Last Updated on October 14, 2026

When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, the green bean casserole is a classic for a reason. Everyone loves the creamy green beans made with homemade mushroom sauce, topped with crispy fried onions. And this homemade green bean dish is made without canned beans or soup. Let me show you how to make this amazing Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole from Scratch.

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Why This From-Scratch Recipe Works

Make your own mushroom sauce: This recipe replaces canned ingredients and their metallic taste with fresh green beans and mushrooms, resulting in a dish that bursts with natural flavors. The beans stay crisp, and the sauce is rich and savory.
Simple and Satisfying: Making your own roux for the mushroom sauce is effortless and yields a creamy, velvety texture that’s far superior to anything from a can.
A Crowd-Pleaser: Fresh ingredients and homemade sauce elevate the dish’s flavor and complement the meal. And those crispy fried onions are to die for!
Make ahead: This casserole can be made a day before to make your Holiday stress-free.

Ingredients You Will Need for the Green Bean Casserole

Green beans, fresh or frozen
Butter
Chopped onion
Fresh mushrooms, white button or baby bellas
Thyme sprigs
AP flour
Chicken broth
Anchovy paste
Worcestershire sauce
Half-and-half
French’s fried onions
Salt and pepper

All of the ingredients and their quantities are listed in the recipe card below.

Step-by-Step Cooking Guide

Blanching the Green Beans

I used fresh green beans in this recipe, and they are pretty easy to find this time of year. The stem ends are pinched off, and the beans are blanched for 5 minutes and then cooled in an ice bath.

If you would prefer, quality frozen green beans could be used. Just thaw them, and there is no need to blanch them. Add the thawed, room-temperature beans to the Mushroom béchamel per the instructions.

I’ve seen Easy green bean casserole recipes that use canned green beans. Chef’s Tip. Use fresh beans instead. Canned beans start limp, generally contain lots of salt, and their color is a grey-green, which is not appetizing at all. Use fresh or frozen instead.

Blanching the green beans.

Building the Homemade Mushroom Cream Sauce

A Dutch oven was used to make the mushroom bechamel sauce. You could also use a large skillet, big enough to hold the beans and the sauce.

Rather than using Campbell’s soup, the best way is to make our tasty mushroom sauce. The mushrooms are chopped to about 1/2 inch size, and these get cooked in butter and are allowed to give off their water in the skillet. The cook time for these is around 10 minutes.

Blanched beans in an ice bath.

Once the mushrooms are softened, chopped onion and anchovy paste are added and cooked for 4 minutes. The onions should be translucent and the anchovy paste dissolved.

Chef’s Secret tip: As Mary Jo mentioned in her comment, don’t skip the anchovy paste, because it adds a savory richness to the sauce that you won’t be able to identify but will love.

Making the Roux

The flour for thickening gets added to the pot next, along with a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Stir this in and let it cook for 1 or 2 minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Some of the flour will stick to the bottom of the pot, but that will be easily scraped off once the liquids are added.

Whisk in the chicken broth to dissolve the flour and prevent lumps. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any of the flour from the bottom of the pot. Now, add a splash of Worcestershire sauce for umami flavor.

Next, whisk in the half-and-half and bring to a slow boil. Cook for an additional 3 minutes to thicken and for the natural flavor to develop.

Now is when you should taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as desired. I added about 1 teaspoon of salt and 8 or 10 twists of my pepper mill.

Casserole Assembly and Baking

Turn the heat off and remove the thyme sprigs. Then add the blanched green beans and fold them into the creamy sauce.

Pour the mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish sprayed with cooking oil. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a 375-degree preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the casserole after 30 minutes and sprinkle about half of the 6-ounce can of fried onions on top. Use tongs to lift and fold the onions into the casserole. Then, sprinkle the remaining French Fried Onions on top.

Place the casserole back into the oven and bake uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes. The onions will start to turn golden brown, fragrant, and Crispy.

Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions

This classic green bean casserole can be made a day ahead if desired. Prepare the casserole up to the baking process. Then, refrigerate the finished dish in a bowl or in the baking pan.

The next day, remove the casserole from the refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes before baking to let it warm up. Then bake as normal, adding the fried onions at the end.

If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Leftover green bean casserole can be reheated in the oven or microwave, but it won’t have the same crispy onion mouthfeel as the fresh casserole. The flavor will still be great, though.

Your Thanksgiving Table will be complete with baked turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, and the classic holiday side dish, fresh Thanksgiving green bean casserole.

I hope that you’ll give my Classic Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole a try. Perfect for this Thanksgiving dinner or any other Holiday meal. It’s my favorite holiday side dish.

The step-by-step printable recipe card is below.

Like Green Beans? Here Are a Couple of Flavorful Recipes:

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Classic Green Bean Casserole from Scratch

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate Save

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: classic green bean casserole, green bean casserole, green bean hotdish

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 1

Total Time: 1 20

Servings: servings

Calories: 295kcal

Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

1 3/4 lbs. fresh green beans, stems removed you can substitute frozen beans, see notes
2 tbsp kosher salt, for the blanching water
4 tbsp butter
1 med. yellow onion, chopped
8 oz. button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced into 1/2" pieces I used baby bella mushrooms
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth, I used Better Than Bouillon chicken base
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 tsp Anchovy paste
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 6 oz. can French's fried onions
salt and pepper

Instructions

Use a large stockpot, (3 or 4 quarts), filled with water and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, and bring to a boil. Add the fresh green beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Use a strainer to remove the beans from the water and place them into the ice water. Once the beans are cooled, remove them from the water, drain well, and reserve until the mushroom béchamel is finished.
Preheat the oven to 375° F, 190° C.
Use a dutch oven or large skillet with high sides and melt 4 tablespoons of butter on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until their water is released and evaporated, 10 minutes.
Add the chopped onion and anchovy paste and cook for 4 minutes until the onion becomes translucent and the anchovy paste has dissolved.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat the vegetables and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste. Add the thyme sprigs at this time.
Pour in the chicken broth while vigorously whisking to prevent lumps. Use a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the half-and-half and whisk to combine. Bring to a slow boil to thicken, about 3 minutes. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as desired. I added about 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper.
Remove from the heat and fish out the thyme sprigs. Add the green beans and fold together with the sauce.
Spray a 9 X 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray, then pour in the beans and sauce. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to even out the beans in a layer. Cover with aluminum foil, place in the oven for 30 minutes.
Take the casserole out of the oven and remove the aluminum foil. Sprinkle about half of the fried onions on top and use tongs to lift and combine the onions into the sauce and beans. Sprinkle the remainder of the fried onions in an even layer on the casserole. Place back in the oven uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the onions to brown, become fragrant, and crunchy. Serve hot.

Notes

You can also use frozen green beans. Just thaw them before adding them to the béchamel sauce. No blanching is needed, so you can skip that step.
2 anchovy fillets can be used in place of the paste.
Add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme to substitute for fresh sprigs.
Leftovers can be reheated in the oven or microwave.
The casserole can be made a day ahead; just don't add the fried onions until heated in the oven.

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