Green Bean Casserole with Pancetta, Porcini and Parmesan

Through the years of adding and subtracting various dishes to my family’s Thanksgiving table, the one dish unanimously voted to ELIMINATE, as in ‘STOP making this!’ has been Green Bean Casserole!  With the canned cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, the overcooked large green beans, and the canned fried onions, the old recipe was just a bunch of YUCK to my health-oriented family. 

Adios and goodbye!

I hear you!   You’re saying:  “But it’s traditional to serve this dish for Thanksgiving, right?”  It sure is!  

And that’s how this delicious recipe for Green Bean Casserole with Parmesan, Pancetta, and Porcini Mushrooms came about! Trust me, there is nothing canned or boring in this vegetable side dish!  It’s all about FRESH and making from scratch!

This recipe requires a little bit more work and time than the canned recipes, but is Soooo Worth It!  This recipe is simply indulgent!  The green beans are crispy and crunchy and lathered with a creamy, porcini, pancetta, and parmesan sauce that is simply out of this world.  The mushroom sauce is so good, it can be served on it’s own as a soup!  Topping off the whole dish are freshly fried/baked buttermilk onion rings.  Be careful, they’re delicious and hard to resist gobbling up while you’re making the rest of the recipe.  

You can also adjust this recipe easily.  If you want more green beans, not a problem.  There’s plenty of mushroom sauce.  Or maybe you want less sauce, so you simply reduce the amount in your casserole.

To create this recipe, I looked at over 25 recipes from home cooks to famous TV celebrity chefs.  I analyzed what each of the highest-rated recipes had in common.  “Fresh” had to be the first criteria that my new recipe had to be.

So What Do Recipes for Green Bean Casseroles that Use Fresh Ingredients Have in Common? 

First Of All, Every Ingredient Is FRESH, FRESH, FRESH!

Don’t use any canned green beans, no canned soup, no canned onions, and no canned mushrooms!

Select fresh, thin French green beans (Haricots Verts are very nice) instead of thicker green beans.

Use flavorful fresh or dried mushrooms such as porcini, cremini, or baby portabello mushrooms

Add some smoked bacon or pancetta!

Use more interesting cheeses such as Parmesan, Fontina, or Pepper Jack, just to name a few!

And prepare the fried onion topping from scratch!

Ingredients That You’ll Need:

(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)

• Onions: Use fresh onions in place of canned fried onions. A fried onion topping can’t be separated from green bean casseroles, so I top them with fresh, crispy-fried onions! YUM!
• Butter: You need this to sauté the onions and garlic plus give it another level of rich flavor.
• Fresh green beans: Select beans that are spot-free and not wilted or soft.
• Mushrooms: For an Italian twist, use stronger-flavored porcini mushrooms that are in season right now in the fall. But if you prefer a more subtle flavor, use crimini or baby Bella mushrooms.
• Garlic: The essential ingredient in all savory Italian recipes!
• Chicken broth: To add some extra flavor to the cream sauce.
• Worcestershire sauce: Being described lately as a flavoring that adds ‘umami’, oh you bet!
• Heavy cream: Necessary for that creamy yum-sauce . . . no milk or water ever!
• Pancetta:  Bacon is the classic ingredient.  But for an Italian spin on this American dish, I use diced pancetta.  This is optional, and takes this green bean casserole to new levels of deliciousness!
• Parmesan: Along with garlic, it lends to the perfect Italian flavor-combo!

And now to show you how to prepare this amazing Fresh Green Bean Casserole with Parmesan, Pancetta, and Porcini Mushrooms!

In a tall pot filled with water, blanch the green beans for about 5 minutes.  As the green beans blanch, saute’ the chopped pancetta until fully cooked and browned.

While the pancetta is sauteing, boil 3 cups of water and then place the dehydrated mushrooms in the hot water for 20 minutes.

Once the mushrooms are reconstituted, drain the liquid from the mushrooms and set the liquid aside.

When the mushrooms are cooled off, give them a good chop.

This is a great time to marinate the onion rings while the pancetta sautees and the mushrooms rehydrate, 

Place the sliced onion rings in a large mixing bowl filled with fresh buttermilk.

Once the pancetta is finished cooking, place the chopped pancetta on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Discard all of the rendered grease.

After the green beans blanch in the hot water, immediately place them in a medium-sized bowl filled with ice water.

Prepare the fried onion topping from scratch!

Now let’s prepare the cream sauce . . . oh this is yummy! In a large skillet, place the butter, onions, and garlic and saute’ until soft and/or a little golden.

Add the chopped mushrooms to the sauteed onions and garlic.

Add salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes,

Add the thyme, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire sauce; cook for about 2 more minutes.

Sprinkle the flour all over the mushroom-onion-garlic mixture and stir to combine; cook for 1 minute.

Pour the chicken broth into the mixture.

For added flavor, add about a tablespoon of the reserved porcini mushroom liquid (a little bit at a time).

Bring the whole mixture to a boil for 5 minutes or so.

Then reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cream and parmesan cheese.

Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, for 10 – 12 minutes.

Add the chopped Italian Parsley 

Mix in the pancetta

 

Add the green beans and pour the entire mixture into a baking dish

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes without the onions on top.

After baking for 20 minutes, scatter the onion rings on top of the casserole and bake for another 5 minutes

(or broil it, but keep an eye on it.  You don’t want these to burn!)

PIN IT FOR LATER!

The inspiration for this recipe came from a combination of recipes as the basic foundation.  Those recipes were from The Pioneer Woman and Alton Brown

Original post in 2020 and updated post in 2024.