I Tried Guy Fieri's Green Bean Casserole—and It’s the Best I’ve Ever Had

Published on November 6, 2025

I'll admit it: Of all the classic Thanksgiving side dishes, green bean casserole has never been my favorite. I didn’t grow up eating the dish with my family, so I’ve never been nostalgic for it, instead opting to load my plate with mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, and the like. But when I saw Guy Fieri’s green bean casserole recipe has 82 glowing 5-star reviews, I decided it might be time to give the classic side a chance. After recently trying the recipe for myself, I’m now considering making green bean casserole a regular part of my Thanksgiving menu going forward.  

How to Make Guy Fieri’s Green Bean Casserole

Classic green bean casserole leans on canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and French fried onions. That’s not the case with Guy’s recipe, which is made completely from scratch, featuring fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Here’s how to make it:

1. Blanch the green beans. Add trimmed fresh green beans to a large pot of boiling salted water. Cook about 2 to 3 minutes—just until they are tender and bright green. Transfer to a colander, strain, and immediately transfer to an ice bath. Once the green beans have cooled, strain them again and set them out to dry on paper towels.
2. Make the mushroom gravy. In a cast-iron skillet, cook fresh mushrooms, thyme, and garlic and season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. Dust the mushrooms with a bit of all-purpose flour and stir to incorporate before gradually adding in chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat and add heavy cream and sour cream. Gently stir and continue to cook over low heat until the gravy thickens, about 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Assemble and bake the casserole. Add the blanched green beans to the pan and fold together with the mushroom gravy, mixing well and spreading out evenly in the pan. Sprinkle a layer of freshly grated Parmesan on top. Bake the casserole at 450°F until it is bubbly and the top is melted and golden, about 15 minutes.
4. Fry the onions. While the casserole bakes, start making the fried onions. Slice shallots into rounds and toss with flour, salt, and pepper. Transfer to a strainer and shake off excess flour. Working in batches, fry shallots in a deep skillet filled with vegetable oil that has been heated to 350°F until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer fried shallots to paper towels to drain and season with salt.
5. Top and serve. Garnish the green bean casserole with the fried shallots and serve.

Tips for Making Green Bean Casserole

This recipe is a bit more involved than your classic green bean casserole. Here are some helpful tips I gathered while testing the casserole in my own home kitchen:

• Fresh mushrooms make a world of difference in this recipe. Guy recommends mixed gourmet mushrooms such as shiitakes, creminis, and oyster. I used a mix of shiitake, maitake, and yellow oyster mushrooms from a local farmer and the flavor took this dish to the next level. Just make sure to clean them properly.
• Quickly blanching the green beans is key to ensuring they still have a snappy texture in the finished dish. Avoid overcooking them, as they’ll continue to cook in the assembled dish in the oven. And since the green beans don’t cook for very long, make sure you have an ice bath ready to go before you start cooking them.
• Guy recommends transferring the casserole to a roasting tray to catch any spill-over, but you can also stick a sheet pan on the oven rack underneath your pan. That said, I didn’t have any issues with the casserole bubbling over the edges of the pan.
• Once you fry your own onions, you’ll never reach for the store-bought ones again. Just make sure to use a heavy-bottomed pot with tall sides (such as a Dutch oven) to avoid oil splatter. A candy thermometer is a worthy investment too, as you can easily tell when the oil reaches the correct temperature for frying—in this case, about 350°F. (And, of course, you can also use it for homemade candy.) Once you’re done frying, make sure to dispose of that frying oil the right way (your plumbing will thank you!).

The Verdict on Guy Fieri’s Green Bean Casserole

Despite the fact that I wasn’t a huge green bean casserole fan to begin with, I was thoroughly impressed with this recipe and would happily make it again. My husband is also a green bean casserole skeptic, and we both agreed—this was one of, if not the, best green bean casseroles we’ve ever had. It’s worth noting that this recipe takes considerable more time than a classic green bean casserole made with canned ingredients, but I’d argue that it’s well worth the effort, as the homemade mushroom gravy and fried shallots give it much more depth of flavor. If you’re looking to win over your guests this Thanksgiving, this green bean casserole will do the trick.