Pioneer Woman's Green Bean Casserole ♥
Today's new holiday recipe, another green bean casserole, this one from Pioneer Woman. It's made without mushrooms but almost makes up for that with crispy bacon (or ham) and a cheesy sauce.
Who knew?! Green bean casserole is holiday food. In fact, green bean casserole is favorite holiday food. Thanksgiving is the obvious occasion. But Christmas? Easter? 4th of July? and even Labor Day? Yes those too.
This is Pioneer Woman's holiday-worthy homemade green bean casserole recipe. It's made from scratch without canned mushroom soup, in fact, it's made without mushrooms. So if someone in the family hates mushrooms, this is your recipe.
Oh yeah and did I mention her casserole calls for bacon? Yeah, bacon. (Note to Vegetarians.) And cheese too. The sauce is cheesy, PW's recipe has a "mac 'n' cheese meets the green bean casserole" vibe happening. In fact, I kept wondering how this would taste with broccoli. Yeah. Broccoli. Wouldn't that be great?
To be clear, I missed the texture contrast that mushrooms bring to the party, also the underlying umami that happens with mushrooms in the oh-such-a-favorite and life-changing World's Best Green Bean Casserole. I did incorporate the slightly fussy but very worthwhile tricks from that recipe: cooking the beans in a lot of salt; shocking them in ice water to stop the cooking; drying the beans really, really really well with layers of paper towels.
RECIPE for PIONEER WOMAN'S GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Hands-on time: 70 minutes
Time to table: 2 hours
Serves 16 in smallish servings for a big multi-course meal such as Easter and Thanksgiving
Time to table: 2 hours
Serves 16 in smallish servings for a big multi-course meal such as Easter and Thanksgiving
GREEN BEANS
16 cups water
2 tablespoons table salt
2 - 3 pounds fresh green beans, stem ends snapped off, broken into two or three bite-size lengths (see TIPS)
Large bowl of ice water
BACON or HAM & ONION
4 slices bacon (PW's choice) or 6 ounces ham (my choice), cut into small pieces (see TIPS)
1/2 a large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
CHEESY SAUCE
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 ounces cheese (see TIPS)
4 ounces pimento, drained and chopped
BAKE
1/2 cup (or more or less, depending on the size of your pan) panko bread crumbs
PREP Preheat oven to 350F.
GREEN BEANS Bring water and salt to a boil. Drop the beans into the water, cover and cook for 6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain beans into a colander, then immerse in the ice water until cool. Let drain. Spread beans in a single layer on two or three layers of thick paper towels, then pat dry with more paper towels.
BACON or HAM & ONION In a large skillet, start cooking the bacon until it's crispy or the ham until it begins to brown. Add the onion and garlic as soon as they are prepped. Cook until the onions are golden and the ham slightly crispy. If the skillet is a little dry, add a splash of water. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside.
CHEESY SAUCE In the same skillet, melt butter, then sprinkle flour over top. A tablespoon at a time, add the milk, stirring in each addition before adding another. This will take some time, but doing it carefully means no lumps in the sauce. Stir in salt, pepper and cayenne. Stir in cheese and pimento; stir until cheese melts.
COMBINE Stir beans and bacon or ham and onion mixture into the sauce. Spread mixture in a two-quart casserole dish.
TO BAKE RIGHT AWAY Sprinkle panko over top and bake for 30 - 45 minutes until mixture is bubbly and the panko has turned golden. If the panko doesn't turn golden, put the casserole under the broiler for 2 - 3 minutes.
TO BAKE LATER Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake for about 20 minutes (for a low-profile dish such as a quiche pan) to 45 minutes (for a deeper dish).
TO HOLD Covered in foil, the casserole holds beautifully for at least an hour at 200F.
ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES





Still Hungry?
NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here.
Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.
Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.
KITCHEN PARADE, my food column LAST WEEK
Easy Creamy Scrambled Eggs for a Crowd
EAT VEGETABLES IN SEASON: THIS WEEK, 2005 - 2011
Lemon Asparagus















MORE FAVORITE CASSEROLE RECIPES
~ Sweet Potato Casserole ~
~ Spinach Casserole ~
~ Yellow Summer Squash Casserole ~
~ more casserole & hot dish recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture
~ Smashed Potatoes & Broccoli Casserole ~
~ Those Pink Potatoes ~
~ Ratatouille ~
~ more vegetable recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column
A Veggie Venture is home of 'veggie evangelist' Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2012, 2014
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2012, 2014
Bacon? I see ham, which sounds really yummy, too... Probably as soon as I post this, I'll re-read it for the 5th time and find bacon right in front of my face! That's how that usually happens! Thanks for posting this! I'd like it for breakfast, please! ~Linda Sue
ReplyDeleteBacon? I thought this was all vegetarian.
ReplyDeleteBacon or ham + green beans = happy belly. Such a great combo. Interesting recipe - I'm not a huge fan of green bean casserole, but this one has possibilities (though the broccoli sounds better in some ways). White cheddar would be a good choice if you want the cheddar flavor but with the lighter color. And you need to put a bigger Dutch oven on your wish list! I do have one that's 3 1/2 quarts (14 cups) that I sometimes use, but the ones I use all the time are 6 & 7 quarts. Good post - but I'm wishing mushrooms were there too! I'll have to check out your World's Best recipe! :-) Thanks for this.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete