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Made with creamy cheddar cheese, crispy fried onions, cozy cream of mushroom soup, and more, this classic Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole hits all the right notes. It’s a quick and easy side dish that nobody can get enough of!
Why You’ll Love This Green Bean Casserole Recipe
This green bean casserole is one of those classic holiday dishes that I find myself craving year-round. But, if I ate it too often, it wouldn’t feel quite as special on days like Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, I like to reserve it for the holiday season… for the most part. Here’s why I think you’ll love it just as much as I do:
- Creamy and crispy. Each bite of this cozy casserole is filled with creamy mushroom soup, tender green beans, and crispy French’s fried onions. The overall texture is next-level.
- Flavor, flavor, flavor. This Campbell’s green bean casserole is packed with spicy hot sauce, sharp cheddar cheese, earthy mushroom soup, salty soy sauce, and more. It’s an addicting combination for the tastebuds!
- Quick. It only takes 10 minutes to prep this casserole for the oven, and then all you have to do is wait for it to finish cooking.
- Perfect for all kinds of occasions. You can serve this comforting side dish at your Thanksgiving/Christmas feast, or alongside a casual weeknight dinner. Up to you!
Ingredient Notes
My favorite thing about this creamy green bean casserole is the trio of secret ingredients that give it an extra boost of flavor: a little soy sauce, some Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of hot sauce. I have to credit my brilliant mother for that game-changing hack. Sorry, Mom, the secret’s out!
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll need along with my notes. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for a printable list.
- Fresh Green Beans – Don’t forget to blanch them before you add them to the casserole. We’ll go over this process in the step-by-step instructions.
- Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup – Campbell’s is my go-to soup for this recipe, but you can use whatever kind you like.
- Milk – Any kind you have in your fridge will work.
- Black Pepper – Freshly ground black pepper provides the best boost of flavor.
- Soy Sauce & Worcestershire Sauce – Add rich umami flavor to the casserole.
- Hot Sauce – Use your preferred brand to add a little kick!
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese – White cheddar is my go-to – the sharpness is so satisfying!
- Crispy Fried Onions – You should be able to find these in the canned foods section at your local grocery store. I usually use French’s fried onions (so you can call it a French’s green bean casserole too, if you like!).
Do I Have to Use Fresh Green Beans?
While I personally prefer to use fresh green beans for this casserole, you definitely don’t have to. I’ve made it with canned and frozen ones as well! Just ignore the blanching process if you’re not going the fresh route and follow the instructions that apply to the green beans you’re using.
- For Canned Green Beans: Be sure to drain them well.
- For Frozen Green Beans: Let them thaw in the fridge overnight or defrost them in the microwave. Drain the green beans well after thawing/defrosting.
Can I Make This Casserole Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! You have so much to prepare for the holidays, why not make life simpler and do some prep work in advance? Start by combining everything but the crispy fried onions, cover the bowl tightly with clear wrap, then refrigerate it for 1-2 days.
When you’re ready to bake your casserole, mix in the fried onions and continue to follow the recipe as usual. You may have to add a few minutes to the initial bake time since the casserole will be going in cold.
Tips & Variation Ideas
- Don’t go overboard with the blanching. You only want to blanch your green beans until they’re just starting to get tender. If they soften up too much, they’ll end up overcooking. Submerge them in ice-cold water as soon as you’re done blanching them to halt the cooking process.
- Season the casserole to fit your taste preferences. Whether you want to kick up the heat with a little extra hot sauce or fully omit a flavoring you’re not too fond of, go right ahead. Your casserole, your call!
- Bake the casserole immediately. Make sure the oven is done preheating when you combine the ingredients. If the mixture sits for too long, the fried onions will start to lose their crispiness.
- Add bacon bits. Crispy bacon makes everything better, including this casserole!
Frequently Asked Questions
It could be because the green beans were not drained thoroughly enough, and too much water was added to the casserole. If you use fresh, blanched green beans, be sure to drain the ice-cold water completely before adding the veggies to the casserole. If you use frozen or canned green beans, also be sure to carefully drain those according to the instructions above.
You can use fresh, frozen, or canned green beans – they all work! Perhaps going over the differences in texture and taste will help you make up your mind. Canned green beans are the softest and tend to have the least flavor, whereas frozen green beans are the crunchiest with the strongest flavor. Fresh green beans are a happy medium, so that’s what I tend to go with.
Serving Suggestions
Every time I serve this easy green bean casserole, I fall in love with it all over again. Of course, it pairs great with more festive side dishes like homemade stuffing (another Thanksgiving must-have), cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole. For a savory holiday main, try this Instant Pot pork roast. It comes complete with tender roasted carrots and potatoes!
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
It’s definitely best to enjoy this casserole fresh, but leftovers can be stored and reheated later if necessary. Just keep in mind that the onions will lose their crispiness. If you’d like, you can add some new ones just before reheating.
- Store in the fridge: Transfer the cooled casserole to an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: Reheat it in an oven-safe dish at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until it’s heated through.
- Can I freeze it? Technically, yes, but the fried onions will soften just like they would in the fridge. If you don’t mind this, you can freeze your casserole in a freezer-safe container for up to 4 months. Thaw it out in the fridge overnight before you reheat it.
More Holiday Side Dishes
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Creamy Cornbread Casserole
- Loaded Sweet Potato Casserole
- Mom’s Amazing Baked Beans
Green Bean Casserole
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This cozy Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole has sharp cheddar cheese, crunchy fried onions, and cream of mushroom soup wrapped up in a classic side dish. Perfect for casual dinners and holiday feasts!
Ingredients
- 4 cups green beans*
- 10.5 ounce can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- dash of hot sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar cheese)
- 1 1/2 cups crispy fried onions, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- If using fresh green beans, trim the ends and put in a microwave safe bowl with about two tablespoons of water. Cover loosely with clear wrap and microwave for 5-7 minutes, or until they begin to get tender. Keep in mind that they’ll continue to cook in the oven. When done, cover the green beans in cold water to keep them from cooking more.
- If using frozen green beans, microwave until thawed, then drain them.
- If using canned green beans, drain them.
- In a large bowl, combine the green beans, soup, milk, pepper, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, cheddar cheese and 1 cup of crispy fried onions.
- Pour the mixture into a 1 1/2 quart dish and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Top the casserole with the remaining crispy fried onions and bake for another 5 minutes, then serve.
Notes
- Can use fresh, canned or frozen green beans. If using canned, you’ll need two 14.5 oz cans. If using frozen, a 16-oz bag of green beans is about 5 cups.
- Makes 6-8 servings.
- To Store & Reheat: Transfer cooled casserole to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Note that onions will lose their crispiness – add new ones just before reheating if desired. Reheat casserole in an oven-safe dish at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until heated through.
- To Freeze: Fried onions will soften just like they would in the fridge. If you don’t mind this, freeze casserole in a freezer-safe container for up to 4 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 116
- Sugar: 2.3 g
- Sodium: 439.4 mg
- Fat: 7.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.2 g
- Protein: 5.6 g
- Cholesterol: 15.1 mg
Do I have to microwave the green beans if they are bagged fresh and trimmed-washed?
Yes, you’ll want to follow step number 2 for fresh beans.
I’m prepping it. But it seems like too much milk. It looks runny. Is that normal
It shouldn’t be runny. I would check and make sure you had added the right amount of milk.
Good and easy! Thank you!
That is what I thought! Thank you! It looks amazing will be making it soon! will let you know how it works out!
Have a blessed day!
Sheila
What brand of onions to you add to the top or do you make your own?
Thanks ,Sheila
I believe the brand is Frenchs.
I made this and it was delicious. I really liked the crunch, not too soup-y at all. It is quite different to how I’ve made green bean casserole in the past but I really like it this way. My family loved it too. I’ll be making this a regular dish in our home from now on. Thanks for a great recipe.
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
Sorry to be a major PITA but I don’t want to mess things up now!!! Green bean casserole looks gorgeous – and tastes great. (I sampled it when it came out of the oven.) It’s in a 9.5 by 13 Corning glass casserole dish. QUESTION (S): How do I reheat it tomorrow? I will put it out to come to room temp. What oven temperature for reheating, and how long?
I promise this is my last question – for Thanksgiving anyway!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING LINDSAY! Thank you for adding love to ours!
I’m glad you’re happy with it! I would cover it with foil and then reheat it at 350 for probably 20 minutes – or until it’s warm/hot. Enjoy!
First time to try and make it.
Lindsay, this is turning into a Lindsay Thanksiving so to try to be helpful, maybe I can ask you BOTH of my questions here rather than go to each recipe! (Only trying to help.)
1. I’ve double the recipe for the green bean cassrole. When it comes to reheating on TG, oven temp and time please?
2. I decided to take your advice and frost my Berry Marscapone cake only a day ahead. Once it is frosted and refrigerated, does it need to be covered or can I leave it without any kind of covering in the refrig? THANK YOU!
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipes for Thanksgiving!
It’s hard to say what the time should be. Are you using the same size dish the recipe calls for? If so, you’ll probably need another 15-20 minutes. If you’re using a larger dish, it depends on the size and thickness of the casserole. I’d keep an eye on it and bake it to the right consistency, keeping in mind things firm up as they cool.
For the cake, it should be ok leaving it uncovered as long as you don’t have something else with a strong flavor near it that would end up lending flavor to the whipped cream. The only other risk you run is the whipped cream drying out a bit.
Can the Worcestershire sauce be omitted or substituted with something else?
Yes, you can leave it out.
Would you lengthen the cook time if you doubled this recipe? Our leave it about the same?
It kind of depends. If you double it and put it in the same size pan, you’re definitely going to need to increase the time because it’s a lot thicker to cook through, if that makes sense. If you put it in a bigger pan then you may not need to increase the baking time by much.
We are a family that likes things anti-soupy. So finding this recipe made us happy. It turned out well and we were happy with the results. Another note: we have only eaten green bean casserole once before years ago. We don’t have much to compare it to, but we like it. 👍😁
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I made this and agree that I love the cheese in the casserole. I have used the soy sauce & Worcestershire sauce in it for years.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can this be made the day ahead and then baked the day of thanksgiving?
Definitely!
What size pan should this be baked in?
It’s a 1 1/2 quart dish. Mine is about a 9×7 size, but another shape or size would work as long as it holds roughly the same amount.
My recipe has water chestnuts in it that gives it a little crunch and no cheese. I’ve never heard of putting cheese in it!
Oh, fun! I haven’t ever heard of the water chestnuts. 🙂 Fun to hear all the little differences everyone has! The cheese is a more recent addition for me and I love the flavor and creaminess it adds – so good!
This sounds amazing! For some reason I can’t find the print button!
Hmm, it wasn’t showing for some reason, but it is now. It’s just under the photo within the recipe card. Thanks Annie!