These green bean casserole stuffed mushrooms are the perfect bite sized play on that traditional thanksgiving side, with all that creamy goodness packed into a baby bella mushroom cap with a cheesy fried onion topping.
Thanksgiving time is upon us once again, and for those of us hosting our families and friends that means it’s time for recipe planning. Today I have a spin on a traditional thanksgiving side in the form of green bean casserole stuffed mushrooms. They’re super easy to make, and are the perfect bite sized addition to any thanksgiving table either as an appetizer or a side dish. All it takes is a few minutes to whip up the filling, and then these babies get thrown in the oven until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
As I said in a previous thanksgiving post for my triple mushroom green bean casserole, I’m not the biggest fan of this typical thanksgiving side. That version of it that I made two years ago actually turned out better than any green bean casserole I’ve ever had, mostly due to the addition of homemade mushroom sauce instead of the typical cream of mushroom soup from a can. But I’m always looking for new spins on traditional recipes, and these green bean casserole stuffed mushrooms are the perfect answer to that call. They’re as simple as whipping up a mushroomy cream sauce and tossing in chopped green beans, and stuffing all this creamy goodness into large sized baby Bella mushroom caps.
I have a pretty big family, and we always go all out for thanksgiving. Since I live in the house that my grandparents once owned and my dad and aunt and uncles grew up in, my house has become the hub for family gatherings. I am more than happy to cook and host for holidays (whatever it takes to get everyone together) but there is this seemingly never ending struggle of how much food to cook. In general, I always make ways too much. Of course there’s nothing wrong with leftovers, but after 5-plus days of turkey and stuffing, you start to get a little tired of it. But that’s the beauty of these green bean casserole stuffed mushrooms: they’re the perfect little bite of food, and you can pretty much control exactly how much to make based off of how many people you’re having for the holiday. I generally make slightly more than one per person since there’s so much other food that we have at our thanksgiving table, but for a hungrier crowd two per person is a safe bet.
These green bean casserole stuffed mushrooms are also pretty much a breeze to make. There’s a tiny bit of work that goes into making the cream sauce for them, complete with caramelized onions and three different types of mushrooms – the stems left over from the mushroom caps, a more earthy mushroom such as shiitake, and then dried mushrooms for that really concentrated and super savory mushroom flavor. Chopped bite sized green beans get tossed in – because what’s green bean casserole without green beans – and then rounded out with lots of Parmesan cheese for that ooey gooey bite. All of this goodness then gets stuffed into large baby bella mushroom caps, although a bigger mushroom such as portabella can be used for a larger serving. The mushroom caps are then topped with a mixture of buttery breadcrumbs, crushed French’s fried onions – the typical green bean casserole topping – and more Parmesan just for good measure, and baked to a bubbly goodness.
Serve these mushroom caps at you’re next thanksgiving table, and they’re sure to be a hit just like they were at mine last year. But just keep in mind these morsels of bite sized goodness are super easy to eat and they’re likely to be all gone by the time dinner is done. So if you’re anything like me, keep a few to the side for yourself for those thanksgiving leftover plates. And of course, have a very happy thanksgiving!
- 16 large baby bella mushrooms
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 oz shiitake mushrooms, diced
- 1 oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup half and half
- 4 oz green beans
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese - set ½ cup aside
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup french’s fried onions, crushed
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350.
- For the topping: In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons melted butter with panko breadcrumbs, fried onions, and ½ cup parmesan cheese. Set aside.
- Remove the stems from the baby bella mushrooms and dice stems finely. Scoop mushroom caps out slightly to make more room for filling.
- Cook green beans in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain, and plunge directly into ice water to stop the cooking process. Dice into bite sized pieces and set green aside.
- Sauté diced onion, shiitake mushrooms and mushroom stems in 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat until cooked, 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- While the onions and mushrooms are cooking, heat half and half in a small pot over low heat. Add dried porcini mushrooms and steep in the warm half and half until they are re-hydrated, about 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and dice, then add back to the cream and remove from heat.
- Add the diced green beans and dried mushrooms with half and half to skillet with onions and mushrooms. Add ½ cup parmesan cheese and toss to combine. If filling seems too thick, add a bit of water until it thins out so it can easily be stuffed into mushroom caps. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stuff mushroom caps with 2 tablespoons of filling each. Top with breadcrumb topping and bake in 350 oven until heated through and bubbly on top, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.
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