This ultra creamy Vegan Green Bean Casserole is a wholesome take on the classic but is so decadent that you’ll never guess it’s dairy free (gluten free option)!
I love Thanksgiving!!!
The food, the family…everything about it. Growing up, Thanksgiving was about eating three servings of Aunt Dee’s chocolate pecan pie, endless plates of Grandma’s sweet potato casserole with toasted marshmallows, and heaps on heaps of classic green bean casserole—french fried onions and all, baby!
And guess what? It still is!
My parents always did most of the Thanksgiving cooking since I was always so busy with school and work. But now that I’m a big girl who’ll be hosting my own turkey day before I know it, I decided it was time to buckle down and conquer the casserole.
‘Tis a very important casserole! Some people loathe it…but I’m obsessed.
Cream, crunchy, savory goodness. And hey, it’s a vegetable!
The magic is in the cashews!
So let’s talk about this Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole. The secret is the cashews!
Soaking them and then blending them with water creates this insanely thick and creamy addition that transforms the mushroom mixture into decadent heaven.
So thiccccckkkkk.
For the onion topping, I was inspired by Alton Brown’s Best Ever Green Bean Casserole. The onions are tossed with breadcrumbs and flour and baked in the oven until nice and crispy.
Layers and layers of texture, my friends.
Winner winner chickpea dinner.
Casserole, conquered.
I’m kind of sort of super duper proud of this Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole recipe. I hope you adore it as much as I do!
More amazing Thanksgiving recipes:
- Spinach Mushroom Herb Stuffing
- Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Favorite Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts with Butternut Squash, Walnuts, and Pomegranate
Healthy Green Bean Casserole
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 8-10 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This ultra creamy Vegan Green Bean Casserole is a wholesome take on the classic but is so decadent that you’ll never guess it’s dairy and gluten free!
Ingredients
- Heaping 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes or overnight
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 medium onions, divided
- 3 tbsp whole grain bread crumbs (sub certified GF bread crumbs if necessary)
- 3 tbsp flour (sub certified GF flour if necessary)
- 2 1/4 tsp fine sea salt (divided)
- 2 lbs frozen cut green beans
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (8oz) packages sliced mushrooms, chopped
- Pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (sub tamari for gluten-free)
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
- Lots of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 inch or 3qt baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Place cashews in a small bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside to soak for 30 minutes or overnight. (If you have a nutribullet or high speed blender, 10 minutes of soaking is fine.)
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475F and spray a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Thinly slice two of the onions and dice one onion, setting aside the diced one for later. Combine two sliced onions with bread crumbs, flour and 3/4 tsp salt in a large bowl, tossing to combine. Be sure to separate each individual onion piece. Spread onions in an even layer on baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, tossing halfway through. Watch carefully to make sure they don’t burn towards the end of cooking. Once onions are done, remove from oven and lower oven heat to 350F for casserole.
- Bring a large pot with two inches of water to a boil. Once boiling, add green beans. Bring back to a boil (this may take a while) and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain and run cold water over green beans to stop cooking. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add diced onion and cook for f5 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and for another 10 minutes, stirring often. Add nutmeg, soy sauce, white wine, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper. (It will taste salty, that’s ok!). Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Blend soaked cashews with water in a blender or food processor (I used my nutribullet) until completely smooth and creamy. Add cashew cream and 1/4 of the baked onions to vegetable mixture along with cooked green beans, stirring to combine.
- Spread mixture into prepared dish. Top with remaining baked onions. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes (if onions are on the crispier side, you can cover with foil for first half of cooking.) Serve hot!
Notes
To make this dish the day before, I make the green bean casserole portion (don’t bake) without the onion topping. The next day, I bake the onions, stir a handful into the green beans, put the rest on top, and bake for 20 minutes per the instructions.
This was a hit!! Even the non-health conscious people!! Going in my recipe book!
Right?! That’s the ultimate compliment–when the non-health conscious carnivores gobble it up 🙂 Happy holidays!
I’m wondering the same thing can this be made before hand and then baked day ofWe have 3 separate Thanksgiving to attend trying to make things as simple as possible!
Ps thanks for the wonderful recipe can’t wait to try it!
Hey Maggie! I actually did this over the weekend. I made the sauce and cooked the green beans then kept them in separate containers in the fridge. Next day I baked the onions and combined everything per the recipe. Worked great! I didn’t want to combine the green beans and sauce ahead of time because I was worried it would soak up too much sauce. Enjoy!
Has anyone done this the night before and then baked the next day?
That’s what I’m doing with mine. The pre-baked casserole is INCREDIBLE, so I have high hopes for tomorrow.
★★★★★
Hey there! I actually did this over the weekend. I made the sauce and cooked the green beans then kept them in separate containers in the fridge. Next day I baked the onions and combined everything per the recipe. Worked great! I didn’t want to combine the green beans and sauce ahead of time because I was worried it would soak up too much sauce. Enjoy!
Hate to criticize but this is NOT gluten free. So all of you looking for celiac friendly foods– I will need to modify it. Try sautéed onions/mushrooms with cauliflower simmered in almond milk and spices. Purée the soup and add to a slew of fresh green beans.
Make your own onion straws in advance coating with a little cornmeal mixed with gf flour and fried, then drained well. You can dry them overnight in a 170 degree oven with door ajar to add overall crunchiness.
Mix and bake at 350 for about 20 min to time it right as dinner is ready–
Hey there, BJ! Thanks for those suggestions. The recipe as written is gluten-free using wheat-free tamari, and certified GF oat flour. Enjoy!
I made a trial version of this to test it for Thanksgiving this year, which I am making kosher (cannot mix meat and milk). After baking the onions and tasting them, I decided to use the Trader Joe’s crispy onions because you just can’t get that same crunch and flavor unless you batter and fry them! However, the cashew sauce was a really nice substitute for the old cream of mushroom. You do miss a little creaminess that can only come from real cream, but the taste was delicious, and it was lighter and cleaner. On Thanksgiving this means more room in the tummy for everything else! Thank you for this recipe! It got thumbs up in the test round, and I’ll be serving it to our crowd!
★★★★
Great call on using TJ’s onions! Baking them at home eliminates the “fried aspect” and there’s no oil, so it makes this recipe a lot healthier without sacrificing flavor. So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Angie!
This looks great. Can you clarify the cooking of the onions? Not sure about steps 6,7, 8 regarding them. Thanks!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to make it for my Kind Thanksgiving this Year. Can this be made in advance and then baked the day of?
Hey there! I actually did this over the weekend. I made the sauce and cooked the green beans then kept them in separate containers in the fridge. Next day I baked the onions and combined everything per the recipe. Worked great! I didn’t want to combine the green beans and sauce ahead of time because I was worried it would soak up too much sauce. Enjoy!
This recipe looks delicious! Do you think it would work well in a crock pot?
Hey Rebekah! I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure…but give it a go!
This was delicious! Although next time I’ll have to triple the cashew sauce (I’m not sure why but there wasn’t enough to hold it all together) and bake the onion straws for ten min less (they burned in my oven). Can’t wait to make it again!
Awesome! Thanks for the tips!
BEST GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE EVA!!!!! OUTSTANDING!
I liked it better without the nutmeg though :).
http://jility.wordpress.com/
★★★★★
Awwww so glad!!! Thanks, lady!
After cooking the onions in the oven on a cookie sheet, you later say to add onions to the heated and oiled skillet and add garlic, mushrooms. etc. simmer….
Then, it says to add the cashew cream mixture and ‘1/4 of the baked onions’.
If I’m adding the cream mixture to the skillet WITH the onions, how it is I’m adding 1/4 of the baked onions?
The recipe appears to say to bake them first and then put them in the heated skillet and then..add 1/4 of the baked onions..
This is clearly me: what am I missing?
Hi Allison! So the first two onions that you bake for the topping are separate from the onion listed later in the recipe. You bake the first two onions and mix 1/4 of those into the final mixture. The “one medium onion” listed later in the recipe is the one you sautee in the heated skillet before adding garlic. So you’re using three onions total. Does that make sense?
Any way to make this soy-free?
I would just skip the soy sauce and season it with salt to taste!
I use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce in all of my recipes. Virtually no difference..
I use the following:
Naked Coconuts Coconut Soy-free seasoning sauce; organic, GF, Raw
Also use Stickling’s Rice Bread crumbs; wheat & GF
Think WF carry both of these. Might try Amazon as well.
★★★★
Oookay … whyyy didn’t I pick up green beans at the store today? Will you believe I’ve never had green bean casserole before?! Before you stare at me in disbelief: hey. I’m German. We eat our green beans either as part of the traditional “Birnen, Bohnen und Speck” or plain as a side for potatoes and meat [or not in my case]. Or – because we’ve expaneded our horizons 😉 – in dishes from other cuisines but apparently not the American way? Too bad looking at this deliciousness. Cashew cream is the best and totally addictive. That’s all.
Just made this and everyone loved it! It’s going on the Thanksgiving menu for sure. The only issue is opening a bottle of wine for only 1/4 cup, what are we going to do with the rest of the bottle …… ? 😉
★★★★★
What would you suggest for the best cashew and almond milk substitute? I have a milk and tree nut allergic child and was looking for a dairy-free green bean casserole when I came across your recipe – it looks delicious but since it seems like cashews are integral to the flavor I am hesitant to try a substitute. Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth! You could definitely use water or rice milk instead of the almond milk. I’m not sure about a sub for cashews, since that’s what makes it so creamy and “normal” seeming. Maybe pureed cauliflower with nutritional yeast? Let me know how it goes!
Consider using sunflower seeds in place of the cashews,