Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
I grew up in a Baptist church so I’m very familiar with pot-lucks. It always amuses me that there are usually the same dishes, like cheesy hash brown casserole, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, an asian salad with ramen noodles, fruit salad, a jello salad of some sort, gobs of chips, and chocolate chip cookies. Am I right?!
One of the foundations of many, many casseroles is a can of cream of mushroom soup. Condensed canned soups leave much to be desired in taste and also contain many processed ingredients.
If your goal is to cook with real food, but you have recipes in your repertoire that call for cream of mushroom soup, then I encourage you to try and make your own. It only takes about 15 minutes and the flavors in your dish will increase ten-fold!
Now is the season for Christmas parties, and if you’re like me, you’ll be invited to a few potlucks. This is the perfect dish that will please almost anyone, but with extra depth of flavor.
This green bean casserole keeps very well in the fridge and can be made a day ahead of time and then heated in the oven before serving.
Green Bean Casserole
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.
Ingredients
For the Onions:
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- Celtic sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
For the Beans:
- 2 pounds green beans, trimmed and halved
For the Soup:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or 1 tablespoon duck fat for a dairy-free option)
- 1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
- 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (or coconut milk for dairy-free option)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and adjust rack to middle position. In a large bowl, toss together red onion and coconut oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread onions out on a large baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Stir onions and put back in oven for another 15 minutes or until onions loose most of their moisture and begin to brown. Remove from oven and set aside. Reduce heat in oven to 375°F.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the green beans to the water and boil for 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. When foaming subsides add the mushrooms and season generously with salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms have released their moisture and the edges begin to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the arrowroot and stir constantly until incorporated, about 1 minute. Gradually add the chicken stock and then the cream, whisking constantly to avoid lumping. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens, 5-6 minutes.
- Toss together mushroom mixture and green beans and then pour into a 13×9 baking dish. Top with red onions and bake until bubbling, about 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 8-10
Looks delicious! We have recently gone organic and my home and your recipes are an inspiration. Thanks for the chance to win 🙂
You are so kind. I'm working really hard to eat as local, organic and unprocessed as possible. My next hurdle just so happens to be soup in a can! I'm hooked on Amy's 'no chicken noodle' but am wary of the chemicals lining the can. I'm so thankful a friend shared your blog with me!
i CAN'T WAIT to try this!!! green bean casserole is one of my VERY favorites and using your organic whole version sounds DELISH!!! I ate a LOT of GBC at thanksgiving. my niece added cheese to some which was really good (despite my pessimism) i was thinking WHY would you add anything to my favorite dish!
Two generations of our family have been removing processed and canned food from our diet.This year, we went without our annual green bean casserole because we didn't want to go with the canned soup and onion rings.My son mega-missed the casserole.What a delight to find this recipe.You rescued our family's green bean casserole tradition from the scrap heap and replaced it with an upgraded, better version.I'm going to e-mail them the recipe so they can see we will have a better-than-ever green bean casserole at our Christmas gathering. Thank you.
Looks so good Carrie! I wish all my cooking stuff wasn't in boxes right now! And about those muffins from Jim and Nick's, they REALLY are addictive. It's on my to-do list to recreate them at home. Hope packing is going well!
So glad to see a recipe for Cream of something soup! I am REALLY glad…a base to sooo many of our favorites recipes. And, as for green bean casserole, I have NEVER tried it at our family meals and have never wanted to…just always looked so weird to me. Yours, however, looks well…dare I say… alive? Makes me think I could try it and even like it! 🙂
Hmm, I've never tried making green bean casserole; the only times I've had it have been at school and seeing as how they make that with not only canned cream of mushroom but canned beans… yeah. No more words to be said.love all the little suggestions like dehydrated cane juice in your mocha recipe. I always think either stevia or some agave nectar, never heard of just dehydrated cane juice though…
I routinely make cream of mushroom soup and freeze it…and I'm a rare American who did not grow up eating casseroles with cream of whatever soup…but this sounds good! so since I tend to have the goods on hand I can try it.
yum! i plan to try this recipe! thanks!
count me in!
Whenever I make this, I use shallots and deep fry them for a couple of minutes 🙂 I always eat organic, and local 🙂
Wow how delicious! I am going to try to veganize this! And what a great giveaway! Thanks so much.
Your beans are positively gorgeous. We'll be at all your pot lucks!
I completely agree that making your own cream of mushroom soup brings an entirely different taste depth to a dish. Thanks for sharing!
I can't say that I've ever made a green bean casserole – or eaten one for that matter… I grew up eating only fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, with little processed food. I'm very lucky for that, and it is the way I'm raising my kids. I have a 3 year old who has never had cane sugar or anything from a can (except coconut milk). Your casserole looks wonderful!
Carrie, I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog posts! I have gotten so many yummy tips from you and I'm trying to incorporate your ideas into my cooking for the fam 🙂 We love to eat healthy and you have inspired me to look into some local food providers here in Dallas. Hope you and your family are doing well and the move to California goes smoothly!! Merry Christmas! 🙂
This is exactly what I'm looking for! I had the "original" green bean casserole on Thanksgiving and I could hardly eat it! I do have one question- when you call for coconut oil, do I assume solid or liquid? I've just started using it, so I'm not sure what form it should be in for baking vs other cooking, etc. Thanks!
Ok, I'll bite. You know, for the good of those folks in Bangladesh 😉
Looks great. I'm going to try a light version of your mushroom soup, substituting light butter and low-fat buttermilk. As a former Marine infantryman, I salute you. the wives always had the toughest duty.
Coconut oil is a solid at 76 degrees and below and a liquid at 77 degrees and up. It goes back and forth between these two states so sometimes you'll find it at the store and it will be a solid and sometimes not.
Thanks Scott. That is very kind of you to say.
Your recipe looks delicious! I can't wait to try it. Thanks for offering such a great giveaway!
im so glad that you've posted this recipe! looks great!
i always see this at outpost, its like a co-op grocery store in my town, and when i was in a serious mood for serious dark chocolate i almost bought this kind!!
This recipe looks absolutely sensational! (and so does the basket that you are giving away) I love green bean casserole, but I have never seen it looking so fresh and delicious. It is difficult to photograph squishy things, but you did an amazing job. 🙂
I love this recipe, it sounds great!
I'm sure this was a big hit. No shame in bringing fruit sometimes, we can only do so much 🙂 LOVE mint and chocolate!
I'll be making this dish for the Ironsides next week! Super yummy comfort food for while their Mama is gone! By the way, I made the spicy bean soup back in October for the Michaliks, and the guys were wiping their fingers in the bowl to lick off every drop!!!
I need this recipe. The man in my life loves green bean casserole, but I don't love the canned soup. I'm going to have to look up more about coconut oil though. I've never used it.
Yum, thanks for the recipe.Equal Exchange products are the best!
those green beans look great..yum I love organic and locally grown.
Very nice giveaway! Thanks for the chance!zachsgran1 at yahoo dot com
I've been wanting to try some organic chocolate for a while, but it's always too expensive in the stores for my Americorps budget! Thanks for the chance, I love your blog.
this looks wonderful! Please enter my nametmc480 at yahoo dot com
This recipe sounds delicious. I had "green bean casserole" for Thanksgiving and let's just say it wasn't as good as yours sounds. I haven't started eating or cooking organic yet, but you are inspiring me to start. This is also my first comment on a blog.
looks deleicious. I love green bean casserole. Please enter merjs682 at yahoo dot com
You may have saved Thanksgiving. In my family, greenbean casserole is sacred! My step-father did his best to make a can-free greenbean casserole at Thanksgiving and let's just say it was not his best culinary moment. We will have to give yours a shot next time.
I had a soup party last month– made 9 different kinds(!)–but no cream of mushroom… I'll have to have another party I guess!
After reading Kelly Dorfman’s “What’s Eating Your Child” and Dr. Davis’ “Wheat Belly”, I just didn’t know what was left to eat! Then My son in law’s mom, (we call each other ‘Co-Momma’) told me about the recipes she has been trying at your site. Okay, I am researching it and sharing the info with the parents of my students.
Thanks
Angela Wilkins
Hi Carrie, with your grain free diet would you replace the whole wheat flour with arrowroot or some other thickening agent? I really want to make these this year.
Thanks – Karen
You can replace the flour with 1 tablespoon arrowroot for a grain free alternative. Enjoy!
Hi, Carrie. Not sure what is up, but the print link is not working. I’d love to print this for my Christmas cooking plans. Thanks!
I fixed it! 🙂