Green Bean Casserole Recipe with Cream Cheese
This green bean casserole recipe with cream cheese is a flavorful and delicious holiday side dish, made without cream of mushroom soup! This easy casserole recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep, and 30 minutes to bake.
Top with some delicious crispy air fried onions, and you have a classic casserole with a flavorful and modern twist. Make or bring this recipe to a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or holiday dinner and it’ll be a huge hit!
It’s almost the holidays, and there’s nothing more classic than having a delicious green bean casserole on your Thanksgiving table. To make an extra creamy sauce, I use melted cream cheese instead of traditional cream of mushroom soup. The cream cheese mixture adds a wonderful flavor, making it my the best green bean casserole recipe I’ve tried!
This easy recipe starts with blanched green beans cook for a few minutes in boiling water. Then you made a creamy sauce with cream cheese, fresh mushrooms (chopped into small pieces), thyme, and other spices. Fold in the tender green beans, bake, and finish the casserole off with french-fried onions!
A new twist on classic green bean casserole, that the whole family will love.
This Green Bean Casserole with Cream Cheese Is
- Savory
- Creamy
- Delicious
- Easy to Make
- Tasty
- A Huge Crowd Pleaser!
- A Great Side Dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any Holiday!
A Perfect Side Dish for the Holiday Season
This easy green bean casserole recipe is a fantastic side dish for any holiday table. Serve it for Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, or Easter. It’s loaded with fresh ingredients, a creamy mushroom sauce, and topped with crispy onions. It’s our favorite side dish to enjoy with turkey and mashed potatoes!
While this creamy green bean casserole is one of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, it’s easy to make all year long and goes great on any dinner table. Browse all our easy side dish recipes to find your next favorite!
What’s In This Cream Cheese Green Bean Casserole?
See the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and instructions.
- Fresh Green Beans – you can use frozen beans too, they turn out great. You could use canned green beans in a pinch, however the casserole will be softer as the canned beans are already fully cooked.
- Cream Cheese – skip the canned soup and use cream cheese for a delicious addition to the sauce!
- Chicken broth – or vegetable broth would work great.
- Pink Himalayan Sea Salt: I like to use a pink Himalayan Sea Salt in my kitchen, which can have more natural minerals and is less processed than table salt. It’s inexpensive, so I’d recommend this salt if you’re looking for an easy way to level up your spice pantry.
- Tellicherry Peppercorns: It’s amazing the flavor difference you can get with really good tellicherry black pepper.
- Onion Powder
- Thyme – I used fresh thyme as we have it growing on our property, but this dried thyme would be a perfect substitute.
- Mushrooms
- French Fried Onions – one of the best parts of the casserole is getting some crispy onions in each bite. My easy air fryer crispy onions are our favorite topping.
What Equipment Do I Need to Make Green Bean Casserole
​You don’t need to much kitchen equipment to make this recipe – but here are a few recommendations to make your life easier.
- A Large Pot, this is for blanching the green beans, and making the cream cheese sauce. You could also use a large skillet
- Slotted Spoon or Colander – for draining the green beans.
- ​A baking dish – I used a 8 by 8 inch casserole dish for this recipe, but you could use a larger 13×9 inch dish if you are doubling this recipe or making it for a crowd.
- Aluminum foil or plastic wrap for covering the casserole if transporting.
How Do You Make Green Bean Casserole without Mushroom Soup?
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Prep your green beans: For fresh or frozen green beans, bring a pot of boiling water to a boil, add the green beans, and cook for 3-4 minutes in boiling water. Drain, run under cool water, and set aside. You want to blanch the beans to start the cooking process, but not overcook them since they will bake in the oven. If the green beans are canned, drain and set aside.
- In a medium pan, add the cream cheese and vegetable stock, onion powder, mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper. Heat over low-medium heat. Whisk until the cream cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth.
- In a large bowl, add the green beans, and toss with the whisked cream cheese and mushroom mixture.
- Take a 8×8 inch casserole dish, and add in the green beans. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove pan from the oven. top with crispy fried onions, place back in the oven, and bake for an additional 10 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.
- Serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Modern Side Dishes for Entertaining
This green bean casserole with cream cheese is what I call an Easy Entertaining Recipe – it’s simple and can feed guests in about 30 minutes. These quick and easy recipes are perfect for cookouts, holiday gatherings, party invites, or when you just want a healthy homemade side dish with dinner. These Easy Entertaining Recipes are great for friends, family, and guests.
This creamy vegetable casserole is easy, delicious, and totally crowd-pleasing. If you’re heading to a holiday party, check out these thoughtful & affordable Christmas holiday hostess gifts or Thanksgiving hostess gifts your host will love!
More Modern Holiday Recipes Everyone Will Love
Carrot Sweet Potato Lentil Soup
Cottage Cheese Alfredo Pasta Sauce
Low Sodium French Fried Onions Recipe
Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings
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Green Bean Casserole with Cream Cheese
Equipment
- 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Large Pot
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb beans ends removed
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 3/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces mushrooms chopped
- 2 cups French fried onions
Instructions
- Prep your green beans: For fresh or frozen green beans, bring a pot of boiling water to a boil, add the green beans, and cook for 3-4 minutes in boiling water. Drain, run under cool water, and set aside. You want to blanch the beans to start the cooking process, but not overcook them since they will bake in the oven. If the green beans are canned, drain and set aside.
- In a medium pan, add the cream cheese and vegetable stock, onion powder, mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper. Heat over low-medium heat. Whisk until the cream cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth.
- In a large bowl, add the green beans, and toss with the whisked cream cheese and mushroom mixture.
- Take a 8×8 inch casserole dish, and add in the green beans. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove pan from the oven. top with crispy fried onions, place back in the oven, and bake for an additional 10 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.
- Serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Delicious! A great dish to make and enjoy some delicious beans and fantastic onions! Really nice work.
I like the new twist. Very 👅 good