With the holidays coming up I wanted to be sure and give all of you one of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving recipes.
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Yep, that classic recipe made famous by Campbell’s – only veganized.
Back when we used to do the traditional Turkey Dinner, my wife would spend all day on the turkey, the dressing, and making the homemade yeast rolls.
My job was to make everyone’s favorite – the Green Bean Casserole. I don’t think there’s a cook out there that hasn’t seen this classic recipe on a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup.
But – now that we’re all Brand New Vegans – that recipe has to go out the door.
Why? It’s NOT very vegan – or even healthy for that matter. Look at the ingredients in one of those little cans:
WATER, MUSHROOMS, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, COTTONSEED, CANOLA, AND/OR SOYBEAN), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEAT FLOUR, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: SALT, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, DEHYDRATED CREAM (CREAM [MILK], SOY LECITHIN), YEAST EXTRACT,FLAVORING, DEHYDRATED GARLIC.
Yuck. Not to mention each serving has 1g of saturated fat, 6g of total fat (50% of total calories), 5mg of cholesterol, and 870mg of sodium. And that’s per serving! (which is just 1/2 cup)
Yikes! And Campbell’s? What exactly do you mean by ‘flavoring‘? Do we really want to know ?????
Homemade is Better!
This year I decided to do something a little different. I made my OWN Cream of Mushroom soup – all from scratch. And it’s a lot easier than you’d think, and SO much healthier. There’s absolutely no oil or butter (or MSG!) and maybe just a tiny bit of fat from the Almond Milk.
But there are those Fried Onion Rings. Yeah, there’s really no way around them if you want that traditional onion-y crunch on top. You can leave them out completely, but for special holiday meals like this one, I stick to what I’m used to. Just don’t eat the whole can…..
After the photo shoot, the wife and I dug into this for lunch and I gotta tell you – this stuff is amazingly good! So much better than the canned version. She even went back for seconds!
So there you go guys – it’s wife approved. And if your job is the Green Bean Casserole – and you want a healthier version without all the chemicals….this recipe is for you.
Now let’s get cookin’……
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Serves: 8 cups
Serving size: 1 cup
Calories: 100
Fat: 4g
A healthier version of an old classic. This Vegan Green Bean Casserole will be sure to please this holiday season without all the sodium, dairy, or MSG. Ingredients - 8oz whole mushrooms
- ½ large onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅓ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ¾ cup low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon each of salt, pepper, onion powder
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ⅔ cup french fried onion rings
- 2 cans of 15oz no-salt added green beans (french style)
- ⅔ cup french fried onion rings
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash and slice the mushrooms and add to a large stew pot.
- Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and add both to the pot.
- Stir in ⅓ cup of the veggie broth and simmer until veggies are soft.
- Whisk the flour into the remaining ¾ cup of veggie broth and add to mix.
- Add the soy sauce, seasonings, and ⅔ cup of onion rings.
- Simmer on low heat until nice and thick.
- Rinse and drain the green beans and stir them into the soup.
- Simmer for 5 minutes until bubbly.
- Carefully pour mixture into an oven safe casserole dish.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining onion rings on top.
- Bake for another 5 minutes until topping is brown and crispy.
