Green Bean Casserole is a holiday favorite in our house. I’ve been making it for years and don’t plan to quit making it any time soon. The only problem with the recipe on the back of the can is that, it’s a recipe on the back of a can! It looks something like this: Mix one can of cream of mushroom soup with green beans, add a little milk and Worcester sauce, some canned fried onions and mix. Then, top with more canned fried onions. In the past, I never really thought much about it. The ingredients went into my cart at the store and got mixed together at the house.

Since I’ve been trying to get away from the S.A.D. diet, the simple Green Bean Casserole all of the sudden seemed gross and unappetizing. So, I decided to come up with a much healthier version for Easter, this year. I don’t usually measure out ingredients much, but I’ll try to give the best guesstimates for this recipe.

Ginny’s Green Bean Casserole

3 cups green beans – if using fresh, snap off ends and cut beans into 1″ pieces. (Frozen would be ok, canned beans would be less ok).
2 cups mushrooms – I used button, but you could use whatever you like.
1/2 medium onion – finely chopped
3 tbsp oil – I used 1/2 butter, 1/2 coconut oil.
3 tbsp flour – I used non-bleached, but whole wheat might work, too.
2 cups milk or cream – I used 1/2 cup 1/2 & 1/2, plus 1 1/2 cups milk.
salt and pepper – maybe 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper? I told you, I don’t measure!
1-2 tbsp. Worcester sauce
homemade fried onions (recipe below)

First, make fried onions. You will need 2 tbsp. butter, plus about 1/2 cup olive oil, a medium onion, sliced very thinly, and a few tbsp. flour. Separate onion slices and coat with flour. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet until hot. Throw onions into the skillet and cook until brown. Drain on a paper towel on a plate and let cool.

Heat oven to 350°F. Put the green beans in a medium to large bowl. If you are using frozen beans, make sure to thaw them before using them in this recipe. Drain any liquid, if you are using canned beans. In a large skillet, get the oil hot. Add mushrooms and chopped onion and saute until onion and mushrooms are soft and done, about 5 minutes. Add flour and mix well. Let cook for about 1 minute. Next, add milk and stir well. Mix in salt and pepper to taste. Let cook until mixture starts to become a little thicker, about 7-9 minutes. Stir frequently, so that the milk does not burn. Once the mushroom mixture is done, set aside for one minute.

Mix mushroom sauce, Worcester sauce and about 1/2 of the fried onions with the green beans and put into a casserole dish. Bake until bubbly. Top with remaining fried onions and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.

This was a huge hit at Easter dinner. I hope you enjoy!