Green Bean Casserole

Hey ya’ll! It’s Liz again from Love Grows Wild, and I am SUPER excited to be here today! Do you know why? It’s because we are officially on the countdown to Thanksgiving! I adore this wonderful holiday where we reflect on all the things we cherish in our lives, and almost equally as important… we get to pig out on the BEST meal of the year! So today I’m sharing one of my absolute favorite parts of the Thanksgiving meal… the Green Bean Casserole! We’ve all had the age-old casserole with green beans out of a can topped with those tasty little french fried onions, but I promise that you have NEVER eaten a green bean casserole like this! Mine stands apart from the rest with fresh green beans, fresh sliced mushrooms, garlic, Parmesan, and homemade crispy onion strings! There will not be a single bean left when you serve this incredible side dish at your Thanksgiving table!

Okay, so let’s start with the star of the show: the green beans. I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a difference using fresh beans makes! Canned green beans tend to be mushy and tasteless once baked into the casserole, but using fresh beans cooked in chicken broth makes them perfectly crisp-tender and full of flavor! I promise once you use fresh, you will never go back to the can! I just grab a few big handfuls of beans, chop off the ends and cut them in half. You want them in about 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Now there are very few things that could make this casserole any better, but the addition of fresh mushrooms… perfection! I’m a huge mushroom-lover, but if you’re not a big fan, just go ahead and leave them out. But seriously though… you should leave them in and feel good about doubling your veggie intake for the day : )

Now green bean casserole just would not be green bean casserole without those yummy little fried onions on top. It’s against Thanksgiving rules. But why buy those onions in a can when you can make your own? I LOVE making homemade crispy onion strings to add to casseroles, hamburgers, salads, and possibly even straight to my mouth. Dipped in ketchup. By the handful. They’re THAT good!

Even though I use all kinds of fresh and homemade ingredients in this dish, I still stick with the classic cream of mushroom soup to bind all the ingredients together. Yes, I could make a sauce from scratch (and you totally can!), but I love using the canned soup as a shortcut and quite frankly I’ll take all the help and shortcuts I can get during the holidays! I really hope you try this awesome side dish at your Thanksgiving meal because I promise you won’t be disappointed! I know I will be chowing down on a big plate of it on turkey day!