Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, yams, green gelatin salad, rolls...you know the drill.

It's Thanksgiving, once again, with all the usual fixin's.

Our family has never made green bean casserole for Thanksgiving. This year I wanted to make it only in a healthier manner. So, I did and people liked it! Instead of canned green beans I used fresh green beans so there was a big difference right there. Then I used my homemade mushroom soup. I was going to make homemade onion rings but opted for the easier version of just buying some Funyuns which I'd never had before so I tried them and they were pretty good! Plus, they were cute, as you can see from the above photo. I used a tube of the "minis".

For whatever reason, I just didn't feel like the usual Brussel sprouts for Thanksgiving this year so the green bean casserole sounded really good to me. Now, I think I will make this each Thanksgiving as a side vegetable. We actually had two Thanksgivings this year which isn't unusual in our family. We usually have another gathering on Friday with people who couldn't come on Thursday and that way Bruce and I can also prepare our own turkey if we don't host on Thursday. We spent Thursday this year with my sister's family with 13 people which is always a fun time. This year it was buffet-style at a Airbnb that they rented on a lake for their gathering about 1 hour away from Seattle. So, it was fun going to a new place to celebrate.

I was thrilled that people liked my green bean casserole.

There was barely enough left over for Friday. There was just a small group of five of us on Friday so we had a nice low-key evening but our turkey was outstanding. We used my turkey brine recipe and smoked it in the Traeger.

It turned out amazing and was almost too pretty to eat.

Everyone wanted to get their photo with the turkey

including a selfie, of course.

I would say our Thanksgiving was a success and I got a new recipe out of it. If you've never made green bean casserole, this will be a good one to try. You can eat the extra mushroom soup on a cold, rainy day and your dinner guests will love your new side dish of green beans. Just make sure you have pie for dessert to complete the meal.

Serves 8

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and cut

1-1/2 cups of homemade mushroom soup

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 tube of mini Funyuns, about 2.87 ounces

Blanch the Green Beans

1. Prepare fresh green beans by cutting off ends and slicing in half or thirds, depending on length.

Drop into a pot of boiling, salted water and boil for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender.

2. While the beans are boiling, prepare a large bowl of ice water. When beans are tender, immediately transfer the beans to the ice bath using a slotted spoon or colander to stop the cooking process. Let the beans sit in the cool water a few minutes before draining them completely.

3. Dry the beans on a paper towel by removing them from the ice bath with a slotted spoon. Dry completely at room temperature.

Make the Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

4. In a casserole dish, layer the green beans on the bottom of the dish.

5. Pour the soup over the green beans.

6. Spread evenly with a spatula.

7. Mix 1 cup of the Funyuns into the mixture of the green beans and soup.

8. Bake for 25 minutes

9. Remove from oven. At this point, you can refrigerate up to 2 days ahead of the meal. Before the meal, sprinkle the top with the remaining Funyuns and bake for 15 minutes prior to serving.

Enjoy your green bean casserole!

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