🥔 Sides & extras
Green bean casserole
Creamy, mushroomy, and gloriously crowned with crispy onions
⏱️ Time estimate: about 1 hour
This version keeps all the cozy holiday energy of green bean casserole, but leans skillet-forward, with caramelized onions, deeply browned mushrooms, tender green beans, and just enough creamy gravy.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound mushrooms, such as cremini, button, oyster, or maitake, quartered
- 1 pound green beans, stems trimmed and cut in half or coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 3/4 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated or chopped
- French’s fried onions, for topping
Instructions
- Cook the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Brown the mushrooms. Reduce the heat to medium, add the mushrooms, season again with salt and pepper, and cook until they shrink, soften, and brown deeply, another 10 to 12 minutes.
- Tenderize the beans. Add the green beans, season again, and toss to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green and tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Make the gravy. Add the butter and let it melt. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 2 to 3 minutes to toast it. Slowly add the milk, stirring and letting it thicken between additions. Stir in the soy sauce and garlic, then simmer until the vegetables are coated in a creamy gravy. Taste and season again.
- Bake. Heat the oven to 425°F. Top the skillet with plenty of fried onions and bake until browned and bubbling around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Serve. Let it settle for a few minutes, then scoop onto plates while the onion crown is still crisp.
Make-ahead friendly: you can prep the casserole base ahead of time and add the crispy onions just before baking.