"Au gratin" is a term that, in America, is usually associated with cheese. But the term may refer to any light but thorough topping of fine fresh or dry bread crumbs or even crushed cornflakes, cracker crumbs, or finely ground nuts on scalloped dishes or casseroles. These dishes, usually combinations of cooked shellfish, fish, meats, vegetables, or eggs, bound by a sauce and served in the dish in which they were cooked, are then browned in the oven or under the broiler to form a crisp golden crust. Set the casserole dish or baking dish on a piece of foil, shiny side down to deflect the heat, or just set it on a baking sheet.
Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
Green Bean Casserole I:
Au Gratin:
Green Bean Casserole II:
Green Bean Casserole I:
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wash and trim the stem ends from green beans. Place in a greased 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish.
Step 2
In a medium bowl, mix cream of tomato soup, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and paprika. Pour over beans and bake, covered, about 1 hour
Step 3
Top with au gratin ingredients, below. Heat in broiler until the cheese is melted.
Au Gratin:
Step 4
Completely cover the food with bread crumbs paprika, butter and cheese.
Step 5
Place the dish in a preheated 350°F oven or under the broiler 5 inches below the source of heat, and broil until a glazed golden crust is created.
Green Bean Casserole II:
Step 6
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wash and trim the stem ends from green beans. Place in a buttered baking dish.
Step 7
Mix milk, cream of mushroom soup, 2/3 cup canned French-fried onion rings, and salt and black pepper to taste
Step 8
Pour over beans and bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
Step 9
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup canned French-fried onion rings.
Step 10
Bake until browned, 5 to 10 minutes.
Leave a Review
Reviews (23)
Back to TopI followed the recipe as written, and the beans turned out under-cooked, and the sauce too soupy.
Anonymous
Seattle
11/26/2016
Didn't turn out, and I followed directions as written. The beans were way under cooked.
dumbplinghead
Auburn, WA
11/25/2016
For some reason, epicurious won't let me say what I want....but this turned out horrible.
dumbplinghead
Auburn, WA
11/25/2016
now that I think about it, this would be fun to try with some asparagus too :)
radoza
CO
12/23/2013
I love this casserole, I always sauté mushrooms, onion and garlic in some kerry gold butter - add cream or ½ and 1/2 and thicken with corn starch, pour over fresh beans, then fry up some onions while that is in the oven. I throw on the onions with some manchango melting over it all the last 10 mins... delish! This old standard is easy to dress up and still have a homey traditional dish :)
radoza
CO
12/23/2013
@pmagruder please read the recipe again...you have to COOK the green bean mixture with fresh green beans for 30 minutes THEN only 5-10 minutes with the topping. If you only cooked the whole dish for 10 minutes I can understand why you thought they were underdone.
kathleen_psych
12/11/2012
We like version 2, and we like using the fresh beans. In the past I have used frozen green beans and then only had in oven for 10 minutes then the last 5 with topping.
kathleen_psych
12/11/2012
My mom served version II at Thanksgiving for many years when I was a kid, so I developed a taste for it. I made it a couple of times back in my deep poverty days, usually adding 1/2 a pound of shredded sharp cheddar to the bean mix. And it was as I had remembered. Fairly classic comfort food. Recently, however, I was reading another recipe here that featured a shitake-ginger cream sauce and I started to think how that might be a really nice sub for the the cream of mush soup. And man, it made the dish quite amazing. First time I did it I used fresh green beans, which i blanched, but the difference between that and frozen was basically nil. Next time I sauteed them with garlic, ginger and pepper, but even that didn't seem to make much of a diff. So I suggest going with frozen. I've been making it each Thanksgiving for a few years now, and people always really dig it. It looks like the classic version, but tastes pretty amazing.
fatheryod
11/14/2012
'twas just ok but maybe because it was my first and so far only experience with Green Bean Casserole. I didn't hate it but I didnt love it either.
DaVinaW
Atlanta
11/6/2012
Made #2 and omitted the onions and used the Au Gratin with homemade bread crumbs. Beans should have been blanched or steamed a little. Very tasty.
sherryleigh353
3/26/2012
This was terrible ... Casserole II
dsmith3443
Sal Lake City
1／4/2012
I did the Cream of Tomato version. It was pretty dreadful.
dglsspncr
Boston, MA
12/19/2011
An old favourite from my childhood! My Mom varied the second recipe sometimes by omitting the fried onions and sprinkling the top with nutmeg.
Batgirl
Ottawa, Canada
12/12/2011
Well I cooked recipe #2 for and it turned out pretty good after I cooked the greenbeans! I dont know why it call's for fresh green beans and only in the oven for 10 minutes. That part was a disaster and luckily it was in a microwave dish, so I nuked it for 4 minutes and after that it was great. I seasoned it with seasoned salt instead of salt and added more crispy onions to the top and a bit of romano cheese. It was great and pretty tasty!
pmagruder
11/27/2011
Every year I fought not too make this dish. One year in a rage of snobbiness, I created it "from scratch", I made a mushroom cream sauce, tossed with fresh grean beans added the home made crispy fried onion strings and topped with them as well as some crispy bacon, and it was enjoyed by all. However, it didn't translate into this big WOW Moment. Everyone,including myself felt the extra work didn't translate into anything more special than the orignal canned soup recipe. As for those who feel that recipe has no place on this site, I would argue that any dish that has fequented the dinner table as much as this one has every right to be here. And please don't rate recipes if you have not made them!!!!
garlichead
NorCal
11/5/2011