Green Bean Casserole has always been my favorite side dish at Thanksgiving. I love the bright green that it brings to a plate of otherwise brown and white. The best part are the French’s Fried Onions that cover the top of the casserole.

We have always used the recipe on the can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, substituting frozen green beans instead of canned. Using frozen yields a brighter green and a fresher taste and last year I converted my brother-in-law, a true GBC lover, into using frozen from now on.

For the blog this year, I decided to make Thanksgiving side dishes leading up to Turkey day. But, with the exception of Sweet Potato Casserole, none of these recipes are ones that I’d made before. I thought it’d be fun, for blog purposes, to mix things up a little bit. (It was also fun to eat Thanksgiving favorites a month or two before the big day!)

When I experimented with this particular recipe I used fresh picked green beans from my husband’s aunt’s farm in Alabama! Because the beans are cooked in a slow cooker for 6 hours I highly recommend using fresh beans for this. Canned beans would become very mushy; frozen might work okay.

Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp butter
• 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 C flour
• 1 1/4 C chicken broth
• 1 1/4 C heavy cream
• 2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut
• 1-2 C French’s friend onions, divided

Steps:

1. In a large skillet saute mushrooms in butter until mushrooms are golden and all liquid is evaporated. Season with garlic, thyme, and S+P.
2. Add flour and ground onions, cook for a minute. Whisking, add in broth and cream. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Place green beans in slow cooker. Cover with cream of mushroom soup (that’s what you made in steps 1 & 2!). Cook on LOW 5-6 hours.
4. Transfer cooked casserole into a casserole dish. Mix in extra French’s onions if desired. Top casserole with more fried onions. Place casserole under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until onions are extra crispy and casserole is bubbly.

*This recipe is modified from Christin at http://spicysouthernkitchen.com/slow-cooker-green-bean-casserole/*