Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole (With Homemade Fried Onions & No Canned Soup!)
This paleo green bean casserole is the real deal! It’s made with homemade cream of mushroom soup, french fried onions, and is free of grains and dairy!
What is green bean casserole?
Green bean casserole is a dish made with cream of mushroom soup tossed with green beans and baked with fried onions on top… yum! It’s savory, decadent, and perfect for Thanksgiving.
I actually never had green bean casserole growing up! I associated it as more of a southern thing, but correct me if I’m wrong. These days, I’m a total convert and love making this gluten and dairy-free green bean casserole.
Do you really need to use canned soup and fried onions to make green bean casserole?
Not with this version! The cream of mushroom soup is from scratch as well as the fried onion.
The Ingredients You’ll Need For the Green Bean Casserole
- Mushrooms, garlic, broth, coconut cream, tapioca starch. These are the main ingredients for the cream of mushroom soup. This soup is tasty enough to eat on its own, but for this recipe, we’re using it as the base for the casserole. If you want to save time on Thanksgiving day, you can easily just make this the night before.
- Onions, coconut milk, almond flour, arrowroot, and coconut flour. These are the ingredients to make the fried onions. I haven’t tried to make these with other flour combinations and can’t recommend any substitutions.
- Green beans. Of course! You can save time by buying pre-trimmed green beans, but overall green beans are fairly low maintenance.
How to make Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole without Canned Soup
Make the cream of mushroom soup
- Saute the vegetables. Saute the mushroom and garlic for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add the arrowroot starch and stir to coat the mushrooms.
- Simmer and blend the soup. Add the liquids and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes or until the soup thickens. Allow to cool before blending.
For the green bean casserole
- Steam the green beans. Steam or boil the green beans until tender.
- Bake the casserole. Pour the mushroom soup over the green beans and bake.
For the fried onions
- Form the coating.
- Coat the onions. Dip the mushrooms in coconut milk and toss in the coating.
- Fry the mushrooms. Fry for a couple of minutes on each side before adding to the top of the cooked casserole.
Tips & Tricks for Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole
- Work on the components simultaneously. To speed up the process, cook the mushroom soup while you steam the green beans, and fry the onions while the casserole cooks.
- Make it your own! Add extra ingredients like cooked and chopped bacon for a savory element.
Storage and Reheating instructions
You can easily make the green bean casserole base with the green beans and mushrooms ahead of time. It’s preferable if you can fry the mushrooms soon before you eat them, but if not, store them separately from the casserole to keep them crispy.
To reheat, cook in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes or until warm.
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PrintPaleo Green Bean Casserole (Dairy Free, Vegan)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8-9 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the cream of mushroom soup
- 1 tbsp avocado oil oil
- 3 cups mushrooms, chopped or sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1 1/2 cup broth
- 1/3 cup coconut cream
For the green bean casserole
- Prepared cream of mushroom soup (see above)
- 1 lb green beans, trimmed
For the fried onions
- 2 tbsp + 2 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp almond flour
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- Salt and pepper
- 1 white onion, halved and sliced thin
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 3–4 tbsp avocado oil
Instructions
For the cream of mushroom soup
- Using a medium stock pot, heat the avocado oil on medium heat. Saute the mushroom and garlic for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add the arrowroot starch and stir to coat the mushrooms.
- Pour in the remainder of the ingredients, mix well to combine and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes or until the soup thickens.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool before using an immersion blender or high-speed blender to fully blend the soup. Set aside.
For the green bean casserole
- Fill a large stock pot about two-thirds of the way full and bring to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 10 minutes or until fork tender. Strain and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and lightly grease an 8×8″ casserole dish. Add the green beans to the casserole and pour the mushroom soup over top. Toss to coat.
- Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, while simultaneously cooking the fried onions (see below). Once the casserole is fully cooked, top it with the fried onions and serve.
For the fried onions
- Form the coating by combining two flours, salt, and pepper in a bowl and set aside. Set up a station with the coating and another bowl with the coconut milk.
- Using a large deep skillet, heat a generous amount of avocado oil over medium-high heat.
- Begin coating the onions by dipping them in the coconut milk, and then the flour mixture. Carefully drop in the onions and cook for about 2 minutes of each side before setting aside. You’ll fry all of the onions in about 3-4 small batches.
- Set the fried onions on a paper towel before adding them to the top of the green bean casserole.
Notes
All nutritional facts are estimations and will vary.
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Sides
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 239
- Fat: 19.1g
- Carbohydrates: 13.2g
- Fiber: 4.2g
- Protein: 4.4g
This recipe was published in 2018 and updated in 2022.
I’m in charge of green beans this thanksgiving so this is perfect! Could I prep the soup and boil the green beans the night before, then put them together and bake the next day?
You could do that for sure with the soup! I haven’t tried that with the green beans, but it would likely work just fine.
It calls for chicken broth, you should not say vegan unless the recipe is actually vegan… We get excited about recipes then see that, obviously easy to swap- but if you are trying to make it vegan then write vegetable broth, not Chicken…
Yes, apologies! That was a typo. The recipe was supposed to say chicken or vegetable broth. Either work. The recipe has been edited.
Why be rude. She’s not a vegan blogger after all. I am thankful that she occasionally posts vegan recipes or at least ones that can be easily modified and still be healthy.
Can you sub avocado oil forcoconut oil?
Thank you so much for this recipe! Sounds AMAZING!!!! I Can’t wait to make it!
Thank you so much Jessica!
Can I substitute Cassava flour or Tigernut flour or Coconut flour for the almond flour?
I haven’t tried those swaps and can’t guarantee it would be the same consistency.
Made these this past Thanksgiving and they were so good! I’d missed having a good green bean casserole since changing to a “healthier” lifestyle and you gave it back to me. Thank you!
★★★★★
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Why do you combine the two types of flour? Is there are texture or consistency difference while cooking?
Yes, the two flours together make a different consistency together to make it crispier 🙂 I haven’t tried any alternatives, but I would use more almond flour before using more coconut flour.
Can I just leave out the mushrooms? I’m allergic to them
You can try but it may be a little less flavorful… let me know if you try!
Soo delicious I’ve made it multiple times. I doubled the recipe for the onion breading though because I like a lot of breading on my fried onions.
★★★★★