The Best Green Bean Casserole Recipes to Grace Your Thanksgiving Dinner Table (2024)

FAQs

Which is better in green bean casserole canned or frozen? ›

When I make green bean casserole, I skip canned beans all together. Frozen green beans are the best green beans to use for green bean casserole.

Green Bean Casseroles are served at 20 million Thanksgiving dinners every year.

How It Became a Holiday Staple. Green bean casserole was considered a perfect dish for holiday entertaining because it was simple, inexpensive, and could easily be made ahead of time. It became known as a "jiffy casserole" because it went from one bowl to one pan.

In fact, some frozen vegetables, such as green beans, have an edge over the limp and old green beans in your fridge! Frozen vs. Canned: In general, frozen vegetables are better than canned. Fresh vegetables are blanched before freezing, and they do lose some nutrients but not a lot.

Any liquid from the beans will make your casserole watery. Only add 1/4 cup milk with the condensed soup—do not add the water as directed on the can. Add the crispy fried onions during the last 5 minutes of baking or they will absorb some of the sauce and become soggy.

“When alternative sides are plentiful, assume guests will eat a little less of each and one pound will serve four people,” Hartigan says. “And if vegetarians outnumber carnivores at your table, assume your green beans will go fast and assume that one pound will serve two people.”

Green beans: 1 ½ pounds of beans makes 6 to 8 servings. Mashed potatoes: A 5-pound bag of potatoes makes 12 to 16 servings.

Notes: ✿ 4 cups of green beans is about 1½ pounds fresh or 16 ounces frozen or 2 cans (15 ounces each) drained.

Mistake No.

Green bean casserole should have a nice thick sauce that coats the green beans—it should not resemble soup. One common cause of a watery casserole is not adding enough thickener, such as flour or cornstarch, to your sauce.

How long can green bean casserole sit out before baking? ›

How Long Can Green Bean Casserole Sit Out? The casserole can sit out at room temperature for about an hour, then it should be reheated or stored in the fridge.

"Canned green beans are very soft and delicate," Malarkey says. "They tend to mush up while mixing, and I like a little crunch to my green bean casserole." The other two pros we spoke with agreed. When presented with the choice of fresh or frozen green beans for green bean casserole, frozen came out on top.

The Green Beans Are Mushy

The first is simply that you overcooked them, and they lost their shape and texture.

What Wasn't Served at the First Thanksgiving. It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America.

Frozen produce is blanched (cooked in hot water quickly) and that affects the nutritional value slightly. Canning requires a lot more processing. Aside from certain fruits like tomatoes and pumpkins, canned goods are likely to have less nutritional value than frozen.

Canned green beans are a little more nutrient dense than fresh green beans. Raw green beans have a Nutrivore Score of 605. Canned green beans including the liquid have a Nutrivore Score of 661. So eat whichever one you prefer!

Freezing vs. Canning Green Beans – Which is Better? Compared to pressure canning, freezing green beans enables them to retain more nutrients and a better texture, color and flavor. Freezing is definitely the way to go plus it's a lot less hassle!

"Fresh veggies often taste the best, especially if the vegetable is in season. But the good news is that the nutritional value of a vegetable isn't reduced during either the canning or freezing process — making canned or frozen veggies just as healthy as fresh ones.