Get ready for this delicious, traditional Southern Style, made from scratch Paula Deen Green Bean Casserole recipe. This is the best classic side dish made with fresh green beans, french fried onions, fresh mushrooms, and topped with a cheesy layer. A simple and easy side dish perfect for the holidays. Make ahead of time, or make the day of, you won't be disappointed.
Make ahead for an easier thanksgiving prep. This printable recipe can be doubled or even tripled depending on the size of dinner you are hosting.
We found this Original recipe in a Food Network magazine and wanted to try out our own spin on this traditional side dish making healthier changes. This side dish is great for Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, Easter dinner, or a fun family dinner.
We love a good side dish. Try our other fun and fast side dishes like our Roasted Maple Brussel Sprouts, Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Casserole, creamed corn, Paula Deen's Deviled Eggs, Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce or our homestyle Popeye's Biscuits.
The original recipe can be found here. We have made alterations and substitutions to the original dish.
Looking for a main dish to make with this green bean casserole? Try our amazing 3 ingredient Ham. The two dishes pair deliciously together! Add Sweet Potato Pie for a full spread.
For Diary Free, Vegan and Keto options, look to our substitutions and variations to adapt the recipe to your needs.
Ingredients
- Fresh Green Beans - this recipe uses fresh green beans but you can also use canned green beans, or frozen green beans.
- Chicken Broth
- Cream of Mushroom Soup- We love using Campbells' cream of mushroom soup for this recipe. You can also substitute and use cream of chicken soup instead. To make this recipe without cream of mushroom soup, look below to our substitutions.
- Cheddar cheese - we love cheese, and this is a cheesy side dish!
- French Fried Onions- Our favorite brand to use is French's but off brand works as well.
- Butter- salted butter has the best taste for this dish.
- Mushrooms- for this recipe you can use portobello, cremini, or white button variety. You can also use canned mushrooms or another variety of your liking.
- Yellow Onion - the taste of yellow onion pairs nicely with this dish. Purple onion can also be used as a substitute if needed.
- Table Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- In a large fry pan, melt the butter and sauté the onions and mushrooms.
2. Wash the fresh greens and remove the ends. Cut in thirds and boil in a pot of chicken broth until tender. Drain and set aside.
3. In a 9x13 casserole dish, add the cooked green beans, sautéed mushrooms and onions, cream of mushrooms soup and french fried onions.
4. Mix altogether and place in the oven to cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with a cheddar cheese and cook for another 10 minutes until cheesy and golden brown.
5. Serve this traditional made from scratch southern style green bean casserole with turkey, ham, or your favorite main dish.
Hint: If you don't have fresh green beans, you can substitute for frozen green beans, or canned green beans.
Substitutions
- Frozen Green Beans - when using frozen green beans, just like fresh green beans, boil the beans in the chicken broth.
- Canned Green Beans - when using canned green beans, skip boiling the beans in the chicken broth and mix the drained canned green beans directly with the mushroom soup, sautéed vegetables, and french fried onions.
- Vegan- make this a vegan side dish for thanksgiving by using vegan cream of mushroom soup, and your favorite vegan cheese. Use this recipe here to make your own vegan soup substitute.
- Diary Free- To make this a dairy free thanksgiving side dish, use dairy free cream of mushroom soup as found here, and your favorite dairy free cheese. Or skip the cheese and top with more French's fried onions.
- Healthy- This dish has already been modified from the original recipe to make a healthier option. Other options to make a healthier recipe is to use reduced fat cream of mushroom soup, half the cheese, or don't use french fried onions.
- Sour cream and Cream Cheese- instead of cream of mushroom soup use 4 ounces of softened cream cheese mixed with ½ cup of sour cream.
- Cream of chicken- substitute cream of mushroom soup with cream of chicken soup for similar results.
- Keto-to make this a low carb keto option, add sliced cooked bacon and instead of fried onions, mix in crushed pork rinds.
Variations
- Extra Crunch - add extra french fried onions to the top of the casserole if you want an extra crunch.
- No Cheese - Looking for a cheese free option, skip the final step and don't add the cheese to the top. Top with extra french fried onions.
- Garlic Powder - Add a teaspoon of garlic powder to give this homestyle casserole some extra flavor.
- Bacon- Add ½ cup baked bacon cut into bite sized pieces and mix in with casserole.
- Without French fried onions- Skip the french fried onions for similar tasting results.
- Tator tots- cook 2 cups of Tator tots until cripsy. Add to the bottom of the casserole dish and then top with the green bean mixture and bake as normal.
- Chicken- For added protein, add 1 cup shredded chicken with the cream of mushroom soup.
- Without mushrooms- Not a fan of mushrooms? Make this recipe without mushrooms by skipping the fresh mushrooms and using cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup.
- No soup- Use cream cheese and sour cream instead of cream of soups. Use 4 ounces of softened cream cheese and ½ cup sour cream.
Equipment
To ensure the best results with this recipe you will need the following items.
- 1 medium sauce pan
- 1 medium sauté pan
- 9x13 casserole dish
Storage
Store cooked casserole in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the oven, air fryer, or microwave when ready to serve again.
Make this holiday dish ahead of time and cook when your are ready to serve. Follow all steps until you are ready to bake in the oven. Then cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Up to 3 days.
This can help ease the burden of prepping big meals like Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner!
Assemble this recipe and before cooking in the oven cover and freeze for 1-2 months. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator. Once thawed, cook as instructed in the recipe.
Top tip
Once the cheese is on, you can cook until the cheese is just melted for a gooey dish, or you can cook until the cheese gets a little crispy on top.
This is a great make ahead recipe for the busy holiday cooking season. You can store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
Recipe
Paula Deen Green Bean Casserole
Equipment
- 9x13 Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup french fried onions
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups fresh green beans chopped into thirds
- ½ cup mushrooms sliced
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt butter in a large skillet and sauté mushrooms and onions until golden brown. Set aside.
- Remove both ends/tips of the fresh green beans and then chop the beans into thirds.
- In a medium size saucepan bring 3 cups of chicken broth to a boil.
- Place the chopped green beans into the boiling chicken broth and cook for ten minutes. Drain beans.
- In a 9x13 casserole dish, add the cooked green beans, cream of mushroom soup, french fried onions, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and salt and pepper. Stir well. Make sure the casserole is evenly distributed across the pan. See photos above for a great visual.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, top with cheddar cheese and cook for another 10 minutes.
Notes
- Use frozen green beans or canned beans instead of fresh. Don't boil the canned green beans as you would the fresh green beans.
- Use cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushrooms soup if preferred.
Nutrition
Fresh green beans leave you with tender yet crips green bean with lots of flavor. Using canned green beans makes for a quicker side dish but may loose some flavor and will not be crisp yet tender.
In the case where your green bean casserole is watery, use a roux or starch to thicken up the sauce.
This is a perfect side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. It pairs great with potatoes, chicken, or turkey.
Absolutely. Assemble the casserole the night before and cover with plastic uncooked. You can even keep the uncooked casserole in the refrigerator for 3 days. Pull out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
Yes! Make the casserole as directed. Before cooking, cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator and once thawed, cook as directed.
Kelley
This is such a classic green bean recipe but better! Love that I can make this for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!
Heather Johnson
i'd never made one with cheese and mushrooms but i love my paula deen air fryer - so i felt like i should try paula's green bean casserole!!!! it was delicious!!! i'm making it again for easter!
Suja md
This looks amazing and such a classic paula deen dish. I love this copycat recipe, it's much easier to follow. Thank you!
whitney
This recipe has so much more flavor than a classic green been casserole, will be serving this one instead for easter!!
Sisley White - Sew White
This is such an easy recipe to follow. I can't wait to try adding some chilli or spice into too.
Nicole
We love this homemade green bean casserole recipe by Paula Deen! We like it more than French's or Campbell's or any others we've tried. Thanks for sharing and for the clear directions. It's soooo good! Love that it's made with fresh green beans from scratch! YUM!
JH
This was exactly the Green Bean Casserole I was looking for. I love that it uses fresh green beans and the cheesy top mixed with the french fried onions. My family loved it!