With the addition of Gruyere cheese and caramelized onions from French onion soup, the traditional green bean casserole is transformed.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced lengthwise
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground thyme
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- ⅔ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
- 4 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese, divided
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir the onions into the pan; cook and stir until very soft and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Stir in sherry vinegar. Transfer to a small bowl, and reserve.
- In the same skillet, melt 2 more tablespoons butter. Whisk in 2 tablespoons flour. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until the flour smells like baked pie crust, about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, then whisk in nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and thyme. Bring to simmer, and cook until thickened, whisking constantly, 3 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl and reserve.
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in clean skillet; stir in panko until all crumbs are coated; reserve.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over medium heat, and boil beans until bright green and crisp but not raw tasting, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain very well.
- Spoon half of the caramelized onions into the prepared casserole dish; top with green beans. Season with salt and black pepper. Spread reserved white sauce over the green beans; sprinkle with half of the Gruyere cheese. Top with the rest of the onions, and use the back of a spoon to push onions down into sauce and cheese. Top with the buttered panko crumbs, the remaining Gruyere, and Parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven until hot throughout and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 217 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 38 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 195 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Nice way to use lots of fresh greenbeans from the garden and lovely with the Gruyere and panko breadcrumbs. Adding garlic would’ve been nice, and maybe a bit of white wine instead of the vinegar.
I much prefer this to the standard mushroom soup casserole; however, it didn’t really remind me of french onion soup, so the next time I made it I used beef boullion instead of milk in the sauce, and that was a game changer! It actually was fine with veggie boullion, too. It was just that little addition of a deep roasted flavor that you get with the traditional soup that was missing. This is going to be part of all of my holiday meals from now on!
Just fantastic!
Very awesome recipe! I added mild cheddar cheese. Delicious ??
Loved it!! I made the recipe exactly as written with two small additions. I added a minced garlic clove and 3 large cremini mushrooms, finely chopped, to the onions while cooking. I also put the casserole under the broiler for 2 minutes at the end to get the topping crispy and that worked great. I’ve been looking for a scratch recipe of the traditional green bean casserole and this worked beautifully!! Note; I added the mushrooms and garlic because they’re listed in the ingredients on the Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup can. I often make the traditional green bean casserole with fresh broccoli and will try that next time. I love how most of the steps can be done ahead of time and that this recipe is delicious as leftovers! I have filed this recipe in my permanent recipe collection!
12-25-21 This is a lot of work but oh boy, best green bean casserole I have made to date.
I was expecting this to be good but it far exceeded my expectations. It was delicious.
Made this for Thanksgiving, It was very good I will certainly make again. Like others I boiled the potatoes the day before rather than baking.
Added a bit of bacon to the onion, had some leftover white sauce so I used that and used well aged cheddar
Didn’t have much flavor. And needed salt at least. Too much work for the little in taste and enjoyment
Great flavor and textures. Perfect holiday green bean casserole.
I couldnt find sherry vinegar so I substituted white wine vinegar with a dash of sherry wine. I assume it turned out as expected. Pretty good. 🙂
Way too much work. I’ll stick to the campbells recipe which is actually pretty good. This might be a little better but sorry I dont have the extra time to spend dealing with it.
Love Chef John’s recipes and they’re usually favorites of mine but this dish didn’t hit a home run with us. I felt like the amount of time it took to make the dish didn’t deliver on the flavor. You win some, you lose some!
This is so good! I have to stop myself from eating the whole thing. If you want a easy cheat you can use canned green beans drained and it works just as well as fresh.
Lots of onion flavor
I made this recipe exactly as written. I got rave reviews at Thanksgiving dinner. But, it took me 2 hours to make it before it went into the oven. I had not have any helpers to help cut up the onions, etc.
Very easy and tasty
I made this for Thanksgiving. I had never made a green bean casserole before and never really cared for it either. I was very surprised at the flavor and the family and guests loved it. I made it exactly as stated but I think if I make it again I will use one more onion, but then again I like onions prepared this way. I am guessing that the fresh green beans are a big improvement over using canned.
Love Chef John’s recipes generally. With this one, I love the addition of cheeses, and the beans were cooked to perfection, but somehow this was still a miss for me. I’m not sure why. It was painstaking to make and smelled great all throughout, but was flavorless. I think the beans and sauce have to be salted and seasoned more and well before being assembled in the casserole dish, for one. I would also substitute red onions, but that may be a personal preference. Maybe add sautéed mushrooms, (or, bacon?) for instance, along the way. I will not make the recipe again as written, but it’s a great base to start from and then add the flavors you enjoy as you go.
It was a little watery, may need longer cooking time. Overall the taste was good though didn’t really taste French Onion soup, just sautéed onions with green beans.