Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean Casserole

You’ll never believe this rich, creamy Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean Casserole is gluten free, paleo friendly and whole30 compliant! Perfect for a healthy Thanksgiving!

a pot full of Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean

Pin This Recipe For Later!

Table of Contents

This post is brought to you by a deprived person named Taylor.

Which also happens to be ME.

I’m going to get honest with you, and risk potential judgement, RIGHT OFF THE BAT in sentence number 3:

I’ve never had green bean casserole before making this recipe.

Aaaaaaand, you just x’d out of your screen because you cannot trust a recipe from someone who has never even had the dish, and then tried to remake it without knowing all the flavor profiles that said dish should have.

Why you will LOVE This Recipe

Thanksgiving is one of my FAVORITE holidays, in part because I just looove the comforting, cozy and delicious food that goes along with it! One of the most popular veggie dishes to make its way onto a thanksgiving table is green beans, and here on the blog we’ve got you covered! Instant Pot Green Beans are simple and tasty, easy sauteed fresh green beans with crispy prosciutto are bound to be a hit, and now we’ve got this creamy, cozy gluten free dairy free green bean casserole to grace your table as well! It’s flavorful, easy to whip up, AND is vegan to suit those with different dietary needs and preferences. It’s sure to be your new go-to Thanksgiving side!

a small plate with Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean and a fork

Ingredients Needed

This recipe calls for easy to pronounce, healthy ingredients that together, create the most indulgent and delicious dairy free green bean casserole from scratch! Here is everything you’ll need to grab before getting started on your casserole:

For the Casserole:

Avocado Oil
Mushroom
Onion
Unsweetened Almond Milk
Full Fat Coconut Milk
Sea Salt
Pepper
Tapioca Starch
Green Beans

For the Onions:

Unsweetened Almond Milk
Onion
Avocado Oil
Tapioca Starch
Coconut Flour
Salt and Pepper

How to make Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Prepare

Turn on the oven so that it can preheat while you prepare the casserole. Place the onion rings (for the fried onions) into a bowl with some of the almond milk in it and set aside to soak.

Sautee

Add some oil to a large pan and heat it up. Add in the mushroom and diced onion to the pan and cook until they are golden brown.

Boil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the green beans, cooking until they are fork tender. Drain out the water and place the beans onto some dry paper towel, pressing gently on them with paper towel to remove excess water.

Stir

In the pan with the cooked onion and mushroom, add in some of the almond milk and some of the coconut milk, saving the rest for later on in the recipe. Add in some salt and pepper as well, and stir to combine.

Thicken

Bring the mixture to a boil. Take a small amount of the liquid and place it in a separate, small bowl with the starch. Whisk it in until smooth. When boiling, add in the tapioca starch mixture and whisk constantly for a few minutes while the mixture thickens. Be sure to not stop whisking so that it doesn’t burn! Reduce the heat a bit and simmer the mixture until it reduces and becomes very thick.

Bake

Add the green beans to the sauce mixture and stir them in until they are well coated. Pour them into a baking dish until the sides are bubbling and the sauce is even thicker.

Shake

Pour the avocado oil into a large pan and heat it up. Place the tapioca starch, coconut flour, salt and pepper into a large ziploc bag and shake until everything is well combined. Drain the almond milk from the bowl of onions you set aside earlier and place the onions into the bag, shaking gently to evenly coat them.

Fry

Place a few onion rings into the hot oil, cooking and flipping once until they are golden brown and crispy. Do them in a few batches so as to not overcrowd them. Place them on a piece of clean paper towel to gently blot off the excess oil.

Finish it Off

Place the fried onions on top of the baked dairy free vegan green bean casserole and bake for a few minutes more.

DEVOUR

Serve up your casserole and enjoy!

a pot full of Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean with a serving spoon

Top Tips for making Vegan Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Whisk CONSTANTLY: When creating the sauce that will coat the green beans, it’s important to stir constantly so that it doesn’t get lumpy or burn while it cooks.
Make sure the oil isn’t too hot: When you’re getting ready to fry up your crispy onions, it is important that the oil is hot, but not so hot that it will burn the onions!
Blot off Oil: I recommend placing the fried onions on a paper towel and gently pressing on them with another piece of paper towel to remove any excess oil from them.

Can I make it ahead of time?

You certainly can! Simply assemble your casserole so that it’s ready to bake, then cover it and place it in the fridge until you are ready to cook it.

Serving Suggestions

Now that you have the most delicious green bean casserole to serve this Thanksgiving, it’s time to plan out the rest of your spread. I recommend serving a perfectly cooked turkey, some red skinned mashed potatoes, easy gluten free stuffing, and creamy vegan butternut squash pie for dessert!

Healthy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

This rich, creamy Dairy Free Vegan Green Bean Casserole is gluten free, and paleo friendly! Perfect for a healthy Thanksgiving!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings -6, as a side

Ingredients

For the casserole:

1 1/2 Tbsp Avocado oil
2 Cups Mushroom sliced
1 Cup Onion diced
1 Cup + 1 Tbsp Unsweetened almond milk divided
1 Cup + 1 Tbsp Full-fat coconut milk divided
1 tsp Sea salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 Tbsp Tapioca starch
1 Lb Green beans trimmed

For the onions:

1/2 Cup Unsweetened almond milk
1/2 a Large onion thinly sliced
1/2 Cup Avocado Oil for frying *Read notes
2 Tbsp Tapioca starch
2 Tbsp Coconut flour
Pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Fill a medium bowl with the 1/2 cup of almond milk (from the fried onions) and add in the thinly sliced onion (making sure to separate all the rings) so they can sit while you make the casserole.
In a large, high-sided frying pan heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
Add in the mushrooms and onions and cook until lightly golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
While the mushrooms and onions cook, fill a large pot with water, adding a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, add in the trimmed green beans and cook until fork-tender, about 7-8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a paper towel. Try to lightly press out as much of the water as you can. Set aside
Once the mushrooms and onions are cooked, add in 1 cup of the almond milk and 1 cup of the coconut milk (reserving the rest for later) along with the salt and pepper and stir until well combined.
Bring the mixture to a boil. While you’re waiting for it boil, whisk together the 2 Tbsp of tapioca starch and the remaining 1 Tbsp of each milk in a small bowl until smooth.
Once boiling, stir in the tapioca/milk mixture, whisking constantly so that it doesn’t cook and get chunky. Boil the milk mixture for 4 minutes, stirring CONSTANTLY so that it doesn’t burn.
Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring very frequently, until the mixture is REALLY thick and reduced by half, about 10-11 minutes.
Once the sauce is thick, add the green beans in and stir until evenly coated.
Pour the mixture into an 8×8 inch baking dish and bake until the sides are bubbly and the sauce has further thickened, about 25 minutes.
While the casserole cooks, it’s time to make the onions.
Heat the avocado oil in a medium saucepan, or high-side skillet, over medium high, then reduce to medium. The oil should sizzle when you add the onion, but you don’t want it too hot that it just burns the onion.
Place the tapioca starch, coconut flour and salt and pepper into a large zip-loc bag and shake around until well mixed.
Drain the excess almond milk out of the onions and add them into the bag and gently shake around to evenly coat each ring.
Drop a few rings into the hot oil, making sure not to crowd them, and cook until lightly golden brown and crispy, flipping as necessary. I did mine in 4 batches to make sure they weren’t over-crowding.
Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and gently blot off the excess oil. Repeat until all the rings are done.
Once the casserole has cooked, scatter the fried onions on top, lightly pressing them into the casserole. Bake for 5 minutes more.
DEVOUR

Notes

*You will not actually consume NEARLY this much oil – I measured it after frying the onions, and had 5.5 Tbsp left over. So, nutritional information reflects only using a total of 2.5 Tbsp. However, you need all that extra oil to cover the onions so they cook and get crispy.