The Best Vegan Green Bean Casserole
A simple, fresh, homemade green bean casserole, made with a super creamy cashew-based mushroom sauce instead of canned! Beloved by all- vegan or not!!
Ingredients
- 24 ounces fresh green beans ends trimmed
- 1 cup raw cashews plus hot water, to soak
- 4 ounces mushrooms cremini, shitake, baby bella, etc, all work
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves from 2 large sprigs
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups crispy fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahreneheit.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook green beans for 3 minutes. Drain and run under cold water until cool. Set aside.
- Place cashews in a heat safe bowl or glass measuring cup, and cover with very hot water. You can ladle out boiling water from the green beans for this, if you'd like, or just heat water separately in a kettle on the stove. Soaking the cashews will make them soft, and easier to blend.
- Remove and discard the stems from your mushrooms, and dice the mushrooms. Place a large skillet on the stove over medium heat and add mushrooms and olive oil. Sautee for about 5 minutes, until starting to brown.
- Season mushrooms with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme.
- Drain the cashews, and place in the bowl of a high powered blender or food processor. Add broth, and blend until completely smooth.
- Pour cashew sauce into the pan with the mushrooms, and cook for another 5 minutes, until thick and creamy. Taste and add more salt, if needed (this should be slightly salty, as it will season the green beans as well).
- Place green beans in a large baking dish, top with sauce, and stir to combine. Top with crispy onions, and bake for 25 minutes, or until deeply golden.
Notes
Both the green beans and mushroom sauce can be prepped in advance. Cook the green beans up to 2 days in advance of Thanksgiving, and make the mushroom sauce up to 4 days in advance. Store separately in the fridge, then combine, top with onions, and bake on the day of.
If your oven needs to be at a higher temperature to accommodate other recipes on thanksgiving day, bake your casserole without the onions for about 10 minutes, and add the onions for a final 10 minutes so they get crispy, but don't burn.