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Home » Vegan

Vegan Green Bean Casserole with Coconut Milk (only 7 ingredients)

Published: Nov 21, 2020 · Updated: Jan 29, 2025 · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

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close up photo of vegan green bean casserole on a blue plate 2

Gimme that creamy, mushroom goodness, without the dairy puh-lease! Remake this American all time favorite with fashionable MCTs and zero lactose.

a hand putting fried onions on the green bean casserole

If you need a simple side dish that is crispy, creamy, and good for you, you need to make this green bean casserole. Especially if you need another dish for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Favorites

This recipe is part of a series of vegan dishes to indulge in on Thanksgiving including:

Easy Vegan Wild Rice Fried Rice with just 7 ingredients

Twice Baked Honeynut Squash with Vegan Wild Rice Stuffing

Fall Vegan Menu Paired with 2016 Napa Merlots

close up photo of vegan green bean casserole on a blue plate
Mushy green swamp or vegan glory? You will have to decide for yourself.

What is a green bean casserole?

Casseroles are a southern dream. They need to be creamy underneath, crunchy on top, and made with a whole lot of love.

This particular casserole has been gracing American holiday tables since the 1950s.

Dorcas Reilly, a home economist for Campbell's Soup Company, created the recipe in 1955 using 3 simple ingredients:

  1. Frozen Green Beans
  2. Cream of Mushroom Soup
  3. French Fried Onions

She intended to make a holiday dish with minimal ingredients that could easily be made ahead of time.

In that spirit of the original recipe, this version with coconut milk uses as few ingredients as possible and can also be made ahead of time.

Just 7 Ingredients

  • Green Beans - Fresh is nice! But the canned green beans in a jam could do too.
  • Coconut milk - One can does the trick. I didn't want to use a different plant based milk that would require thickening.
  • French Fried Onions - While preferable to make these yourself by coating sliced onions in flour or cornstarch and deep frying them, I take the shortcut once a year for Thanksgiving and just buy them. They don't have additives or junk except palm oil (which is not my favorite oil, but this is a once a year dish).
  • Mushrooms - Buy the presliced package if you can, so you don't have to slice them yourself.
  • Onion - Raw onion to flavor our "cream of mushroom" soup made with coconut milk
  • Tamari or Soy Sauce - Instead of salt, season with this umami booster.
  • Oil - your cooking oil of choice

Food Fail: How NOT to make Vegan Green Bean Casserole

2 versions of green bean casserole with roasted onions and vegan cheese
Don't try this at home. Left: Green bean casserole with roasted, sliced onions. Didn't taste bad, but it looks so awful I'm only exposing you to half of the photo. Right: Mixed with a salty vegan cheddar cheese that just wouldn't melt.

Don't say I didn't try. But I did make 3 unsuccessful attempts to veganize this iconic dish:

  1. Using roasted fresh onions instead of fried onion. The thought was nice, but it didn't look so hot. Maybe this is a version you stay at home to eat rather than taking it to a party.
  2. Vegan cheddar cheese that didn't melt. Is there a vegan cheese that melts? I haven't met one yet that does, and that's ok. Not all cheese has to be like the Wicked Witch of the West, but it just didn't work too well in my casserole.
  3. Using cornstarch to thicken the coconut milk. No....thanks. I've never seen an Asian recipe where cornstarch is used to thicken coconut milk, so I really should have known better. But I spilled the milk anyway.

The Process

Time needed: 40 minutes

  1. Prep green beans

    Bring a large pot of water to boil. While it comes to a boil, you can prep your green beans by trimming off the stem and cutting in half. Drop in boiling water with some salt if you like. Cook until tender, then shock in ice cold water. stages of green beans being boiled and cooled for casserole

  2. Make cream of mushroom soup

    Heat a pan to medium heat. Saute the onions until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and soy sauce and cook until mushrooms are soft. Add coconut milk.Stages of Onions sauteed in a pan with mushrooms and coconut milk

  3. Reduce coconut milk

    Bring the coconut milk to a boil then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook while stirring until the coconut milk has reduced by half and is nice and creamy. Add cooked green beans. cooked green beans on top of coconut mushrooms soup

  4. Bake or set aside if making ahead

    Mix in the green beans. Let cool and store in the fridge if making ahead. If eating right away, bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until beans are heated through. green beans mixed with coconut cream of mushroom soup

  5. Top with french fried onions

    Serve hot.vegan green bean casserole in a white bowl

Helpful Tips

  1. Instead of fresh green beans, you could use canned or frozen green beans that have been defrosted.
  2. You could shortcut reducing coconut milk in the pan by using coconut cream.
  3. Make the casserole ahead of time the night before or up to 3 days for maximum freshness.
  4. I wouldn't freeze this ahead of time, since it will change the texture of the green beans too much and the water from coconut milk will separate out.
  5. You could make your own fried onions or fried shallots just by coating thin slices of onion/shallot in flour or cornstarch and deep frying at 350 degrees F until golden brown.

More Vegan Green Bean Recipes

Easy Roasted Garlic Green Beans with Walnuts (as a vegan main dish)

Blistered & Blackened Green Beans

Recipe

a hand putting fried onions on the green bean casserole
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Vegan Green Bean Casserole with Coconut Milk

Creamy, mushroom goodness, without the dairy! Remake this American all time favorite with fashionable MCTs and zero lactose.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, Asian
Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose, Vegan
Keyword make ahead dish, thanksgiving side dishes
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes minutes
Servings 4
Calories 352kcal
Author Agile Test Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ lb green beans stems trimmed and cut in half
  • 8 oz mushrooms, sliced I use crimini, but portabella would be dreamy
  • 2 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • ½ teaspoon nutritional yeast or salt
  • 3 Tb flour
  • 2 c vegetable stock
  • 7 oz coconut milk (not low fat0
  • 2 Tb cornstarch mixed with 2 Tb water
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 c french fried onions

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil (MEASURE WATER). Add a 1 teaspoon of salt (optional) and green beans. Bring back to a boil and cook for 3-5 minutes until beans are al dente.
  • Drain and shock with cold water or ice water to stop cooking. Put into a baking dish. (DON"T NEED TO SHOCK)
  • You can reuse the same pot you used for the beans. Heat to medium heat. Add oil.
  • Add mushrooms and soy sauce to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute to bloom. Sprinkle over the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes to toast.
  • Slowly add the vegetable stock. stiring to blend in the flour. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. It will thicken. stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Stir in the coconut milk.
  • Pour on top of green beans and gently mix. At this point, you can cool and refrigerate to cook later. Or put in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F to heat through.
  • Remove from oven and top with fried onions before serving.

Notes

  1. Instead of fresh green beans, you could use canned or frozen green beans that have been defrosted.
  2. You could shortcut reducing coconut milk in the pan by using coconut cream.
  3. Make the casserole ahead of time the night before or up to 3 days for maximum freshness.
  4. I wouldn't freeze this ahead of time, since it will change the texture of the green beans too much and the water from coconut milk will separate out.
  5. You could make your own fried onions or fried shallots just by coating thin slices of onion/shallot in flour or cornstarch and deep frying at 350 degrees F until golden brown.

Nutrition

Calories: 352kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Sodium: 307mg | Potassium: 638mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 782IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @agiletestkitchen or tag #agiletestkitchen!

Wine Pairing: Cremant

green bean casseroled on a blue plate with a bottle of sparkling wine
Green beans coated in a creamy sauce, topped with crispy fried onions is just about the best combination with a sparkling wine I can think of. Especially nice with this French Cremant de Loire with small beads, a fine mousse, and honeysuckle aromas. The coconut milk made those little beads sizzle!

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I cooked in professional kitchens for 10 years, but at home I can barely get myself to boil water.

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