Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
The holidays wouldn’t be the same without a fried onion topped, creamy, green bean casserole. It’s comfort food at its finest and you simply can’t go wrong with this holiday classic.
Although green bean casseroles are one of America’s top rated holiday vegetable dishes, most variations of this recipe are loaded with dairy and sodium (typically from soy sauce or tamari)— two ingredients that can make you feel heavy and bloated after a meal. While the cream of mushroom soup is a key ingredient for adding the savory flavor to the casserole, a condensed cream soup doesn’t work for those following plant based or vegan diets. Luckily, you don’t have to skip this dish. There’s a great way to make the same your green bean casserole you love, dairy-free, more nutritious, and equally (if not more) delicious.
The biggest difference in this recipe is how you make the sauce. To make a vegan cream of mushroom sauce, you only need a few simple ingredients: fresh cremini mushrooms, garlic, onion, whole wheat flour, cashew milk, and vegetable broth (choose low sodium broth to further prevent the holiday bloat). In the spirit of making this recipe even more nutrient packed, we recommend adding one teaspoon of Sun Chlorella to the mix. Once these ingredients are fully combined, you’re left with a perfectly creamy, savory plant based, mushroom sauce, and you're ready to rock the holiday green bean casserole.
Ingredients
4 cups green beans, rinsed and cut in half
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp vegan butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cup cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp/3g Sun Chlorella
4 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 cup vegetable broth or 1 bouillon cube mixed with one cup water.
1/2 cup cashew milk
3/4 cup crispy onion toppers
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling water for around 5-6 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
In a medium pan, add vegan butter, onion, and garlic and stir for 2 minutes. Then, add mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and cook until slightly browned.
Add the Sun Chlorella and whole wheat flour and stir until incorporated.
Add vegetable broth and cashew milk, both 1/4 cup at a time, until incorporated. Let simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens.
Add crispy onion toppers and green beans and mix until evenly coated.
Transfer to a casserole dish and top with more crispy onion toppers. Bake for 17-20 minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy!
Recipe Variations:
This recipe is easy to customize, and certain ingredients can be substituted if you don’t have them on hand:
- In place of cashew milk, you can use unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or another dairy-free milk.
- Feel free to top up with caramelized onions, fried onions, or gluten free panko breading for extra crunch in place of the crispy onion toppers.
- In place of vegan butter, you may use coconut oil or avocado oil.
- In place of one cup of vegetable broth, you can use one vegetable bouillon cube.
Author: Brandi Black, RHN