You are welcome to make your own cream of mushroom soup. You are welcome to use fresh green beans. And you can make your own fried onions – or even use fried shallots. Go on with ya bad self. I bet it’s going to be delicious. That’s just not what I want in mine. But if you want to take that classic version and kick it up a notch – or three – man, do I have a recipe for you. I add fresh mushrooms for even more umami flavor and add… wait for it… BACON! Yes, I love the smoky flavor that bacon adds to this dish and it complements the mushrooms beautifully! I’ve always had a love affair with the bacon and mushrooms combo.
So here it is… My Ultimate Green Bean Casserole. If you want to take a few extra steps and take your GBC to the next level, you’ve just got to try this. It is SERIOUSLY the best GBC I’ve ever, ever had! And that’s staying something, ’cause I’ve eaten a lot of this casserole over the years. Oh, did I mention that I added cheese, too? Yep. Monterey Jack. Y’all, this is seriously amazing. You need to try it. And pin it on Pinterest so others can try it to. Enjoy!
Ultimate Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon
- 1/2 onion finely diced
- 1 1/2 cup chopped button mushrooms
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 (10.5-ounce) cans cream of mushroom condensed soup
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- salt and pepper
- 4 (14.5-ounce) cans cut green beans, drained
- 1 1/2 cups French fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly spray a 13X9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium low heat until crisp. Remove to drain on paper towels, then crumble. Drain away all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease, then return the pan to medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the undiluted mushroom soup and add the crumbled bacon back. Stir to combine. Stir in the milk and cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fold in the green beans until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Top with the fried onions. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the casserole is hot a bubbly.
What brand of green beans do you use or recommend please?
I typically use Del Monte.
How about fresh cooked POLE beans???
I think they would work just fine.
I agree! Green bean casserole wouldn’t be the same without those 3 ingredients, but that’s not to say it can’t be improved upon. I’m making your version this year!
Thanks, Pam! I sure hope you’ll enjoy it!
Could you clarify how much “French Fried Onions” should be used on the top of the casserole? It looks like it says 1 1/s cups French Fried Onion…. This sounds really good–can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
It should be 1 1/2 cups. Hope you’ll enjoy!
I would like to replace the canned beans with fresh, cooked beans. Can you recommend how many ounces I would use? Still 58?
I’d use about 1 1/2 pounds of fresh beans.
I made this version for Thanksgiving, with fresh green beans (2 pounds). It was an absolute hit!
I boiled the green beans in chicken broth for 10 minutes to soften them.
Awesome! Glad y’all enjoyed it!!
All except the french fried onions, could this be prepared the night before, or would it make it soggy?
I made mine last night and plan on putting the fried onions on and cooking today. My mother has been a professional cook for 35 years and she said I can do it this way. 🙂
Can you use french style green beans?
Sure!
Something that I have always done is use all 4 kinds of green beans (whole, cut, French style & Italian) in my recipe. I love the way that makes the finished casserole look & taste.
What a GREAT idea!
Do you think I could make this in a slow cooker?
Hmmm… I don’t see why not.
Can you make ahead and the cook?
Everything but the onions. Just add them right before cooking.
This recipe worked amazing! I used 2 lbs of fresh green beans which subbed well for the casserole. Family loved it. Thank you!
So glad y’all enjoyed it!
Green bean casserole, meh. That is what I used to think until I made this recipe for our Christmas dinner this year and just let me say I could not get enough of it! It was the best I have ever had and even better the next day as all of the flavors seemed to just explode! Will definitely be my go to green bean casserole!
SO glad to hear you enjoyed it, Janet! I won’t make it any other way either! 🙂
Could you sub canned mushrooms for the button mushrooms?
You can, though the texture will be very different.
Well, I kinda followed your recipe… I didn’t have any cream of mushroom soup, didn’t have any plain Monteray Jack cheese… so this is what I did: combined some directions from a recipe I found on daringgourmet.com with some of yours. Yes, I love bacon, so I used it! Yes, I love cheese, and had some Pepper Jack, so used it; I had a variety pack of dried mushrooms from Costco, so reconstituted about 1 cup word, then cut into small pieces. So after frying the bacon, sauteed onions, garlic and mushrooms with the bacon. Removed to the bacon plate. Then added 3 Tbsp butter, added approximately 1/2 cup flour, slowly added half and half then milk to make a nice rue seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Added approximately 1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese, and as it thickened, I added the bacon/mushroom mixture into it. Then added my freshly blanched garden green beans. I placed into two (2) 8×8 inch dishes, topped with a thin layer of Mexican cheese blend then tater tots, and baked for 30 minutes at 350* It turned out absolutely delicious, but did take a little (a lot) more time than your simple recipe, Stacey!! Had to prep those green beans and blanch, and that takes time! Boredom, which you mentioned under a lemon dessert recipe cannot be found here! Lol! Thanks for sharing your love of cooking!!
Sounds great, Kimberly!!
This is by far the best green bean casserole iv ever had
Nothing makes me happier than comments like this! Thanks, Teresa!
I don’t eat bacon- do you think I could use Liquid Smoke instead? If so, any idea how much I should use? I don’t want to overpower the dish.
I’m super worried about liquid smoke overpowering. You could start with a drop or two and just work up from there.
What size baking dish did you use? (Beginner cooker here in charge of this for thanksgiving!)
You got this! 9×13-inch will work perfectly for this! Good luck!
Want to make chicken and rice or noodle soup
If using fresh green beans instead of canned, do I need to blanch them before folding them into the mixture?
Depending on weather you like your green beans completely tender, you might want to cook them all the way through before adding them. Canned beans are usually cooked soft straight from the can. If you like them to have more crunch, blanching them will work.
I’m preparing approximately 30 servings. Triple ingredients??
Sounds about right to me! Y’all enjoy!
Could I omit the mushrooms all together? Would I need to add more beans or something to it if doing a 9×13 still?
You can simply leave them out. No need for a substitution. 🙂
It says to stir in the diluted mushroom soup – how did you dilute it? Thanks!
Oh goodness. Nevermind. My eyes are playing tricks on me! It clearly says UNDILUTED! 🙂
No worries! 🙂
My son asked me to make a green bean casserole last Thanksgiving for his work pot luck dinner. I chose this recipe because it looked wonderful & had such good reviews. I doubled it & prepared it in a slow cooker because they don’t have a kitchen there. They (all guys) ate every bite & raved how good it was. Guess what his coworkers want him to bring this year!! 😉 I haven’t made it for us at home because my youngest grandson HATES green beans, but my son said it’d be nice to have on our Thanksgiving table so I’ll get to have some this year! Thanks for posting this fabulous recipe.
This makes me so happy! I’m just so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Sliced Water Chestnuts make it crunchy !!!
Yes they do!
Hey Stacey!
I just decided to make this as my side for tomorrow. Can I get started on this now? Would you go ahead and mix in the bacon or should I add the bacon & crispy onions tomorrow? This looks amazing and I can’t wait to eat it!
Thanks again for everything you do! Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m starting today as well and am doing just as you suggested – waiting and adding my bacon and onions tomorrow right before baking. Hope y’all enjoy!! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks Stacey!
This is the Ultimate Green Bean Casserole!!!!
Glad you think so too!
canned beans are for losers.
Call me a loser, then! 🙂
Made this today for Thanksgiving 2018 and loved it!!! Thank you!!
Awesome! Glad it turned out great for you!
By far the BEST green bean casserole recipe ever! We made a few adjustments as follows (my husband is allergic to onions so I’m used to getting creative): 1/3 C very finely diced celery instead of onions, 1.5x the amount of minced garlic, splash of Worcestire and sprinkle of paprika when cooking down the mushroom/celery/garlic mixture, and instead of French’s onions we used shoestring potato French fries on top. I also threw the casserole back in the oven on broil for a few minutes with Monterey Jack sprinkled over the top until it was bubbly & brown.
Thank you so much for the recipe!
Sounds amazing! So glad y’all enjoyed it, Meagan!
I must admit I’m not a fan of green bean casserole usually, but I needed some easy make ahead sides for a large family gathering. This really is the best recipe out there. The addition of the bacon really elevates this dish and a bit of cheese makes it thick and creamy!
So glad that y’all enjoyed it, Erin!!
This will forever be the recipe that will bring to table. I omitted the mushrooms. And used Cream Celery Soup instead. Bacon just makes everything better.
So glad you’ve enjoyed it, Ted!!!