Green Beans with Wild Mushroom Sauce and Crispy Shallots

By Julia Heffelfinger

November 22, 2021

Image credit: Julia Heffelfinger for Clean Plates

This gluten-free green bean casserole recipe delivers all the flavors from your beloved traditional green bean casserole, but with a lighter, feel-good approach — and frankly, we think it’s more interesting, too. Unlike the classic baked casserole, here haricots verts (which are just thin, French green beans) are blanched and then sautéed, retaining their bright color and crisp texture. And if you can’t get your hands on the haricots verts, no worries — regular green beans do the trick just as well.

This recipe gets finished with a quick (but absolutely delicious) mushroom sauce on top. We like to use wild mushrooms, but baby portabellos or button mushrooms would work great, too. Finally, finish it off with a sprinkling of crunchy shallots for a perfect textural contrast. This dish can easily be made dairy-free by swapping the small amount of heavy cream for a non-dairy alternative. Pro-tip: Before finishing your mushroom sauce, set aside a few sautéed mushrooms as a garnish.

Green Beans with Mushroom Sauce and Crispy Shallots

SERVES

8-10

PREP TIME

10 min

COOK TIME

35 min

Ingredients

2 pounds haricots verts or regular green beans (see note)

Kosher salt and pepper

3 Tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1 pound mushrooms, torn into bite-size pieces

2 Tablespoons gluten-free, all-purpose flour

2 cups vegetable stock or low-sodium broth

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, plus more for garnish

Store-bought or homemade crispy shallots, for garnish

Italian parsley leaves, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Prepare a large ice bath. In a large pot of salted boiling water, blanch the haricots verts until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, then plunge into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain again and pat dry.

In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper

Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir in the cream, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the tarragon and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to use.

In a large skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the haricots verts and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the beans to a platter.

Spoon the warm mushroom sauce over the beans and garnish with crispy shallots, fresh tarragon, and parsley, if using. Serve right away.

NOTE: If using regular green beans for this recipe, blanch for slightly longer time for a crisp-tender bite, 4 to 5 minutes.MAKE AHEAD: The green beans can be blanched and shocked up to 1 day in advance and stored in the refrigerator.