This lightened up, healthier version of a Green Bean Casserole is sure to be a crowd pleaser this holiday season! It’s dairy-free, made without any soup mix, and EASY to make. It’s a fabulous and hearty holiday side dish topped with the most perfect crispy fried onions!
Healthier Green Bean Casserole (Dairy-Free)
I didn’t grow up with a green bean casserole during the holidays and now that I’ve had it (and a version that is cleaned up), I will absolutely be making it year after year!
This side dish is:
- Creamy, without any of the cream!
- Flavorful with aromatic veggies and herbs.
- Tender, cooked just right green beans in bite-size pieces.
- Topped with perfect crispy fried onions (no white flour here!)
How do you make french fried onions healthier?
- Use avocado oil instead of canola oil
- Use arrowroot flour instead of white flour
Try these other Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes:
- Cranberry Relish
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Gluten-Free Stuffing
- Roasted Veggies
- Cranberry Walnut Roasted Acorn Squash
Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter or oil of choice for dairy-free
- 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced thin
- 1 onion, sliced thin
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup cashew cream
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
- Optional: 4 strips bacon, cooked crispy and broken into pieces
Crispy onions
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
- In a small skillet, heat avocado oil until hot. While waiting for the oil to heat up, whisk the egg and arrowroot together in a medium mixing bowl. Working in batches, dip the onion into the egg/arrowroot mixture and then place into the hot oil. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until a dark brown. Set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the green beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.*See notes for recipe steps if you would rather roast the green beans.
- Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and coconut aminos and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cashew cream and mix well. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cook over low heat until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
- Season green beans with salt and pepper. Add green beans to skillet with the sauce and mix until the green beans are well covered. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. *do not salt the green beans if you roasted them.
- Pour the green beans and sauce into the 9 x 9 baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with crispy shallot and bacon. Bake for an addition 15-20 minutes, or until green beans are tender and bubbly.
- Serve warm!
Recipe Notes
*Cashew Cream: Soak 1/2 cup cashews in 2 cups of water for 4-6 hours or overnight. Drain soaked cashews and rinse well. Place in a high-speed blender with 1/2 cup water. Blend until creamy and thick. Add 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
**Roast the green beans instead of boiling them:
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 °F. Lay the green beans on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Season with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil, or oil of choice. Toss well.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender.
- While green beans bake make the sauce and the crispy onions in steps 2 and 4. Add the roasted green beans to the sauce, toss well and place in a 9 x 9 baking dish.
- Top with crispy onion and bacon. Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly!
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19 comments on “Green Bean Casserole (Healthier & Dairy-Free)”
Wow! It looks so delicious and yummy. Amazing Lexi I will definitely try your recipe and thanks for sharing such amazing and wonderful recipes 🙂
Can’t wait to hear how you like!
Awesome Lexi! Il can’t believe this is dairy-free!
It’s SO creamy, too!!
I didn’t grow up with green bean casserole, either. And I’ve had a hard time getting behind the traditional versions with all the soup mix, etc. But I’m TOTALLY down for this lightened up dish! I need to try it ASAP! Also, I just want to pick off all those crispy onions!
Coming to a dinner table near me…ASAP!
Perfect side for turkey day!
One of my favourite blogs! Thanks you!
Thank YOU!
Butter grass fed not is still concentrated cow breast milk and not dairy free in any term. Omit butter
Per the ingredients, use oil instead of butter for dairy-free 🙂
Am I reading the instructions correctly?— use one onion to make the crispy topping and another onion gets cooked into the sauce?
Correct- adjust as you’d like, though 🙂
So excited to make this! Do you think I can prepare everything other than the Green Beans tonight (night before) and then in the am roast the green beans and mix with the sauce before cooking? Thank you!!
YAY. I think YES!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to make it. Is it possible to use GF flour instead of arrowroot?
That, or tapioca will probably work!
It looks so good and so easy to make! Definitely will give it a try soon 🙂
This looks amazing!! One question when you go to make the cashew cream..do the cashews have to be raw or roasted?
Thanks!