This is not the exact recipe by Erin but we based it off hers & made our own additions to it. Check her other delicious recipes out at www.wellplated.com.
Keywords: Side Dish, Green Beans, French Onion, Thanksgiving