It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without this Classic Green Bean Casserole recipe. With warm, tender green beans in a creamy mixture and crispy onions on top, you can’t go wrong with this easy recipe for Thanksgiving dinner.
This is a favorite holiday side dish that you will find on most holiday tables for Thanksgiving. We know how many thanksgiving side dishes there are to choose from, but we’d argue that this delicious classic flavor is probably the one most associated with the holiday meal.
One of the great things is that you can make this recipe up the night before, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge, and then bake it the next day.
To make the best green bean casserole recipe, follow the easy instructions below with a few minutes of prep, and enjoy the classic dish your whole family will love.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our green bean casserole, you need the following ingredients:
- Soup: you will need canned cream of mushroom soup that you can find in the soup aisle
- Milk: use either whole milk or even evaporated milk if you prefer
- Pepper: to season this original recipe, you will only need ground black pepper
- Beans: you will need cut canned green beans to make this family favorite side dish
- Crispy fried onions: use the container of French’s French Fried Onions or a similar brand if you prefer for the tasty onion topping
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Classic Green Bean Casserole
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a mixing bowl, combine soup, milk, and pepper.
- Drain your green beans. Fold in green beans and ⅔ cups onions into the soup mixture.
- Pour into a pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle on remaining fried onions.
- Bake for 5-10 more minutes or until onions are golden brown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Using fresh green beans or frozen green beans isn’t great for this specific recipe. However, if you do choose to use them, be sure to cook them in advance to make sure they are tender. We would recommend steaming them.
Instead of using milk or evaporated milk, use unsweetened soy milk or unsweetened almond milk.
You could use sour cream seasoned with some salt, pepper, and onion powder or you could make our homemade green bean casserole without condensed soup as well.
If you are having a hard time finding french-fried onions for this classic holiday side dish you could always top it with a mixture of crush up crackers and minced onion or even leave it out completely.
Freezing and Reheating Instructions
Freezer: Let the casserole cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and freeze the casserole for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Green bean casserole is best reheated in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 F, place it in an over-safe container, then cover it with foil and bake it for 45 minutes and enjoy!
Enjoy More Delicious Green Bean Side Dishes
Need the perfect compliment to your main dish? You’ll want to try these delicious side dishes. Browse our comprehensive collection of simple side dish recipes.
- Brown Sugar and Bacon Green Beans
- Cheesy Garlic Green Beans
- Homemade Green Bean Casserole
- Instant Pot Green Beans
- Oven Baked Green Beans
- Slow Cooker Green Beans
Classic Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 10.75 ounces cream of mushroom soup
- ¼ cup milk
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 2 14 ounce green beans, canned
- 1 ⅓ cup fried onions, French's
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a mixing bowl, combine soup, milk, and pepper.
- Drain your green beans. Fold in green beans and ⅔ cups onions.
- Pour into a 9×9 inch pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle on remaining fried onions.
- Bake for 5-10 more minutes or until onions are golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Love green bean casserole! Its an essential at our house for thanksgiving 🙂
I was just thinking we needed to bring a veggie dish to thanksgiving! This one might be just perfect!
if any of your readers are allergic to mushrooms, they (myself included along with other family members) you need not do without this wonderful veggie dish. just substitute cream of celery soup and it is delicious.
What, no sautéed bacon and onions in with the mushroom soup and green beans? That’s what makes it!
Yum! I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving this year– thank you so much for sharing!
No one in my family likes mushrooms so I always substitute with cream of chicken soup! The casserole tastes great with it!
can this be made with fresh green beans instead of canned green beans
Yes, but you would need to make adjustments. Green beans in the can are already cooked. So take that into consideration for the cooking time.
Can you double this recipe and if so how long does it cook?
You can easily double this recipe. It should work great in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Cook time should be about the same.
I added bacon & cheddar cheese. Also sprinkled in some Jalapeño Cajun seasoning.
I added some fiesta corn and did not use the milk, used cream of chicken soup with fresh mushrooms chopped, lots of cheese and durkee onions. Yum Yum