Green bean casserole is a holiday staple! This homemade, from scratch recipe is healthier than the traditional one and contains less processed ingredients.
It's made with no canned soup, fresh green beans and parmesan cheese crisps instead of fried onions. Tasty, low carb, gluten free goodness!
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INGREDIENTS FOR GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh green beans
- Yellow onions
- Minced garlic
- Slivered almonds
- Heavy cream
- Salt & pepper
- Crushed/dried marjoram leaves
- Gluten free flour
- Shredded parmesan cheese
Making Green Bean Casserole From Scratch - A Quick Overview:
Keep scrolling for the full recipe. We’ll start here with a quick rundown!
- Rinse and dry green beans. Trim ends and cut in half.
- Measure olive oil into a large pot on the stove top and turn heat to medium low.
- Add beans to the pot. Dice onion and mix into green beans along with slivered almonds.
- Sauté for 10-15 minutes. Add minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds more.
- Transfer mixture to a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
- Place pot back on the stove and reduce heat to low. Preheat oven to 350°F
- Whisk heavy cream, salt, pepper, marjoram and gluten free flour together in a small bowl. Pour mixture into the pot on the stove top and stir constantly until it thickens.
- Pour sauce over green beans in the casserole dish. Add half of your parmesan cheese and stir everything together.
- Bake for 50 minutes.
- Make cheese crisps while casserole bakes (see info on toppings below).
- Once casserole is done, sprinkle with crispy parmesan (or whatever crunchy topping you desire) and enjoy!
Toppings For Green Bean Casserole!
If you're not worried about making this recipe gluten free, you can choose to sprinkle your casserole with traditional fried onion topping. Below are 3 of my favorite gluten free options: store bought parmesan crisps (top left), crumbled sweet potato chips (top right) and homemade fried parmesan cheese (bottom).
To Make Your Own, Homemade Fried Parmesan Cheese:
Place a non-stick skillet on the stovetop and turn heat to low. Allow pan to heat, then sprinkle with shredded parmesan. Once it begins to brown, remove from heat. After 30-45 seconds, use a spatula to remove the crispy cheese from the pan and set it aside (once cool, you can break into smaller pieces). Repeat this process until you have enough topping. I fry about ½ cup of parmesan when I make this casserole.
STEP BY STEP PHOTOS:
Healthier Green Bean Casserole From Scratch
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lbs fresh green beans *see note below
- 2 small yellow onions
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic *see note below
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 1 & ⅓ cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed/dried marjoram leaves
- 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 and dry green beans. Trim ends and cut in half.
- Measure olive oil into a large frying pan or pot on the stove top and turn heat to medium low. (*Tip: I normally use a large stock pot, 2 lbs. of green beans is a lot, most frying pans are too small).
- Add green beans to the pot. Dice onion and mix into green beans along with slivered almonds.
- Sauté for 10-15 minutes, until onions begin to caramelize. Stir in minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds more.
- Transfer mixture to a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
- Place pot (or frying pan) back on the stove and reduce heat to low. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Whisk heavy cream, salt, pepper, marjoram and gluten free flour together in a small bowl. Pour mixture into the pot on the stove top and stir constantly until it thickens.
- 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, make your topping! Place a non-stick frying pan on the stovetop on low heat. Once hot, sprinkle parmesan cheese into the pan.
- Remove from heat once cheese browns. After 30-45 seconds, use a spatula to remove fried cheese from the pan and set aside (you'll be able to break it into small pieces once cool).
- Repeat until remaining ½ cup of cheese has been fried. (Tip: don't overload the pan, just do a little bit at a time. This will make the cheese easier to break up into smaller pieces).
- Once casserole is done, sprinkle with crispy parmesan (or whatever crunchy topping you've chosen to use).
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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More healthy holiday sides!
- Autumn Harvest Salad & Sweet Cinnamon Vinaigrette
- How To Make Cauliflower Mashed "Potatoes"
- Healthy Homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Roasted Carrots With Honey & Feta
- Fruit Salad With Whipped Cream
- Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
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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!