Easy vegan thanksgiving side dish
Best dairy free green bean casserole ever. Made with a creamy and rich homemade mushroom soup and topped with crispy onions. Delicious vegan holiday side dish recipe. Super simple and easy to make.
This recipe is:
- Creamy
- Delicious
- Dairy Free
- Satisfying
- Crunchy and crispy
- Easy
- Green beans are healthy as well
It’s that time of year! If this is your first holiday season as a vegan, don’t fret. You don’t have to miss out on any of the classic holiday dishes. You can make just about any dish vegan that your whole family will love.
To prove this point here is my recipe for the best damn homemade vegan green bean casserole.
It will knock your socks off and completely beats the classic green bean casserole made with Campbell’s mushroom soup. This is the perfect vegan side dish for a thanksgiving dinner to feed vegans or people with a dairy allergy.
Ingredients
- Frozen green beans – you can use fresh green beans, but I love using frozen green beans to make this recipe easy.
- Cashew cream – This is how we substitute cream of mushroom soup. Raw cashews, when blended make an amazing creamy sauce that thickens up when heated.
- Mushrooms – if you don’t like mushrooms, feel free to leave them out of this recipe.
- Onions
- Garlic
- Garlic powder and onion powder – I love adding these in as an additional layer of flavor to the fresh onions and garlic.
- Nutritional yeast – If you don’t have this, don’t worry. You can absolutely leave it out. Nutritional yeast just adds a nice depth of flavor to the dish.
- Thyme – Feel free to use fresh or dried
- Fried onions – I don’t even bother making this from scratch, I already have a lot going on during the holidays. Just use a bag of fried onions to add on top of the casserole like French’s. It will make your life easier.
- Soy sauce – Soy sauce adds a nice umami richness and is great to use instead of salt.
- Vegetable bouillon cube – You can also substitute the water for vegetable broth. I prefer buying bouillon cubes because it’s a lot cheaper than broth. Plus it lasts longer.
- Olive oil or vegan butter – to sauté the onions and mushrooms.
- Black pepper and sea salt
Substitutions
You can substitute canned coconut milk, almond milk or any other unsweetened non-dairy milk for homemade cashew cream, but make sure to add two tablespoons of corn starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot powder to the blender to help thicken it up. I don’t recommend soy milk, though, because it leaves a weird after taste.
The cashew cream is best to use because it’s thickest and creamiest and I recommend following the recipe as is for best results.
If you don’t have fried onions, you can also top the casserole with bread crumbs, but the french fried onions really make the dish.
Recipe tips
The cashew cream base will seem a bit watery when you first blend it. Don’t worry. Cashews thicken a dish up the longer they’re heated.
I love using frozen green beans, and pre-made fried onions to make this dish easy. You’ve probably already got enough to do if you’re cooking a holiday meal.
When cleaning the mushrooms, use a damp paper towel to wipe any dirt off. Running the mushrooms under water tends to make them soggy.
Storing
This healthy green bean casserole will stay in the fridge in an airtight container for up to five days.
FAQ
Can I make this without cashews?
If you’re allergic to cashews, you can use silken tofu instead. I haven’t recipe tested this yet, but word on the street is that silken tofu substitutes for cashew cream really well. Use about 1 cup of silken tofu.
Can you freeze green bean casserole?
Green bean casserole can absolutely be frozen. The only thing is, the crispy fried onions will become soggy once frozen.
Just thaw it out completely and then re-heat.
Can I make this ahead of time?
This is a great dish to make ahead of time if you need to save time on the day you cook. Just prepare the vegan cream of mushroom soup, mix it in a casserole dish or baking dish with the cooked green beans.
You can keep this in the fridge for 4-5 days, or cover this with a couple layers of plastic wrap and aluminum foil and keep it in the freezer or fridge. Just thaw it out before baking.
Don’t top this with the crispy onion topping or bake it until you’re ready to eat.
Can I make this gluten free?
Absolutely. Just make sure you use a gluten free bouillon cube, gluten free fried onions and gluten free soy sauce.
Can I make this without mushrooms?
Absolutely! If you’re not a fan of chopped mushrooms in your casserole, feel free to keep them out.
Try out these vegan thanksgiving recipes next
- Roasted Brussels sprouts with coconut bacon
- Pumpkin mousse parfait
- Stuffed butternut squash
- Instant pot mashed potatoes
- Vegan deviled eggs
- Creamy mashed potatoes without milk
- Easy vegan gravy
If you loved this recipe, leave a 5 ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and comment below!
Best dairy free green bean casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound frozen green beans
- 8 oz white button mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
- ¾ cup raw cashews (soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 onion ( or large shallot – diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1.5 vegetable bouillon cubes
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 bag fried onions
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Soak cashews in boiled water for 10 minutes. Drain¾ cup raw cashews
- In a high-speed blender add the cashews, bouillon cubes, garlic & onion powder, nutritional yeast and 2 cups of water. Blend on high until smooth. 1-2 minutes. It will seem too thin, but this will thicken when heated.¾ cup raw cashews, 1.5 vegetable bouillon cubes, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- Heat a sauté pan on medium heat and melt the vegan butter. Sauté the onions until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms, garlic, soy sauce, thyme and black pepper and cook until mushrooms are slightly browned – about 5-8 minutes.8 oz white button mushrooms, 2 tablespoons vegan butter, 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Add the blended cashew cream base and turn heat to medium low. Stir on medium low heat until soup starts to thicken slightly. Don't thicken it all the way because it will thicken in the oven. Turn the heat off once thickened. Taste and add salt if needed.Salt to taste
- In your casserole dish, add the green beans and cream of mushroom soup. Stir in a handful of fried onions1 pound frozen green beans
- Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes. Until you see the casserole thickening up and bubbling. Take out of oven and cover the top with fried onions. Place back in oven for 5 minutes.
- Let it set for 5 minutes and serve
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Victoria
Very tasty! (And no animals were exploited or harmed in the making. How great is that!?) This is an excellent "vegan" green bean casserole that tastes even better than the traditional (non-vegan) one I grew up with. Thanks so much for this recipe. It’s my new fave, and pretty easy to make — which is a definite plus.
Damn Tasty Vegan
I’m so glad you liked it, Victoria! Thank you for sharing that. Hope you had a great holiday!