Creamy, cheesy and topped with a crispy crunchy topping, this Homemade Green Bean Casserole takes the classic side dish to another level! Made with fresh green beans and a homemade cream sauce in place of the canned soup, it’s the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner!
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You’ll Love Homemade Fresh Green Bean Casserole
The fresh green beans in this recipe stay crisp and tender in the oven, never mushy. Paired with an absolutely irresistible creamy sauce that is made from scratch, this Homemade Green Bean Casserole is actually so different from the classic Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole, that if you love green beans, you could actually serve both!
Why You’ll Love It:
- No canned soup needed. Not everyone loves the canned soup, so this is a great alternative.
- Fresh green beans are fantastic at maintaining that crisp, garden fresh texture. No mushy beans here.
- You can top it with fried onions, buttery crackers or crushed cornflakes – or even better, a combination of them all!
- This has a little something that the traditional version doesn’t – cheese! The addition of melty cheddar works so well with the flavors. That said, you can skip it if you like.
- You can assemble this ahead of time and bake at time for dinner.
I love that this green bean casserole made with fresh green beans is so reminiscent of the original but with different flavors and textures. Whether you can’t get enough green bean casserole or you usually pass it by, you’ll love this tasty version of the classic Thanksgiving side dish. I also love making this for Christmas and Easter along with my Spiral Ham Recipe.
Fresh Green Bean Casserole Ingredients
This is a discussion about the ingredients. For the actual recipe with amounts, please see the recipe below.
- Fresh green beans – wash, dry and trim.
- Butter – you can use salted or unsalted.
- Flour – this helps thicken the cream sauce.
- Salt – you can add more or less depending on taste.
- Sugar – just a touch of sugar helps balance flavors.
- Sour cream – I wouldn’t recommend subbing Greek yogurt in this recipe.
- Cream cheese – the brick style is better than the tub, and you’ll want to let it soften a bit.
- Heavy cream – or Whipping Cream.
- Crackers, cornflakes or French fried onions – you can use one or a combo of these.
- Optional – cheddar cheese – adds a great layer of flavor!
- Optional – while we like this as is, you can add pepper, onion powder or garlic powder if you like.
How To Make Fresh Green Bean Casserole
This is just a visual overview of how this recipe is made to help you visualize the process. For the actual recipe directions with full details, please see the recipe card below.
Step 1: Preheat oven and parboil green beans. Drain beans and rinse in cold water.
Step 2: In a large pan, combine butter and flour. Add salt, sugar, cream cheese, sour cream and cream.
Step 3: Combine green beans with cream sauce and gently mix to coat.
Step 4: Transfer mixture to a baking dish.
Step 5: Combine fried onions, cracker crumbs or crushed cornflakes with butter.
Step 6: Sprinkle on topping, and cheese if desired, and bake.
Christi’s Tips For Success!
Boil… Just A Bit: If you are new to parboiling, it’s simply boiling food briefly until it’s partially cooked, not fully cooked. In this Fresh Green Bean Casserole recipe we parboil the beans to give them a head start on cooking before going into the oven so that they are tender and crisp, not crunchy or undercooked. Just make sure not to overdo it – 3 to 4 minutes, then rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
In The Bag: If using fresh green beans that come in a microwave steamer bag, green beans can be microwaved for approximately 1/3 of the suggested cooking time on the package, then skip the parboiling portion of the recipe. But don’t skip the pat down!
Pat Them Down: Make sure to pat the beans dry after boiling, as extra water can make the sauce runny.
Be A Softie: Cold cream cheese can be really stubborn about melting, and can leave lumps in your sauce. If you can take your cream cheese out and set it on the counter for an hour or two before using it, that is great. Otherwise a few seconds in the microwave at 50% power will work, just go in short bursts as it can go from solid to runny in the microwave.
Keeping My Eyes On You: If you notice your topping browning a bit quicker than anticipated, you can always add a sheet of aluminum foil on top to help stop the browning. You do not have to tightly cover it, you can just gently lay it on top. That said, if you use cheese, it could stick to the cheese, so you can give a quick spray with non-stick cooking spray to the side that will be in contact with the cheese. Just make sure to do the spraying before opening the oven as you never want to use cooking spray near an open heat source.
Make Ahead Tips
Preparing holiday meals can be hectic, so anything I can make ahead, I do! You can assemble this casserole a few hours in advance, or even the night before. I don’t love this one for freezing due to the dairy, if you want one you can freeze ahead, go with the Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole instead.
Here’s the important info to make green bean casserole in advance:
- Leave off the topping until ready to bake, otherwise it’ll be more soggy then crunchy.
- To save space, you can make the filling then transfer it to an airtight storage container or even a freezer bag. This is often easier to find precious fridge space for than a casserole dish.
- Take the casserole out of the fridge about an hour before baking, so that it can lose some of the chill from the fridge. Then top and bake as directed.
- If you end up needing to go straight from the fridge to the oven, you will need to increase the bake time around 5-15 minutes given how cold the casserole will be. Plan to add a sheet of foil (see the tip box above) towards the end to prevent overbrowning. Make sure to double check it’s temperature prior to serving to make sure it’s heated through.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: If using a glass baking dish, please note that rapid temperature changes, such as going from the refrigerator to the oven, can cause glass to crack. In this case a metal pan is great, or store the bean mixture in a different container, so that the baking dish is room temp.
Storing Green Bean Casserole:
Storing: Keep the leftover fresh green bean casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheating: I prefer to reheat this in the oven at 350°F until warm, to get back that crisp on top! You can also just reheat a serving in the microwave until warm.
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Looking for more Thanksgiving side dish recipes? I’ve got you covered! Here are some of my favorites. You can find all of my Thanksgiving Recipes here!
Serving Suggestions
Serve your Homemade Green Bean Casserole with all your favorite Thanksgiving dishes. This year, you can bet we’ll have plenty of Mashed Butternut Squash, Mashed Potatoes, Glazed Carrots, Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls, Sweet Potato Casserole With Marshmallows and Crock Pot Creamed Corn. We’ll also have to have a big pan of Macaroni and Cheese at the ready, too. When it comes to dessert, everyone will love Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars, Pecan Pie and traditional Libby’s Pumpkin Pie.
Homemade Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh green beans (rinsed and trimmed)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 1/4 cup cream (heavy or whipping cream)
- 1 cup OPTIONAL – cheddar or Monterey jack cheese (shredded or grated)
Topping
- 1/2 cup crushed crackers, cornflakes or French fried onions (Ritz or Townhouse crackers work well)
- 1 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large pot boil water for green beans. Boil green beans for 3-4 minutes, just enough to parboil them. Drain beans and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Pat completely dry.
- In a large pan over medium heat, add and melt 2 tbsp of butter. Sprinkle flour into butter, then immediately whisk to combine well, for approximately one minute. Add sugar and salt, and mix to combine.
- Reduce heat to low and add cream cheese. Mix until well combined and smooth. Remove pan from heat and add in sour cream, stirring until smooth. Stir in heavy cream until well combined.
- Add dried green beans to the pan. Combine the beans and cream mixture, gently mixing together to coat well.
- Transfer green beans to a 13×9 baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. If desired, sprinkle cheese over top of casserole.
Topping
- In a separate bowl combine melted butter with cracker crumbs or fried onions. Sprinkle mixture over casserole.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until bubbly and the topping is golden.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
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Post originally published November 20, 2020. Updated October 5, 2026 with more helpful formatting, text and tips. Recipe has not been changed.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Really Appreciate this update, can I set it up so I receive an email sent to me whenever you make a new update?
Im getting ready to make this dish that zounds great. Im not sure if im over working it but want to clarify the last instruction in step 3 would be in reference to adding the heavy or whipping cream,?