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This cozy, Boursin Cheese Green Bean Casserole is the perfect fall-dinner side dish. No need to wait for a special occasion, although Thanksgiving is the perfect one!
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This Boursin Cheese Green Bean Casserole is easy to make, using no canned-ingredients. I’m not a fan of using canned soups in recipes, because making everything from scratch really does taste better, and it’s not a lot of extra effort, trust me, you’ll see!
Let’s talk a little bit about this recipe. I use Boursin Cheese a lot in my recipes, as you can see from this Boursin Chicken and Potatoes, these Boursin Chicken Thighs, and this Boursin Spaghetti Squash.
Ingredients + substitutions you can make
This green bean casserole is very easy to make, and with minimal (mostly) clean ingredients. Sorry, there is no way I can clean up those French fried onions, the store-bought variety pretty much make this recipe and they're not worth making from scratch, unless you really want to.
You'll need:
- Fresh green beans - trimmed and cleaned. Definitely use fresh green beans here if you can, but you can swap them for the microwave-in-a-bag kind if you’re really in a pinch and skip that blanching step.
- Olive oil - for drizzling into your pan to saute the green beans. You could swap this for any neutral-tasting oil or just use some butter.
- Salt and pepper - for seasoning the green beans. If you want to use more spices, garlic powder, onion powder, or Italian seasoning would be good choices. But keep in mind, the flavor from the Boursin cheese is going to do most of the heavy-lifting in terms of flavor for this recipe.
- Garlic - for flavor. You can swap it for shallots, or just use a little garlic powder.
- Butter - for making the roux, no need to remove the green beans from the pan, we’re trying to keep this recipe simple, and with minimal dishes.
- Flour - to thicken your casserole.
- Broth - for flavor and this will make the base of your green bean casserole.
- Boursin cheese - this is the star of the show! The Garlic and Fine Herbs flavor in this wheel does most of the heavy lifting in this recipe. If you *must* make a swap here, you can use ¾ cup of freshly grated parmesan in place of the Boursin.
- Heavy cream - for creaminess and flavor.
- French fried onions - the classic is best here, although I did use the Trader Joe’s version so I can confirm those work just fine.
How to make it
Making this green bean casserole is so easy, dare I say, even easier than that classic one with the canned soup and such.
Let’s discuss the process! First, preheat your oven.
Bring a pot of water with a pinch of salt to a boil and blanch your green beans. Then run them under cold water (from the tap is fine, no need for bowls of ice water).
After that, saute your green beans with olive oil and garlic.
Add the butter and flour, continue to saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the broth, when it starts to bubble, turn the heat down and add the Boursin cheese, then the cream.
Top with French fried onions and bake!
Serve it up while it's hot and bubbly!
Ways to level it up
- Mushrooms - you can definitely go ahead and add sliced mushrooms to this recipe, just clean and slice them, add them when you add the green beans to your pan and proceed with the recipe as usual.
- Onions or shallots - level things up with sliced onions or shallots, add them with the green beans after you blanch them and proceed with the recipe.
Tools I found helpful when making this recipe
This 10-inch Staub pan was perfect for this recipe, not only is it stovetop-safe, but you can also pop it right into the oven.
You can save a little bit of money buying this "used like new" on Amazon.
Make ahead and storage
- MAKE AHEAD - If you’re making this for Thanksgiving, yes, you can make this the day before! Complete all steps (minus preheating your oven and baking), allow it to come to room temperature, cover and refrigerate until the day of your event. Simply uncover and bake until it’s warm and bubbly throughout.
- SAVE - Leftovers? Awesome, just transfer the leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days. When you’re ready to serve it, add a splash of water and microwave in 30 second increments until it’s warmed though.
Cozy mocktail pairings
I’m a big believer that an elevated dish needs an elevated drink, but it doesn’t have to be alcoholic. That’s where mocktails come in, and here are a few of my fall favorites.
Equipment
- 1 oven-safe skillet such as a cast-iron
Ingredients
- 2 lb green beans trimmed + cleaned
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp EACH: salt + pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken broth or vegetable
- 1 wheel Garlic & Fine Herbs Boursin cheese
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup French fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
BLANCH
- First, blanch your green beans by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil and add the green beans for 4 minutes, they’ll turn bright green.
- Drain them into a colander and run cold water over them. No need for bowls of ice water, just use cold water from the tap to make things easy.
SAUTE
- Drizzle olive oil into a pan, add the blanched green beans, season with salt and pepper then saute over medium-high heat in a large, oven-safe pan for 3 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, stir it until fragrant.
- Add the butter, once it melts add the flour and stir it around for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the broth and when it starts to bubble turn the heat down to low and add the wheel of Boursin until it melts.
- Add the heavy cream and turn the heat off.
- Sprinkle the French fried onions on top.
BAKE
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition
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