Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean Casserole is typically one of the least enticing dishes at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Usually made with overly salty, mushy canned beans and processed soup, it tends to make people shy away from eating vegetables. When cooked properly, vegetables can be (and should be) exciting and celebrated. This recipe might just go from your least favorite to your favorite Thanksgiving dish!

This version is made with fresh French green beans, briefly blanched so they retain some of their crisp bite, and a dreamy, plant-based sauce. Though there is no lack of fried-onion-deliciousness in this dish, this version is much better at celebrating and enhancing the experience of the vegetable itself. If you’re not a fan of mushrooms, fear not, there are no mushrooms in this recipe.

Though this sauce requires a few more steps than opening a can of pre-made soup, it is absolutely worth the extra effort. Aside from sautéing the shallot, and heating it through at the end, the sauce is pretty much as easy as throwing a bunch of ingredients into a blender, anyway.

Made from a base of cashews, this luscious sauce is unbelievably thick and creamy and clings well to the green beans. The other ingredients work together to create a garlicy, savory, umami flavor that compliments the beans and adds a lot of depth to the dish that a canned soup wouldn’t provide!

Warning, the sauce tastes very intense and a bit off-putting on its own before it’s cooked, but TRUST ME, once it has baked (and the raw garlic has cooked through and the flavors all settle in), it turns out perfectly with a much more mellow and balanced flavor.

substitutions

• I used French green beans (AKA haricot verts) in this recipe. They are thinner and more elegant for a fancier occasion like Thanksgiving. If you use regular green beans, you might want to blanch them for a minute longer than specified in the recipe since they are thicker than haricot verts.

• You can substitute the shallot for half of a brown/yellow onion.

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THE RECIPE

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Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Author: MADELINE APPEL

Ingredients

• 1 lb French green beans (haricot verts)
• 1 medium/large shallot, or 1/2 of a brown onion, finely diced
• 1 TBS vegan butter or olive oil
• 1/3 cup cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 15-20 minutes
• 1 cup plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used oat)
• 1/2 tsp vegetable Better Than Bouillon paste
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 1/4 tsp each: salt + pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 TBS cornstarch mixed with 1 TBS COLD water
• 1 cup French fried onions

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Soak cashews in boiling water for at least 15-20 minutes.
3. Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish, set aside.
4. Wash and trim green beans. Cut the beans in half or thirds.
5. Prepare a large bowl of water with a few handfuls of ice.
6. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the beans and boil for 2-3 minutes. Drain immediately and transfer to the bowl of ice water to stop the beans from cooking.
7. In a high powered blender, blend the soaked cashews, non-dairy milk, vegetable bouillon, garlic cloves, mustard, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt + pepper until smooth.
8. In a large skillet on medium heat, melt the butter (or use oil here) and add the diced shallot. Cook until the shallot is translucent, stirring occasionally.
9. Lower the heat and wait until the pan isn’t so hot, then add the blended sauce and stir as it thickens.
10. Mix the cornstarch and cold water, then add to the sauce and stir constantly. Once it has thickened, turn the heat off.
11. Drain the green beans and add them to the sauce. Stir to distribute the sauce evenly. Transfer them to the 9x9 baking dish.
12. Cover the top of the beans with the fried onions.
13. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the fried onions become a deeper golden color.

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