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green beat casserole with crispy pesto onions_hot for food
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green bean casserole with cripsy pesto onions

It's a twist on the classic green bean casserole... and yes, the pesto makes it better!
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword alfredo sauce, crispy onions, green bean casserole, vegan casserole
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 26 minutes
Total Time 46 minutes
Servings 6
Author Lauren Toyota

Ingredients

crispy pesto onions

  • 1 white onion
  • 1 ½ C nondairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 ½ C rice flour
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3 C vegetable oil, for frying

green bean casserole

Instructions

  • Thinly slice the onion. It works best to use a mandolin to get them even, but if you're great with a knife then try it out! They should be thin enough that you can see through them. Pour the nondairy milk into a shallow dish and whisk in the apple cider vinegar. Let the onions soak in this mixture for 15 minutes. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour with smoked paprika, sea salt, and ground black pepper.
  • Heat your frying oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or deep fryer to 365°F to 375°F.
  • Using a pair of tongs, take a handful of onions from the liquid and coat evenly with the flour mixture, then submerge into the oil. You can turn them over once in the frying oil to make sure they're cooking evenly. They take about 2 minutes to get crispy. Remove that batch with the tongs and lay out onto paper towel. Continue doing batches until all the onions are used up.
  • Blanche the green beans in boiling water. Once they turn bright green and are only partially cooked, drain them, and submerge them in ice cold water to prevent them from continuing to cook.
  • In a pot over medium heat, whisk together the alfredo sauce, nondairy milk, arrowroot powder, and onion powder until it starts to bubble. Keep whisking constantly until it starts to thicken, then remove it from the heat and set aside.
  • In a pan over medium heat, sauté shallot and garlic in coconut oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the drained green beans into the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Add the thickened alfredo sauce and stir to coat all the beans. Let it sit in the pan, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes as the sauce starts to thicken and the beans finish cooking through. 
  • Transfer this to your serving dish. Top with as many crispy onions as you like and drizzle some pesto on top of the onions, as desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

You'll have more crispy onions then you need to top the one casserole, but if you bring the extras to the table I'm sure people will be topping their casserole even more as they eat! There's also a gluten-free green bean casserole recipe on the blog here.