Vegan Cauliflower And Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Green bean casserole is a long-standing Thanksgiving side dish that has graced holiday tables for nearly 70 years. The dish was created by Dorcas Reilly for the Campbell's test kitchen in 1955. This post-war era saw the rise in popularity of convenience cooking and packaged foods, and Reilly's assignment was to create a recipe with inexpensive ingredients most home cooks could access — in this case, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup.

While the original recipe is still popular, many cooks today prefer to make a homemade version with fresher ingredients. Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a version of the classic recipe that not only adds nutritious cauliflower but is entirely plant-based, as well. The fresh vegetables and whole ingredients bring an improved taste and texture when compared to their processed counterparts. It does call for packaged fried onions, which are generally vegan, but it's straightforward to make those at home, as well, if you want to go all out (you can even make fried onions in the microwave).

Rest assured that the vegan version is delightfully creamy, rich, and delicious, Bottalico says: "I added tahini not just for extra creaminess but also a subtle, deep, and nutty flavor that goes beyond the flavor of the usual casserole made with milk. If you're not a fan of tahini, you can just use almond milk or another non-dairy milk instead." This healthy recipe just might become your new holiday favorite.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

When the water boils, boil the green beans and cauliflower for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a large skillet.

Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes while stirring to evenly coat the mushrooms.

Pour in the broth and tahini and carefully stir to dissolve all of the tahini.

Add the green beans and cauliflower to the skillet and stir gently to coat them with the sauce.

Pour the mixture into an oiled baking dish.

Top the dish with the fried onions.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the sauce is hot and bubbly and the onions are lightly browned.

Let the casserole cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

This casserole is delicious as written, but if you don't have some of the ingredients or want to mix and match, you can do that with this recipe. If you're not a cauliflower fan, you can double up on the green beans, using 1 pound instead of ½ pound. If you prefer, feel free to use vegan butter instead of olive oil when you saute the onions and mushrooms to give the mixture a subtly richer taste. You can use any kind of wheat flour to thicken the sauce, but you may get less thickening or a different taste if you use gluten-free flour. To avoid that, you can use cornstarch as a thickener instead at a 1:1 ratio with the all purpose flour. If you can't find shallots, you can use onion instead.

Some people prefer not to cook with wine; in that case, you can substitute the wine with non-dairy milk or more vegetable broth. If you normally don't keep tahini in your kitchen, it might not be practical to buy it just to use a small amount. In this case, you can also use non-dairy milk instead of the tahini.