This cheesy, homemade, from scratch recipe is healthier than traditional green bean casserole and contains less processed ingredients. It's also gluten free, low carb, keto friendly and made with no canned mushroom soup. Here you'll find deliciously fresh green beans, cream, spices and parmesan cheese crisps instead of fried onions.
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No holiday meal is complete without a classic green bean casserole. This low carb and gluten-free version ensures that everyone can partake! And don't worry, it's completely scrumptious and you won't feel like you're missing out on ANYTHING.
If you need more gluten free sides for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter, be sure to check out my Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower, Honey Roasted Carrots & Feta Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce, Whipped Cream Fruit Salad, Butternut Squash Salad With Cinnamon Vinaigrette or these wildly popular Scalloped Sweet Potatoes (just be sure you get gluten free marshmallows for the scalloped potatoes)!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
- Extra virgin olive oil: or avocado oil.
- Fresh green beans: at the grocery store, you can look for bagged and pre-chopped beans to save a little time, if desired.
- Yellow onion: white onion will also work!
- Minced garlic: I like to keep a jar of minced garlic in my refrigerator. It's so convenient and a big time-saver. You can also use 2-3 fresh cloves or ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Slivered almonds: for a little crunch! Chopped walnuts or pecans can be substituted.
- Heavy cream: no canned soup here. Instead we're using heavy cream to create a delicious, homemade sauce for our casserole.
- Salt & black pepper: simple seasonings go a long way in this recipe.
- Crushed/dried marjoram leaves: oregano is a good substitute if you don't have marjoram.
- Gluten free flour: use your favorite 1:1 baking flour replacement. I like Bob's Red Mill.
- Shredded parmesan cheese: fresh is best but pre-shredded will get the job done!
How To Make Healthy Green Bean Casserole
Keep scrolling for the full recipe card and measurements. We’ll start here with a quick overview!
Prep work:
- Rinse green beans and pat them dry. Trim ends and chop in half.
- Dice onion into small pieces.
- If you're using fresh garlic cloves, mince them up now. I typically use a jar of minced garlic for convenience sake!
- Measure heavy cream, salt, pepper, marjoram and gluten free flour into a large bowl. Whisk until well combined and set aside.
Sauté veggies:
- Measure olive oil into a large skillet or pot on the stovetop and turn heat to medium-high. Add green beans, diced onion and slivered almonds. Sauté 10-15 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.
- Transfer mixture to a 9x13 inch baking dish and set aside.
Make sauce:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Place your pot back on the stovetop and reduce heat to low.
- Pour cream mixture into the pot on the stove top and stir constantly until it thickens, then remove from heat.
Assemble casserole:
- Pour thickened sauce over green beans mixture in the casserole dish.
- Add half of your parmesan cheese (reserve the rest to make topping).
- Stir everything together until well combined.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes!
Make topping:
- While your casserole is in the oven, use remaining parmesan cheese to make topping.
- Place a nonstick skillet on medium heat.
- Once hot, sprinkle cheese into the pan. *Tip: don't overcrowd the skillet, cook cheese in small batches.
- When cheese turns golden brown, remove pan from the heat source.
- Remove browned cheese from the pan, allow it to cool and then crumble into pieces.
- Once casserole is done, sprinkle with crispy parmesan (or whatever crunchy topping you desire).
Serve:
- Serve warm alongside all of your Thanksgiving favorites and enjoy!
More Toppings For Green Bean Casserole
If you're not worried about making this recipe gluten free, you can to sprinkle your casserole with traditional crispy fried onions. Or, you can look for gluten free fried onions!
Pictured below are 3 of my favorite, alternative gluten free topping options: store bought parmesan crisps (bottom left), crumbled sweet potato chips (top left) and homemade fried parmesan cheese (right).
How To Store Leftovers:
Allow leftover green bean casserole to cool and place it in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Reheat your casserole in the microwave. I prefer to heat in 30 second increments until fully warmed through and then add extra crispy topping once it's hot!
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Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9x13 inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lbs fresh green beans *see note below
- 1 medium yellow onion *or white onion
- 1 tablespoon (or 2-3 fresh cloves) minced garlic *see note below
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 1 & ⅓ cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon marjoram leaves *crushed/dried *or use Oregano
- 2 teaspoons gluten free flour *see note below
- 1 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese *divided *see note below
Recipe notes:
Green beans: sometimes you'll be able to find pre washed/pre chopped green beans in the produce section. This is a great time saver, but typically a little more expensive! Minced garlic: I always keep a jar of minced garlic in my refrigerator. It's a huge time saver. I love garlic but I don't always want to mince by hand, this is a great alternative! Gluten free flour: I use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-1 Baking Flour. If you don't need this recipe to be gluten free, you can also use regular all-purpose flour. Parmesan cheese: half of your cheese will get mixed into the casserole. The other half will be fried to make crispy parmesan cheese topping. If you don't want to make your own topping you can substitute store bought parmesan crisps or crumbled sweet potato chips. If you don't need this recipe to be gluten free you can also use traditional fried onion topping.Instructions
- Rinse, dry, trim and halve green beans. Dice onion, and chop up garlic cloves (unless you're using a jar of minced garlic *see recipe notes).
- Whisk heavy cream, salt, pepper, marjoram and gluten free flour together in a small bowl and set aside.1 & ⅓ cups heavy cream, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon marjoram leaves, 2 teaspoons gluten free flour
- Measure olive oil into a large skillet or pot and place on medium-high heat. (I normally use a large stock pot. 2 pounds of green beans is a lot and many skillets are too small).
- Add green beans, diced onion and slivered almonds to the pot. Sauté 10-15 minutes, until onion softens. Then, stir in minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.
- Transfer green bean mixture to a 9x13 inch casserole dish and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place pot (or skillet) back on the stove and reduce heat to low. Add heavy cream mixture and stir constantly until thickened, then remove from heat.
- Pour sauce over green beans in the casserole dish. Add half of your parmesan cheese and stir everything together. Bake for 45-50 minutes until green beans are nice and tender!
- While casserole bakes, use remaining cheese to make your topping! Place a non-stick frying pan on the stovetop on medium heat. Once hot, sprinkle parmesan cheese into the pan. *Tip: don't overload the pan, cook cheese in small batches.
- Once cheese browns, remove pan from heat. After 30-45 seconds, use a spatula to remove fried cheese from the pan and set it aside to cool. Repeat until remaining ½ cup of cheese has been browned.
- Crumble cooled cheese into small pieces.
- When your casserole is done baking, sprinkle with crispy parmesan (or whatever crunchy topping you've chosen to use). Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Kim | Shiplap and Shells says
These sound amazing Stacy! And the fact that they are healthier than the more traditional green beans is an added bonus.
stacey_olson says
Thank you, Kim! I agree!