The Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe (+VIDEO) - The Girl Who Ate Everything (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep green bean casserole from getting mushy? ›

Green Bean Casserole Tips

Don't overcook the green beans: Remember when you are blanching the green beans that they will continue to cook and soften while baking in the oven with the rest of the casserole. So it's important to undercook them slightly during this first step so that they don't get mushy in the oven.

Green bean casserole

These are all potential signs of Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that produces the dangerous botulism toxin. While relatively rare, this neurotoxin is among the most dangerous in the world and can be deadly.

Green beans from a can have already been cooked to death right in the can and harbor plenty of sodium that could make your casserole too salty. Frozen French-cut green beans are a better option. They hold their texture better than canned, and you can cook them straight from their frozen state.

Green Bean Casserole from Scratch FAQs

Cover and freeze until you are ready to bake. You can bake start from frozen without adding the onions until the casserole has already baked for about 20 minutes. Should green bean casserole be soupy? No, your green bean casserole should not be soupy.

The Casserole Is Too Soupy

If you used frozen green beans, but didn't fully defrost and drain them prior to adding them to the casserole, that mistake will surely account for the excess water you're now experiencing.

Baking soda does help green vegetables retain color, but it causes undesirable color changes in red cabbage—it turned blue. The science can be distilled to this: Adding baking soda to cooking water makes it slightly alkaline, which stabilizes the green color of chlorophyll.

According to the USDA, food that has been left out of the fridge for more than two hours should be thrown away. That's because between 40° F and 140° F (what the USDA calls the "Danger Zone"), bacteria grows incredibly fast and can make you sick.

Lectin is a protein which can be found in many types of beans, but it's most highly concentrated in kidney beans. Ingesting high doses of lectin can cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Lectin in kidney beans is so concentrated that some individuals can become sick after consuming just four or five beans.

Green Bean Casserole Leftovers

Your creamy green bean casserole will last about four days in the fridge. The crunchy topping will get softer as time goes by; pop it into the oven to reheat to crisp it up a bit. While casseroles have a reputation for being freezer-friendly, green bean casseroles don't freeze so well.

Frozen vs. Canned: In general, frozen vegetables are better than canned. Fresh vegetables are blanched before freezing, and they do lose some nutrients but not a lot. Produce frozen right at its peak has more nutrients than produce that is picked too early, held, and shipped for thousands of miles.

Should canned green beans be drained before cooking? ›

One of the primary reasons for draining and rinsing canned beans, or any canned food, is to remove some of the excess salt.

They don't have any added sodium, and they're also cooked a lot less. As a result, they come out of the oven with the perfect balance of flavor and texture. If you find your green bean casserole is turning out salty and mushy, those canned green beans might be to blame.

Notes: ✿ 4 cups of green beans is about 1½ pounds fresh or 16 ounces frozen or 2 cans (15 ounces each) drained.

Overcooking the beans won't just drain them of their appealing color, but it will also make them too soft and mushy, resulting in a less appetizing casserole.

Fans love the dish in part because of how simple it is to throw together. It calls for ingredients that could be found in a typical home kitchen pantry: canned or fresh green beans, mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce and black pepper.

Just because your casserole is starting to look a bit soupy doesn't mean it's beyond saving. In fact, all you need to do is add some pasta noodles or grains to your base. This trick works for the simple reason that both types of ingredients soak up water as they cook.

How to Store Green Beans. Green beans should be stored unwashed in the crisper drawer of your fridge. If they came in a bag, keep them in the bag when storing. If they came in a small berry box from the market, transfer them to a reusable storage or plastic bag before storing them in the fridge.

TWO HOURS is the MAXIMUM time perishable foods should be at room temperature (ONE HOUR at temperatures 90 degrees F and higher). This INCLUDES the time they're on the table during your meal. Just ONE bacterium, doubling every 20 minutes, can grow to over 2,097,152 bacteria in 7 hours!

The casserole can sit out at room temperature for about an hour, then it should be reheated or stored in the fridge.