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Oil-Free Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole is one of my favorite holiday side dishes, second only to stuffing. The crunchy green beans and the creamy sauce and the yummy onion flavor…gimme now.
One thing I am not a fan of in traditional green bean casserole is the mushrooms. I don’t mind mushrooms, but they can stay out of my green bean casserole. If you like them and want to add them, sauté about a cup of them, chopped or sliced, after the onions are cooked through while making the cream sauce.
Because we are making vegan green bean casserole, the base of the cream sauce is almond milk. I have also used cashew milk. You can use any non-dairy milk you prefer.
For this recipe, I wanted to go totally oil-free (read why here). Unfortunately those delicious french fried onions that come in the plastic container are definitely not free of oil. (They ARE vegan though!)
While my version of these onions are baked and not as crispy/crunchy, they are still pretty delicious. I didn’t miss the store bought fried onions one bit.
To make these french baked-not-fried onions, I mixed half of a large sliced yellow onion with flour, corn meal, and aquafaba. The aquafaba really does help crisp them up, but if you don’t have it or don’t care to open a can of chickpeas, you can make this recipe without it. Onions are moist enough to help hold onto the flour & corn meal.
Vegan Green Bean Casserole (Oil-Free)
Ingredients
- 24 ounces frozen cut green beans
Cream Sauce
- water as needed for sautéing
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 cups non-dairy milk any kind – plain, unsweetened
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1-2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon (or 1-2 cubes)
- pepper to taste
Baked Onion Topping
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon flour see notes for gluten-free adaptation
- 2 teaspoon corn meal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- optional: 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Thaw out the green beans. You can either place them in the fridge overnight, or rinse with cool water for a few minutes to thaw them out quickly. Drain out excess water. Set aside.
Cream Sauce
- In a medium-sized pot on medium heat, sauté the onions in some water (2-3 tbsp) until translucent. Add a little more water if the liquid dries up.
- Add in the garlic and sauté for 1 additional minute.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond milk and corn starch until the corn starch is fully dissolved.
- Add the almond milk/corn starch mixture into the pot with the onions.
- Whisk in the soy sauce, vegetable bouillon, and pepper. Add more bouillon or salt to taste if needed.
- Bring to a simmer to thicken. Remove from heat.
Baked Onion Topping
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Peel the onion and cut in half. Slice thinly.
- Mix the sliced onions with the flour, cornmeal, and salt. Spread out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping and stirring around every 5 mins.
- Optional: Toss the onions with panko bread crumbs for an extra crunchy topping!
Bring it all together
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- In a casserole dish, mix the green beans and the cream sauce together. Top with the baked onions.
- Bake covered for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.
Rachel
Can you put this together ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to bake?
Karissa
Absolutely.
Jenna Dunn
Hello. I am going to try this recipe for Thanksgiving it sounds so yummy. But I’m Vegan and noticed that the recipe calls for Vegetable Stock. Question is doesn’t Stock contain Bone? If so can a broth be substituted?
Karissa
Vegetable stock does not contain any animal products.
Sharon Hor
How long does this take to cook and for how many people?
Karissa
All of the cooking instructions are right in the recipe card. It serves about 8 people as a side!
Jcb
What brand veg bouillon did you use? Cant find oil free one. Can I sub veg broth?
Karissa
I use the Better Than Bouillon brand that comes in a little jar. If you can’t find it, I would either leave it out or add a little extra seasoning.
Wilkins
I loved this. Even my kids loved it. And they are hard to please.