Easy Green Bean Casseroles

Caitlin Bensel

When you need a green bean casserole recipe for your holiday meal or covered dish dinner, look no further than this collection that includes traditional green bean casseroles as well as more daring versions featuring fresh mushrooms and onions, pecans, and cheese.

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Skillet Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas

Skillet Green Bean Casserole Recipe

We've shortened (and lightened) this holiday classic by bringing everything together in one pan and using the stovetop and broiler rather than baking.

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Old-School Green Bean Casserole

Victor Protasio

Old-School Green Bean Casserole Recipe

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Green Bean Casserole with Cauliflower Cream

Jennifer Causey

Green Bean Casserole with Cauliflower Cream Recipe

Once simmered in milk and pureed, cauliflower transforms into a silky, luscious cream sauce—a dead ringer for the classic yet with a much better profile, saving nearly 500mg sodium and 4g fat per serving. We intensify the mushroom presence by using meaty cremini and shiitake mushrooms and roasting them first to cook out the excess liquid. If you can’t find shiitakes, use 2 (8-oz.) packages of cremini mushrooms. Skip the fried onions and use torn whole-wheat bread for a rustic, crunchy topper.

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Home-style Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Amy Burke

Home-style Green Bean Casserole Recipe
This essential holiday casserole gets a much-needed makeover from fresh veggies and a lightened, but super-rich homemade sauce.

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Green Beans Supreme

Oxmoor House

Green Beans Supreme Recipe
Not your usual green bean casserole, this one is loaded with sour cream and cheese and has a white sauce instead of canned soup. It’s sure to become your new favorite casserole for holiday entertaining and potluck dinners.

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Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford

Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Go beyond the standard “recipe on the can” casserole by adding Alfredo sauce instead of cream of mushroom soup, water chestnuts, Parmesan cheese and toasted pecans.

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Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Oxmoor House

Green Bean Casserole Recipe
This holiday classic is sure to become a convenient family favorite throughout the year with the help of your slow cooker.

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Cheddar-Pecan Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Rose Nguyen

Cheddar-Pecan Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Toss blanched green beans with a buttermilk-Ranch dressing and top with panko breadcrumbs, crushed French-fried onions, chopped pecans, and shredded Cheddar cheese for a tasty twist on a traditional green bean casserole.

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Green Bean Casserole

HOWARD L. PUCKETT

Green Bean Casserole Recipe
This lightened version of a traditional green bean casserole is made with reduced-fat cheese and low-fat sour cream and is topped with a savory herb-seasoned stuffing mix.

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Green Bean Casserole with Madeira Mushrooms

Photo: Charles Masters

Green Bean Casserole with Madeira Mushrooms Recipe
Here's a deliciously updated version of the classic, with fresh green beans and wine-infused mushrooms. We just had to keep the fried onion topping, which is arguably the best part.

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Shoepeg & Green Bean Casserole

Oxmoor House

Shoepeg & Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Perk up your usual green bean casserole with the addition of shoepeg corn and sour cream, then top with a buttery cracker topping.

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Green Bean Casserole

Oxmoor House

Green Bean Casserole Recipe
We reduced the fat but not the flavor in this family favorite recipe by substituting crushed Melba rounds and onion flakes for the canned fried onion rings.

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Crock-Pot Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Adam Hickman

Crock-Pot Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Save yourself a little bit of valuable oven space this holiday season, because what’s likely to be your new favorite green bean casserole recipe is made in the slow cooker. While green been casserole has a reputation for coming out a dull, dingy color (not to mention, a little mushy), a couple of easy tricks keep our crock-pot version of the holiday essential feeling vibrant. First, blanching and shocking the green beans in an ice bath, though it may seem an unnecessary step, will keep your green beans bright and fresh, even after slow cooking. Second, cooking up a crisp, flavorful topping—featuring the traditional fried onions, along with fresh red onions for color and Parmesan cheese for an extra flavor boost—on the stovetop, and adding it before serving, takes this crock-pot casserole next-level.

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Homemade Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Leeks

Photo: Linda Puglies; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Homemade Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Leeks Recipe

You might have a go-to green bean casserole recipe, but you have to try this one. These thin, crispy fried leeks are an absolutely delicious casserole topper and look way more elegant than the canned fried onions. The leeks fry up very quickly; keep a close watch on them as they cook.

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Instant Pot Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Instant Pot Green Bean Casserole Recipe

This take on green bean casserole removes the add-ins you’d encounter with canned soup and frees up the stove and oven for all the other Thanksgiving dishes. Browning the onions adds so much flavor to the gravy while maintaining a Thanksgiving side that’s still somewhat light—there’s just enough sauce, but plenty of flavor. This casserole is also great reheated, or even chopped up and mixed in to a stir-fry.

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Green Bean Casserole

Caitlin Bensel

Green Bean Casserole Recipe

We’ve given the classic casserole an upgrade by swapping sodium-heavy canned soup for a rich and chunky homemade mushroom sauce. For bean blanching instructions, see the note on the recipe at left.

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16 Easy Green Bean Casserole Recipes

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Skillet Green Bean Casserole

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Old-School Green Bean Casserole

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Green Bean Casserole with Cauliflower Cream

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Home-style Green Bean Casserole

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Green Beans Supreme

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Green Bean Casserole

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Green Bean Casserole

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Cheddar-Pecan Green Bean Casserole

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Green Bean Casserole

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Green Bean Casserole with Madeira Mushrooms

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Shoepeg & Green Bean Casserole

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Green Bean Casserole

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Crock-Pot Green Bean Casserole

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Homemade Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Leeks

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Instant Pot Green Bean Casserole

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Green Bean Casserole

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