This easy Keto Green Bean Casserole is made from scratch with all kinds of goodness! This is the perfect Thanksgiving side dish, but it’s easy enough to make any night of the week. We swapped a homemade sauce for the can of cream soup.
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I grew up side-eyeing the green bean casserole.
Let’s be real – it’s not the prettiest dish and also, as a kid, green beans were the devil.
Luckily, my kiddos did not inherit the hatred of green beans that I had as a kid. They LOVE them and now I do too.
Normally I just make my all time favorite canned green beans with bacon, but as the holiday season approaches, I knew I had to dream up a low carb green bean casserole.
I’m calling this a ‘healthy green bean casserole’ but I know I’m going to get some flack for it. Healthy is such a relative term – if you’re low carb though, this fits the bill. If you’re trying to eat low calorie or low fat, you might want to look elsewhere. 😉
This isn’t going to taste quite the same as a traditional green bean casserole, but if you ask me, our keto green bean casserole tastes better and you won’t go into a carb coma afterwards.
Other holiday favorites include Creamy Brussels Sprouts, cauliflower stuffing, and turnips au gratin.
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Topping: We love green bean casserole with crunchy toppings! It’s not easy to get the same thing without carbs, but we’ve managed it with this recipe. The crushed pork rinds work wonders to replace the crispy fried onion or Panko breadcrumbs that most recipes include.
- Holidays: This is a favorite recipe of ours to serve at Thanksgiving, or really any big family meal or holiday gathering! This is a hearty side dish that’ll go well with most anything but especially Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham!
Ingredient Notes:
Green Beans – Just like the classic, we’re using canned green beans. Frozen work well too!
Bacon – A must for any good green bean casserole.
Cream Cheese – No cans of soup here! This cheesy green bean casserole doesn’t need any canned soup because the cream cheese will do the job of coating the beans and adding lots of great flavor.
Pork Rinds – Instead of fried onions, you’ll top this casserole with crushed pork rinds and minced onion. All the flavor without the carbs!
“This is so AMAZING! This is a dish that I would totally make for myself and probably keep for myself. My grandmother used to make something similar when I was a little girl.” – Rose
How To:
Fry the Bacon – All great recipes start with bacon, right? Start frying up some bacon in a skillet until it’s begun to brown and then add in the diced onions and the garlic. Cook until soft. You’ll need to drain the grease but be sure to reserve about a tablespoon of it in the skillet. Bacon flavored green beans are the best!
Prepare the Sauce – We’re going to make a cheesy sauce that’ll coat the green beans in flavor! Add the cream cheese and the chicken broth to the skillet with the bacon, onions, garlic, and remaining bacon grease. Stir the cream cheese as it heats up and melts in the broth with the bacon until you’ve got a smooth and creamy cheese sauce. Finally, you can season it with a bit of salt and pepper!
Mix the Green Beans – Once the cheese sauce is ready add the green beans to a mixing bowl and then pour all the cheesy bacon sauce over the top. Stir everything up so that the sauce is fully coating the green beans and then transfer it all to a baking dish. This recipe will work with canned green beans or frozen green beans. If you’re using fresh, you’ll probably need to steam them a bit first before baking.
Top & Bake – When you’ve added the green beans and cheese sauce mixture to the baking dish you are almost ready to bake! Everyone loves the crunchy goodness of the fried onions that traditionally top a green bean casserole, but they’re full of carbs so we’re getting creative while still keeping things simple. Crush up some pork rinds and sprinkle those over the top along with a little dried minced onion. Flavor + crunch! Doesn’t get better than that! Bake the green bean casserole for 30 minutes and serve immediately.
Helpful Tip!
Don’t Forget the Thanksgiving Turkey!
You’ve got the sides, now you need the turkey. Check out my roasted turkey breast recipe! We sometimes skip the whole bird and just make a bone-in or boneless turkey breast. That’s our favorite part anyways.
If you want to keep it even easier try out this air fryer turkey breast recipe too! My browned butter cauliflower mash is a good sub for the taters and gravy!
You can serve this healthy green bean casserole with pretty much anything though so you don’t have to stick to the holidays!
Make Ahead & Storage Instructions:
You can make this keto green bean casserole ahead of time, up to 2 days in advance. Top with the crushed pork rinds right before baking to keep them from getting soggy.
You can store leftover green bean casserole for about 3 to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the oven or microwave.
FAQs:
Nope, if you are using frozen green beans no need to thaw them first!
Not this recipe! Most of the carbs in a classic green bean casserole recipe come from crispy fried onions with breading or a Panko breadcrumb topping or something similar. We’ve cut the carbs out of this healthy green bean casserole!
More Low Carb Holiday Side Dishes:
- Keto Deviled Eggs
- Keto Cranberry Sauce
- Keto Pumpkin Pie
- Loaded Cauliflower Casserole
- Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
- Keto Broccoli Casserole
Healthy Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- ¼ cup diced onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 30 ounces canned green beans
- ½ cup crushed pork rinds
- 1 teaspoon dried onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the bacon to a medium skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until bacon is beginning to brown.
- Add the onion and garlic to the bacon and continue cooking and stirring until bacon is crisp and onion is soft.
- Drain all but 1 tablespoon of grease from the skillet.
- Add the cream cheese and chicken broth to the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the cream cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the green beans to a large mixing bowl and pour the cream cheese sauce over the top. Stir well to coat.
- Add green beans to a 9×13 baking dish and sprinkle the top with the pork rinds and dried minced onion.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Misty says
Im gonna try this recipe… wondering can I add chopped mushrooms to cream sauce
Karly Campbell says
Sure!