Crockpot Green Bean Casserole Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should green bean casserole be soupy before cooking? ›

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.

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.

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.

Refrigerate casserole in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days. To Reheat. Reheat leftovers in a baking dish in the oven at 350 degrees F until warmed through. I do not recommend freezing this dish, as the green beans and breadcrumbs will become mushy once thawed.

The Green Beans Are Mushy

Oftentimes, mushy green beans come down to one of two issues. The first is simply that you overcooked them, and they lost their shape and texture.

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

Even if you are not concerned about sodium, in most cases it's a good idea to rinse canned beans. Rinsing beans can improve the flavor and texture of the final dish and can help cut down on how much gas they produce.

Add a thickener

While your green bean casserole is on the stove, incorporate a thickener into the vegetables, such as cornstarch or flour. According to The Kitchn, you can combine cornstarch and a small amount of water or broth in a cup and stir until the lumps are gone, and it becomes a thick yet drizzly consistency.

Stuffing, cornbread, and rice are also great options that will add some variety to your meal. If you're looking for something a little lighter, a shaved Brussels sprouts salad or roasted sweet potatoes might be just what you need. Another great option is to serve a protein alongside your green bean casserole.

Mistake #5: A Runny Casserole

Who wants that? Be sure that frozen green beans are completely defrosted and drained before adding them to the casserole, Chef Patel says. If you don't, the excess water from the beans can leak out into the casserole and make it thin and runny.

Why is green bean casserole so good? ›

Fans love the dish in part because of how simple it is to throw together. It calls for ingredients that could be found in a typical home kitchen pantry: canned or fresh green beans, mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce and black pepper.

Keep Food out of the Danger Zone

Throw away all perishable foods that have been left in room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90° F, such as at an outdoor picnic during summer).

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

Regular canned green beans are high in salt, though, so that is the only thing you need to be careful of if you are on a sodium-restricted diet. If you need to watch your sodium intake, just buy the “no salt added” version. Green beans are one of the things you can as much as you want on just about any type of diet.

To prevent a soupy casserole, be sure to fully thaw any frozen vegetables in a colander over a bowl, and pat dry, squeeze excess moisture out of greens like spinach or chard, and quickly precook watery fresh vegetables like onions, mushrooms or squashes just until they release their moisture.

There should still be liquid in the pan, but it should not be soupy. Beans absorb liquid on standing. (Total baking time is 4 to 5 hours.)

It's normal that even after the baked beans are supposed to be done cooking, they will continue to absorb some liquid. After letting them sit for a few minutes, it's likely they won't turn out as watery as you might fear.

The longer you simmer and reduce the beans, the more the sauce will thicken. If you don't cook the beans long enough, the sauce will stay loose and runny, according to Home Cook World.