Easy Smoked Green Bean Casserole

This easy smoked green bean casserole recipe is exactly that, easy! Now I love a good, entirely from scratch, green bean casserole. But let’s be honest, that’s more work than most of us care to embark on.

While delicious, frying your own onions, and creating a cream sauce from scratch, etc. takes time. It’s not difficult, but the time required is often time you don’t have when preparing the rest of your meal — especially for a holiday gathering.

Unlike other green bean recipes, the aim of this recipe is twofold. It has to result in top shelf flavor, AND cut down on some of the labor involved in “from scratch” cooking. This is definitely a green bean casserole that you’ll be proud of.

While this recipe doesn’t call for frying your own onions and making your own cream sauce, it does use fresh green beans and mushrooms. Using those fresh ingredients add to both flavor and texture, and I promise you won’t miss the fresh fried onions.

The fresh beans and mushrooms allow the recipe to remain easy, but elevated. Using fresh ingredients as opposed to the stuff from the can (that many of us grew up on) is transformative.

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Can Green Bean Casserole Be Assembled Ahead of Time?

Yes, one of the many things I love about this smoked green bean casserole recipe is that you can do the bulk of the work the night before.

By assembling that majority of the dish the night before, then popping it into the grill or smoker the day of the meal you can save even more time.

My suggestion for that is to simply add about 10 minutes to the cooking time on the grill, and you’ll be just fine. I do it this way nearly every time I make the recipe.

How Can I Make My Green Beans Taste Better?

Salt! Kosher salt is the answer here. I use fresh green beans because they taste soooooo much better than those awful beans in a can. That said, improperly seasoned beans are sort of bland.

So, to combat this you need to parboil the beans in really salty water. Keep in mind the beans won’t be in the water long, and the water will be poured off at the end. So, the water needs to be much saltier than you might think.

Over salting the water is the key to flavorful fresh green beans.

Tips For Making Smoked Green Bean Casserole

• The sauce: Campbell’s soup made the recipe famous for using their cream of mushroom soup as the cream sauce. Because we’re using fresh mushrooms, switch that up to cream of celery. It brings a mild flavor that’s really enjoyable.
• The mushrooms: Nothing is worse than a slimy mushroom. When sautéing the mushrooms, use a hot pan, don’t over stir them and don’t add salt. Salt and over stirring will bring out the water in the mushrooms and make them soggy and slimy.
• The water: The beans are going to be in the water for a very short time. Use more salt than you think you need in order to flavor your beans.

How To Make Smoked Green Bean Casserole

Serves: 6-8 | Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

2 lbs. fresh green beans, ends trimmed and cut into two-inch lengths
1/4 cup kosher salt, plus 2 tsps
2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz. baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp salted butter
2 cans cream of celery soup, 10 ¾ ounces each
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
½ tsp white pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup parmesan cheese, divided
1 ½ cups french fried onions
1 tsp smoked paprika

Step 1: Light your grill and set up for two zone cooking, establishing the temperature at 350°F as indicated with a reliable leave in thermometer. Add one chunk of pecan (or wood of choice) to the hot coals. 

Step 2: While the grill is preheating, in a large stockpot bring six cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add quarter cup kosher salt to the water, along with the trimmed green beans. Boil the beans for five minutes before removing and shocking them in an ice-water bath to prevent them from cooking further. 

Step 3: While the beans cool, place a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and spread them out evenly. Don’t over stir them, just let them brown on both sides and allow the water from the mushrooms to evaporate. About five minutes.

Step 4: Add the butter and let it to melt, mixing it in with the mushrooms to ensure even coating. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and set aside.

Step 5: Remove the beans from the ice bath, and dry them with a paper towel. Place them in a large mixing bowl and add the soup, mushrooms, two teaspoons salt, cayenne, white pepper, garlic, half of a cup of parmesan cheese and one cup of the fried onions.

Gently fold those ingredients together and transfer to a cast-iron skillet or oven-safe vessel. Then, top with remaining cheese, fried onions and smoked paprika.

Step 6: Place the casserole on the grill over indirect heat, and close the lid. Allow it to smoke roast for 35 – 40 minutes.

Step 7: Remove from the grill, using heat resistant oven mitts, and serve hot.