Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallot Pecan Topping
on Nov 16, 2016, Updated Aug 25, 2024
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A delicious and healthy Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallot Pecan Topping! Say goodbye to retro canned soup casseroles and hello to fresh and flavorful ones!
Halfway through the week and 8 days until Thanksgiving! Today I’m continuing with the Thanksgiving side dish recipes and sharing this fresh and healthy Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallot Pecan Topping.
What I really wanted to call this recipe was, green bean casserole without all the crap. However, I wasn’t sure how many people search for a recipe with the word crap in it…hopefully no one.
Green bean casserole is actually something that was never on our Thanksgiving table when I was growing up. I remember someone brought it once and not many people were digging into it. I remember taking a scoop and realizing why my mom never bothered to make it.
For the most part it’s just a ton of canned cream of mushroom soup, canned mushy green beans and french fried onions on top. You could probably get your whole day’s worth of sodium in one serving.
To give this retro recipe a much needed facelift, I opted to skip everything canned and go fresh all the way. It may take a little longer, but the flavor is far superior and you know exactly what you’re eating.
The crispy shallot and pecan topping is definitely the star of this casserole, just like those canned french fried onions are on the traditional recipe. Confession: I HATE raw onions. I used to not find them so offensive, but age has changed my tastes and just the smell of them almost make me gag.
You can imagine the misery I was in as I thinly sliced three cups of shallots. Tears pouring out of my eyes, my nose burning, I could still smell them the next morning when I got up. Despite hating them raw, I do love them crispy. My husband on the other hand loves onions in any form and was thrilled with this crispy shallot pecan topping!
Instead of frying the shallots I baked them, which means when you find yourself sneaking a handful off the baking sheet while you make the casserole you don’t have to feel bad about eating them. The toasted pecans add more crunch and nuttiness that goes great with the shallots and the creamy green bean and mushrooms. Ditch the cans this Thanksgiving and reach for the fresh stuff, you won’t regret it!
Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallot Pecan Topping
Ingredients
Shallot Pecan Topping
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups shallots
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
Green Bean Casserole
- 1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut in half
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, diced
- 1 clove garlic, grated or minced
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated if possible
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3/4 cup milk, low-fat or whole milk are best
Instructions
Shallot Pecan Topping
- Preheat oven to 425° F. In a large bowl combine the flour, panko, salt and pepper. Add in the sliced shallots and toss to coat.
- Dump the shallots onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Spread them into a single layer then place them on the middle rack of the oven to bake.
- Bake for 10 minutes then remove from the oven, toss and bake another 5 minutes. Toss them again and bake for 5 more minutes or until browned and crispy. Remove from the oven and toss in the chopped pecans, set aside.
Green Bean Casserole
- Preheat to 400° F.
- While the shallots are baking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the green beans and blanch them for approximately 4 minutes. Remove them from the boiling water into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the green beans and set aside.
- In a 10 inch oven safe skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot add in the mushrooms, salt and pepper and sauté for approximately 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and nutmeg and sauté for another minute.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until you can no longer see the flour. Slowly pour in the chicken broth stirring the entire time until the sauce thickens starts to thicken, 1-2 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add in the milk. Cook until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6-7 minutes.
- Add the green beans into the sauce and stir until coated. Remove from the heat and top with the shallot pecan topping. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes or until bubbly. If the topping starts to get to brown cover the skillet loosely with foil.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Bourbon Orange Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Butternut Squash with Goat Cheese and Rosemary
Cranberry Orange Brussels Sprout Slaw
You state “shallots” in the directions but list “onion” in the ingredients Can you please clarify which to use. Also, can any of this be made in advance. I’m trying to serve this for Thanksgiving but don’t want to do all while everything else is going on. Thank you.
Sorry for the confusion Ann. You’ll want to use shallots. You can make the green bean casserole portion 1-2 days in advance. I would wait to make the shallot topping just before baking so that it stays crispy. The baking time will be longer since the casserole portion will be cold. I would cover it loosely with foil to prevent the shallots from burning and remove the foil the last 5 minutes.