Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole

If you’re anything like me, you’re already planning your Thanksgiving menu. You probably also know that when you’re cooking for a large group of people, food allergies are going to come up. This Thanksgiving, I know I’m planning on feeding a couple of people who are living the gluten-free lifestyle.

While I’m going to offer a variety of options, both gluten-free as well as the more traditional (corn bread stuffing, I’m looking at you), there was one holiday favorite I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy: green bean casserole.

I have loved green bean casserole since I saw a commercial on TV for the kind made with canned soup and those crispy onions that come in a jar. My mom started making it and I’ve been hooked ever since.

It turns out, that updating it to be both made from whole, fresh ingredients and altering it to be gluten-free was pretty easy. While you can now find creamy canned soups that are gluten-free, I encourage you to make your own sauce. There will be less salt and the flavors will be much richer and more flavorful.

I stuck with the traditional white button mushrooms for this recipe. They have a mild flavor and don’t overwhelm the green beans or cream sauce. However, if wild mushrooms aren’t your thing, by all means use your favorite or a mix as a substitute.

I went with whole milk as the base for my cream sauce because it’s what I normally have on hand. You can definitely use heavy cream or half-and-half if you’d like. Around Thanksgiving, I would go for heavy cream because I can use the leftovers to make fresh whipped cream for pie!

This dish involves making a simple roux which can be made using a fat (like milk or butter) and flour or cornstarch. Cornstarch is always my go-to for a roux, gluten-free or not, because you are able to use less of it to thicken and it will not create or add any unwanted flavor in your sauce.

The only other part of this dish that would normally contain gluten is the fried onions. After doing some research on the best gluten-free coatings to use, I decided that a mix of cornstarch and rice flour would yield the lightest, crispiest coating. You can certainly use whatever gluten-free flour you have on hand. There are a variety of boxed gluten-free white flours available that many cooks are using successfully in fried foods.

Which of your Thanksgiving favorites have you updated to accommodate your guest’s dietary needs?

Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole

Fried Onion Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
salt to taste
enough vegetable oil to fill a large, deep frying pan with 1” of oil

Green Bean Casserole Ingredients

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half or thirds
1/4 lb white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs cornstarch
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan or small soup pot over medium-low heat. Add onions and saute until beginning to turn golden. Add the garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, stir frequently.

3. Raise heat to medium. Add mushrooms and olive oil. Cook until mushrooms soften, about 3-4 minutes, stir often.

4. Add white wine and bring to a high simmer. Stir frequently until wine is almost entirely reduced.
5. Add green beans, stir to coat, cook 3-4 minutes. Stir a couple of times.

6. Add 1/2 cups milk to the green beans and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch into remaining milk with a fork until dissolved.

7. When milk is boiling, add milk and cornstarch mixture. Stirring constantly, boil for 1 minute.
8. Turn off heat and pour mixture into a medium Dutch oven or casserole dish. Cover and place in oven for 30 minutes.

9. While your gluten-free green bean casserole is in the oven, make your fried onions.
10. Heat 1” vegetable oil in a large, deep frying pan. Test the oil with one small piece of onion – when it sizzles you’re ready to fry.
11. Mix cornstarch and rice flour in a shallow bowl or plate.

12. Toss onions in mixture until well coated.

13. Working in batches, add onions to the oil and fry until just beginning to turn golden. These will fry very quickly, turning from golden to brown in the blink of an eye.

14. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Toss in salt and cayenne pepper. Set aside until green beans have been in the oven 30 minutes.

15. At the end of 30 minutes, remove green beans from the oven and uncover. Spread crispy onions evenly across the top of the casserole. Return to oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

16. Remove from oven and serve alongside your meal or buffet-style with your other Thanksgiving accompaniments.