With canned green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup and canned fried onions it’s hard to compete on time and ease with the classic Green Bean Casserole recipe. My recipe has fresh green beans, mushrooms, and shallots, but the extra time I spent preparing fresh ingredients I made up in cook time. The classic dish bakes for 35 minutes, but my fresh stovetop version cooks in just minutes and it tastes fresh and flavorful.
Quick and Fresh Green Bean “Casserole”
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 medium shallots, peeled and sliced thin
- 1½ pounds green beans, trimmed
- Salt
- ½ pound baby bella mushrooms, sliced thin
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup sour cream
- Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally at the beginning and then reducing heat to low and stirring constantly as they start to color, until caramel brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Turn shallots onto doubled paper toweling to cool and crisp. (Can be wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature a couple of days ahead.)
- Meanwhile, place green beans, ½ cup water, and sprinkling of salt in a large skillet; cover, turn burner on high, and cook until water has almost, but not completely, evaporated and beans are bright green and tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn onto doubled paper toweling to cool (Can be covered and refrigerated a couple of days ahead.)
- Return skillet to burner and heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil Add mushrooms, saute until golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and thyme; continue to sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Add chicken broth; simmer until it forms thin gravy, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in sour cream; cook until heated through. (Can be covered and refrigerated a couple of days ahead.)
- When ready to serve, heat green beans and mushroom sauce in a large covered skillet over medium-high heat to blend flavors and slightly soften beans, about 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook until sauce is thick enough to coat beans, a couple of minutes longer, Turn into a bowl, top with shallot crisps and serve immediately.
I think I like this one much better! 🙂
Delicious…and so much better for you!
I was so excited about this but tried subbing greek yogurt for sour cream- fail! It curdled. 🙁 Do you think the mushroom broth was just too hot when I added it or is there something about the seasonings that the yogurt just won’t work? Everything else was perfect and believe it or not even with the curdling it still tasted great just wasn’t exactly a creamy sauce like it should have been. Thanks!!
I think it probably was too hot, Kristen. So sorry. What would probably work is whisking a little of the hot broth into the yogurt to temper it, and then add the yogurt to the beans. I wouldn’t heat it anymore after I whisked in the yogurt. If you try it again, let me know how it turns out.
I tried this for T-day 2014 and it was positively wonderful. The richness of the sauce was savory and delightful. Make ahead components simplified things and well, it just can’t be beat!
Thanks so much for your work on this and for sharing.
Karen T.
And thank you, Karen, for taking the time to let us know how much you liked the recipe. Happy 2015!
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I made it with soft ricotta cheese instead of sour cream. I blended it with the broth for a minute before adding to the mushrooms. Loved it!