Smoked Green Bean Casserole

The modest Green Bean Casserole is a terrific complement to any Thanksgiving table and is perhaps one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes.

It’s made with a few basic ingredients, but it’s packed with flavor and goes well with Thanksgiving main courses like turkey and ham.

But did you know you can elevate your green bean casserole by smoking it? It gives a beautiful, even coating of smokey flavor to the food, greatly elevating it and impressing your visitors.

In addition, rather of using store-bought fried onions in this recipe, I like to prepare my own. The freshly fried onions add texture and taste to the meal, keeping your guests coming back for seconds (and thirds!).

How to make Smoked Green Bean Casserole

Let’s face it, most of us have the recipe for green bean casserole memorized by now. Around this time of year, the dish is so popular that it may even be found on the back of a can of green beans or cream of mushroom soup.

The famous casserole is a combination of canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, seasoning, and a fried onion topping.

1. Fried onions

As previously said, I prefer to cook my fried onions from scratch rather than using store-bought onions. Making them from scratch adds so much more taste and texture to the meal and takes approximately 15 minutes.

To begin, thinly slice your onions into rounds.

If you have a mandolin, it would be an excellent tool for making thin slices. I don’t have one (partly because I’m afraid of chopping my finger off), so I simply use a sharp chefs knife. My slicing knife of choice is the Messermeister Oliva Stealth Chefs Knife. It’s razor-sharp and heavy, allowing me to precisely manage the thickness of my cut onions.

After you’ve cut your onions, soak them in buttermilk for approximately 10 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes. The buttermilk softens the onions while also serving as the wet component of your thin batter.

While your onions soak, mix the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. You may adjust the quantity of salt and pepper to your liking, but the important is to make sure your flour is well-seasoned.

After 10 minutes, remove the onions from the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture until well covered. Then, immediately put them into 350°F oil to cook. For this recipe, I prefer to use vegetable oil, but you may also use canola or peanut oil, depending on what you have on hand.

They will take around 5 minutes to fry, but there is no need to clock it. Simply keep an eye on them until they develop a lovely golden-brown hue.

With a slotted spoon, remove them from the oil and lay them on a plate lined with paper towels. Set them aside and leave them on the counter while you make the green bean casserole.

2. Make the casserole

Green bean casserole is a favorite Thanksgiving side dish since it is simple to prepare and impossible to screw up.

In a large casserole dish or aluminum tray, mix the green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, and spices. I prefer to use an aluminum tray since I have enough dishes to wash on Thanksgiving and it saves me some time.

Pour the green beans into the dish first, followed by the cream of mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, and spices. With a spoon, combine all of the ingredients and coat the green beans completely in the sauce mixture.

Do not add the fried onions yet; you will top it with the fried onions once it is nearly totally done.

3. Fire up the smoker

This dish may be cooked on any smoker or grill that can maintain a consistent temperature of 350F. This recipe was smoked on my Masterbuilt Gravity Series 1050 smoker. I enjoy this grill for dishes like this since it has an inbuilt fan that keeps the temperature stable with little to no effort from me.

Load the grill with your preferred lump charcoal. For this recipe, I used B&B Charcoal Oak Lump. I use Oak lump charcoal because it burns evenly and adds a delicate smokey taste to the meal without overpowering it.

When your grill is hot enough, set the green bean casserole directly on the grates.

Because the majority of the components in this recipe are pre-cooked, the cooking time is short. Allow the casserole to smoke for approximately 25 minutes, then top with your fried onions and smoke for another 10 minutes before serving.

When the green bean casserole is done, move it to a serving dish of your choice and dig in!

What to serve with Smoked Green Bean Casserole?

Obviously, this casserole is the ideal side dish for your Thanksgiving feast. Here are some wonderful Thanksgiving dishes to offer with your Smoked Green Bean Casserole:

• The Best Deep Fried Turkey
• Smoked Turkey
• Smoked Turkey Wings
• Smoked Texas-style Turkey Breast
• Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole
• Spiral Ham Twice Smoked with Pineapple Maple Glaze
• Double Smoked Ham with Maple-Mustard Glaze