Easy Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole | No Canned Soup!

Easy homemade cream of mushroom soup is the secret to the perfect gluten free green bean casserole. Make your Thanksgiving table better than ever this year with crisp-tender green beans, cream of mushroom soup and homemade crispy onions!

Making gluten free green bean casserole without mushroom soup

They totally make gluten free cream of mushroom soups these days (Progresso and Pacific come to mind). But I don't think they're very flavorful—and cooking with them only accentuates their shortcomings.

And anyway if you’re going to make your own gluten free crispy fried onions, shouldn’t you just go ahead and make a simple gluten free roux and your own cream sauce?

It’s so, so easy to make your own gluten free cream of mushroom soup, filled with savory flavor always creamy, never clumpy. Plus, it’s good practice for making gluten free gravy (it’s all basically the same technique).

Gluten free green bean casserole from scratch

You don't really have to make your own gluten free bread crumbs. But I always take the odds and ends of whatever gluten free bread I have lying around and make some fresh bread crumbs.

It's easier than ever to buy gluten free Panko-style bread crumbs, though. I like Nature's Promise brand gluten free Panko-style bread crumbs best, but Ian's gluten free brand coarse bread crumbs are also good.

The firm but tender fresh green beans, along with the fresh mushroom cream sauce, topped with easy homemade bread crumbs and, of course, sweet and crunchy fresh gluten free crispy fried onions (the real star of the show), make this the Green Bean Casserole to beat.

Gluten free french fried onions

It's really easy to make homemade gluten free crispy fried onions. Just slice some yellow, Spanish or Vidalia onions and soak them in buttermilk. That mellows out the onions and helps the batter stick.

Drain the onions, and shake them in a zip-top bag with a simple gluten free flour mixture, with a single tablespoon of sugar. (It’s amazing what a little sweetness can do to balance things out.)

All that's left is to deep fry the prepared onion slices by the handful in neutral oil that you bring to about 350°F/175°C. They fry quickly, so watch to make sure nothing burns!

When I first started out making the fall holidays gluten free, you couldn't buy gluten free french fried onions already made. Most crispy fried onions, like French's fried onions, are not gluten free.

If you're wondering, are Funyuns are gluten free, they don't have any gluten-containing ingredients, but they're made on shared equipment. I stay away entirely.

But these days, you can find some brands of canned gluten free crispy fried onions. In the photo above with the individual ingredients, you'll find a can of them, and they're really quite good! See below for some brand suggestions.

Fresh green beans vs. canned vs. frozen for gluten free green bean casserole

The best green beans are always the freshest—but that doesn't always mean the ones from the produce section of your grocery store! If you can buy bright green, firm green beans at your grocery store, those will be the best beans for this gluten free green bean casserole.

If you can't buy snappy, bright, fresh green beans for any reason, buy them frozen, since frozen vegetables are frozen at the peak of freshness!

Defrost frozen beans at 50% power in a microwave oven or even overnight in a bowl in the refrigerator. Drain any liquid remaining, blot them dry, and proceed with the recipe as written.

I don't recommend using canned green beans, since they usually turn mushy when you bake them. But if you have a brand of canned green beans that are cooked very lightly, try warming all the other ingredients without the green beans first, so you don't have to bake the casserole for very long.

Tips for making the best gluten free green bean casserole

Prepare the green beans properly for the best casserole

If you decide to slice off the ends of your green beans, slice them in one motion and create a clean edge. That will help them absorb the sauce without wilting.

Begin with your ingredients at room temperature

I love to make the individual parts of this recipe (the mushroom soup, the prepared green beans, grating the cheese, if you're using any) ahead of time. I store them in the refrigerator, so they don't spoil, but then I let them come to room temperature before combining them, so the soup and cheese don't clump when they touch cold beans.

Don't overcook the casserole in the oven

This recipe spends very little time in the oven. In fact, it's baked mostly to make the mushroom sauce nice and bubbly, help the flavors combine, and to brown the breadcrumb topping—but not to cook the green beans much. If you overcook the green beans, they'll be mushy.

Serving gf green bean casserole

Green bean casserole is a gluten free Thanksgiving holiday staple. So you'll usually find it served along with the best gluten free stuffing or make a big bowl of gluten free mac and cheese recipe with some roasted turkey or chicken.

You might also make a half batch, if it's not for a holiday, and serve it as a side to gluten free chicken cutlets. I've even served it with a gluten free quiche for a simple meatless dinner.

Prepping this gluten free green bean casserole in advance

As explained in the directions below, you can combine the cream of mushroom soup with the blanched green beans, add the optional cheese, and place it in the prepared casserole dish. Seal the dish well, and store it in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days ahead of time.

You can also just make the cream of mushroom soup recipe ahead of time, and store that, and the reserved mushrooms, in well-sealed glass jars in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also store the blanched green beans in a sealed container for up to 3 days ahead of time.

Storing leftover gluten free green bean casserole from scratch

The best way to store leftover green bean casserole is not to have leftover casserole in the first place! If you think your dinner guests or family members may not eat a whole recipe in one sitting, or you're eating alone, I recommend cutting the whole recipe in half—or even down to ⅓.

You can also reheat the casserole dish, but make sure your green beans are still relatively crunchy when you serve the first round. You can even divide the dish into two, smaller casserole dishes, and only prepare and bake one fully until you're sure you'll need the rest.

Gluten free green bean casserole ingredients and substitutions

Dairy free gluten free green bean casserole

To replace the dairy in this dish specifically, use vegan butter for the topping (Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen brands are best), and omit the grated cheese entirely. You can add up to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast in its place for more flavor, but it's not necessary.

For instructions on making the gluten free cream of mushroom soup without dairy, please see the ingredients and substitutions section of that post here on the blog. If you're making homemade crispy fried onions, in place of buttermilk for soaking, just use half nondairy milk and half plain nondairy yogurt.

Vegan gluten free green bean casserole

There aren't any eggs or other animal products in this recipe beyond dairy. So if you replace the dairy as discussed above, you'll have a gluten free vegan green bean casserole!

Onion free gluten free grean bean casserole

You can easily make this recipe without onions. Just make the cream of mushroom soup recipe without onions, and add a bit of gluten free tamari or soy sauce to add some more umami flavor.

In place of the crispy fried onion topping, you can leave it off entirely and add some extra finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to the top of the buttered gluten free bread crumbs. For some added crunch, you can add crushed gluten free potato chips, crushed gluten free crackers, or even crushed gluten free pork rinds.

If you can't have onions, but you can tolerate some onion seasoning, consider topping this casserole dish with gluten free onion-flavored potato chips. Be careful, though, and read all labels to ensure that the topping is gluten free.

Taking shortcuts with gluten free green bean casserole

There is no shame in taking shortcuts in cooking, especially when you're making a big holiday meal! Luckily, there are so many brands that make good, reliable gluten free packaged items these days.

Gluten free mushroom soup brands

If you're tight on time, you can make our recipe for gluten free cream of mushroom soup up to 1 week ahead of time, and store it in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature before you combine it with the other ingredients in this gf green bean casserole recipe.

If you just don't have the time or bandwidth to make it from scratch at all, that's okay too!

Please be sure to read labels on any products that claim to be gluten free, and call the company that sells the product if you're at all unsure if it's safe to eat on a gluten free diet.

These are the brands that I have tried that make their own version of gluten free cream of mushroom soup, as of this writing:

• Pacific Foods makes a gluten free cream of mushroom soup with whole ingredients, and thickened with cornstarch and rice flour. It's a really good option, as, of course, rice is gluten free.
• Progresso brand makes a gf cream of mushroom soup with soy protein concentrate and mushroom extract.
• Imagine brand makes a gluten free portobello mushroom soup with whole ingredients, thickened with tapioca starch; it's thinner than the canned soups, so you might have to simmer it on the stovetop to reduce it.

Gluten free fried onions brands

• Sprouts brand sells a gluten free can of French fried onions. They're available of purchase on Amazon, but I'm not providing a link because those links tend to get broken over time.
• Aldi grocery stores also sometimes sells a self-labeled can of gf crispy fried onions. If you can find them, grab them!
• Organics brand French fried onions, as of this publication date, has a Certified Gluten Free label, by the GFCO or Gluten Free Certification Organization, a division of GIG, the Gluten Intolerance Group.

FAQs

Are green beans gluten free?

Yes! Fresh green beans are always gluten free, as are all plain vegetables. Most canned and frozen green beans are gluten free, too, unless they're prepared with a gluten-containing ingredient or subject to cross-contamination.

Are French fried onions gluten free?

Most French fried onions are made with wheat flour, so they're not gluten free. There are brands of packaged crispy fried onions that are gluten free, and we list them above.

Is traditional green bean casserole gluten free?

No! Traditional green bean casserole is made with gluten-containing ingredients such as conventional mushroom soup, crispy fried onions, and breadcrumbs.

Can I use canned or frozen green beans in this gf green bean casserole?

Yes! Frozen green beans work great in this gf green bean casserole recipe. But I wouldn't recommend using most canned green beans, since they're already cooked so much that they tend to get mushy when you bake them in the casserole.

Can I prep the green beans the night before?

Yes! You can wash and clean your green beans up to 3 days ahead of time, and store them in the refrigerator. You can also even blanch them (immerse them briefly in boiling water) up to 2 days ahead of time.

But whether they're raw and fresh, cleaned and washed, and/or blanched, you should store them in the refrigerator. To keep them fresher longer, try storing them in a sealed container with a single paper towel in the container, to absorb moisture.

What do I do if my gluten free green bean casserole is watery?

If you notice that your cream of mushroom soup is watery, place it in a medium-size, heavy-bottom saucepan and cook it over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens a bit. The extra moisture should evaporate as you simmer it.

Can gluten free green bean casserole be frozen before cooking?

No, I don't recommend freezing the assembled casserole before serving. Cream based sauces like our cream of mushroom soup, tend to curdle when they're frozen and then defrosted.

Gluten Free Green Bean Casserole, step by step