[vegan] green bean casserole

Oh the obligatory green bean casserole, gracing the tables of so many family gatherings, and yet, often a mushy and pasty mess of sadly overcooked green beans and salt, tasting more of despair than celebration. It’s high time to change that up, amp up the flavours, reduce the crazy amount of salt, and keeping the beans vibrant and lovely without those undertones of sadness. Filled with mushrooms, decadently creamy without being pasty or heavy, the green beans have flavour (crazy right?) and it all gets topped off with a generous amount whatever kind of crispy savory delight you’d like (i use oven toasted onions and shallots on mine) to kick things right to the top. Up above is a gorgeous picture of the casserole sans the topping so you can see all of it’s wondrous delight. Originally i had planned on including the onion/shallot topping in this recipe, but i’ve decided to create a separate post for it as it’s rather time consuming (not active time) and i don’t want anyone to feel like they HAVE to use them (though you should, you REALLY should.) Also, this is a super easy and quick dish to throw together, not that much harder than a “traditional” canned soup recipe, plus you get the bonus of it being gluten free, vegan, and way way lower in sodium! WOOT! I highly recommend the instant pot/electric pressure cooker version, but there are instructions for stovetop and oven if you’d prefer those methods instead.

green bean casserole

sj Oh the obligatory green bean casserole, gracing the tables of so many family gatherings, and yet, often a mushy and pasty mess of… baking [vegan] green bean casserole European make it paper

yield: 6-8 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes 25 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

rating 4.5/5

( 4 voted )

ingredients:

450g | 1 lb green beans (fresh or frozen, whole or cut)

340g | 12oz thinly sliced mushrooms

110g | ½ cup finely chopped onion (non-sweet)

12g | 4 tsp finely chopped garlic

600 ml | 2 ½ cups of water

40g | ¼ cup cashews

7.5g | 2 tsp fauxltry broth powder

.5g | 1 tsp dry marjoram

1g | ½ tsp dry thyme

½ tsp salt

9g | 1 Tbsp potato starch (you can sub another starch if you’d like)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste (we use about ½ tsp)

2 Tbsp oil of choice or ghee

+1 -2 cups worth topping of choice (like oven toasted onions + shallots)

directions:

Instant pot/electric pressure cooker:

Heat pan on sautee/brown normal

Add oil, salt, and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are fully cooked and lightly browned (if you find them sticking excessively, add a tiny bit of water) - about 8-10 minutes

Add in onion and garlic, continue to sautee until onions are translucent and just soft - 2-3 minutes

Add in  1/2 of the water, seasonings, and beans, lock lid and set for 1 minute high pressure, allow to stand for 5 minutes when done before releasing pressure

Blend together remaining water, cashews, and starch (if using) until smooth

Set pot to sautee/brown less/low and stir in cashew “milk” Bring to a simmer and cook just until thickened, add pepper to taste, and more salt if desired

Place in serving dish and top with whatever you’d like! (or not)

 

Oven:

Heat oven to 350F

Sautee mushrooms in oil and salt over medium-high heat until cooked through and lightly browned

Add in onions and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and continue to cook until onions are translucent and just soft

Mix everything together, place into an oiled casserole dish and bake for 25 minutes at 350F until hot and bubbly. Stir and season with black pepper and adjust salt to taste

Top with desired topping (or not) and serve

 

Stovetop:

Sautee mushrooms in oil and salt over medium-high heat until cooked through and lightly browned

Add in onions and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and continue to cook until onions are translucent and just soft

Add in water, seasonings, and beans, bring to a simmer and reduce heat to maintain a light simmer, cook covered until beans are just tender (3-5 minutes)

Blend together remaining water, cashews, and starch (if using) until smooth

Set heat to medium and stir in the cashew milk Bring to a simmer and cook just until thickened, add pepper to taste, and more salt if desired

Place in serving dish and top with whatever you’d like! (or not)

Since i decided to do the onions/shallots as a separate post, just ignore them up there, okay?

This recipe is pretty simple and quick to put together and to cook and doesn’t use all that many ingredients. We have the green beans of course, fresh ones, which you can cut up or leave whole (you could even use frozen ones if you want or can’t find good fresh ones), we have a copious amount of mushrooms (this really should be green bean mushroom casserole) which you can use whatever variety/ies you’d like, i chose shiitake and cremini. Onions and garlic for some sweetness and flavour, cashews for creaminess (also a little sweetness), some fauxltry broth powder for the bulk of our sauce flavour (you can use broth in place of the water, or bouillon for the powder), a little extra marjoram and thyme for some more herbal notes and to enhance the mushrooms, and finally, a little starch to further thicken things up (optional, depending on how thick you like the sauce to be.)

The longest part of this recipe is actually sauteeing the mushrooms, you want to make sure they are browning nicely and fully cooked before adding your onions and garlic, this ensures they’re gonna pack the most punch they can and prevent them from being rubbery at the end. Don’t skimp on this part, it’s mostly a hands off thing anyway. After the sautee, you simply throw half your water (or broth if you’re going that way) your seasonings, and beans into your pot and cook. While that’s happening you blend the cashews with the remaining water (or broth) and your starch (if using) and hold onto it until the beans are done.

Look at those beans! so vibrant, green, and perfectly cooked, tender with a light bite to them still, not mushy and sad at all and full of flavour to make your mouth sing! After they’re done, switch your pot to sautee less/low and stir in your cashew/starch “milk”, continue stirring until the whole thing comes to a light boil until it has thickened and magically transformed into a familiar rich, decadent saucy casserole (sans the oven baking.)

Now, there are lots of ways you can top this, you could cover it with toasted and seasoned breadcrumbs, those classic fried onions from a can, fried onions and/or shallots you make yourself (simply shallow or deep fry onions in 350F oil until browned and crisp), toasted chopped (and salted) nuts (pecans are a good choice), oven toasted onions + shallots, or just leave it naked! It will be crazy yum no matter what you choose to do.

If you’re making this ahead, i recommend leaving out the starch, the sauce will be thicker after sitting and the starch doesn’t always reheat right anyhow, so just ditch it. If it’s not thick enough you can always add a little starch slurry (and cooking slightly) to thicken it up a little before serving. Another note on the starch, it’s totally optional here, it makes for a really thick sauce, as if it was a baked dish, if you don’t like yours quite so thick, then just skip it.

Don’t just hide this one away for holidays! It would be perfectly at home with just about any average dinner, and a fantastic dish to serve at brunch, or gatherings of all kinds. I promise this will be a massive hit, people will be wowed and amazed, even those (like myself) who hate all other green bean casseroles!