My fondest memories of Thanksgiving are from high school, when I would visit my best friend’s house in the morning to string bags and bags of green beans for their green bean casserole. The truth is, when I was growing up, my family never enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. There might be a turkey once every few years and the occasional appearance of mashed potatoes. But there was no green bean casserole, no pumpkin pie, no sweet potato pie, no stuffing, and no going around the table telling everyone what we were thankful for. Instead, we just ate a ton of seafood and Chinese BBQ. So when my friend invited me over to her house to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving, I jumped at the opportunity, even if it meant stringing green beans for hours. There was always the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the background to keep me entertained. For all of you green bean casserole aficionados out there (I’m certainly not one of them), you may notice a few things that are different about my version: I swear, this flavor combination works! Of course, I had to include a bit of onion in the toppings, so I used onion flakes instead of the usual fried onions. As for the breadcrumbs, I didn’t bother to grind them too finely. I like picking out small, crunchy chunks of seasoned bread!
title: “Vegan Green Bean Casserole” ShowToc: true date: “2024-11-11” author: “Guy Hardy”
How to Make the Best Vegan Cream Sauce
This recipe was created as an alternative to my Healthy Green Bean Casserole, which has been a fan favorite for years. In that recipe, the creamy sauce is made from a puree of mushrooms and parsnips, but it’s a little more labor-intensive than most of my other recipes. This Vegan Green Bean Casserole is my faster solution. The sauce is made with canned white beans, which are both convenient and protein-packed. You can whip it up in just a few minutes!
To make the sauce for this vegan green bean casserole, you’ll simply combine a can of drained white beans with water, garlic, fresh rosemary, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Blend until smooth, then pour it over the cooked green beans.
Helpful Shortcuts
To save yourself some time and effort, I recommend starting with frozen green beans. That way the beans are already trimmed and cut for you! You can freeze your own green beans, or buy them at the store.
Starting with canned beans also makes this recipe a lot faster, but you can cook them from scratch if you’d like to. I’ve tested this recipe with Great Northern Beans, and with chickpeas. Here’s how to cook chickpeas from scratch, and how to cook chickpeas in the Instant Pot, if you have dry beans on hand.
What Can You Use Instead of Fried Onions on Top?
Instead of fried onions, I like to use crunchy walnuts on top of this green bean casserole. I pulse them in the food processor with salt, so that you get a lightly salty, crunchy topping in each bite.
Alternatively, you can use any other nut or seed you have on hand, or try my Garlic-Roasted Chickpeas for a crunchy, nut-free topping.
Make-Ahead Tips
To make this Vegan Green Bean Casserole ahead of time, you can prepare the vegetables and sauce up to 3 days in advance, and store them together in the fridge. Keep the topping separate, so it doesn’t get soggy. When you’re ready to reheat the casserole, you can add the topping and bake the casserole at 350ºF for 35 to 45 minutes, until it’s bubbly hot all the way through. Serve warm with the rest of your meal!
More Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes
Need some more holiday meal ideas? Try one of these!
Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes Vegan Meatloaf Baked Portobello Mushrooms Creamed Spinach Favorite Holiday Salad Cranberry Sauce Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (the best!) Vegan Gravy
I’m always adding more, so be sure to check out my Thanksgiving recipes for the latest! If you try this green bean casserole recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience! — Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite holiday side dish? Disclosure: This post was originally sponsored by USA Pulses and Pulse Canada in 2016, but has since been edited.
