green bean casserole cup

Vegan Green Bean Casserole Cups

Vegan Green Bean Casserole Cups

Since I was a kid, green bean casserole has long been my favorite holiday side. My mom made it every holiday without fail.

Once we went vegan I was on a mission to recreate a convincing cream of mushroom soup so I could make vegan green bean casserole among other classic dishes that require the non vegan “soup” from a can. Cashews work really well for this. They are super creamy once broken down and with just a little starch and a few other ingredients and you are left with a delicious vegan homemade cream of mushroom soup.

This year I wanted to try something a little different with my green bean casserole. I am pretty obsessed with making single serving meals in muffin tins. I have made stuffing, lasagna, quiche, rice cups for Banh Mi filling just to name a few. You name it, and I have probably tried to turn it into a single serving cup.

I also love using crescent roll dough for all kinds of things. A lot of brands are vegan, you just need to read the label. More often than not it’s the non organic brands that are vegan. The organic brands tend to add butter. So it only seemed natural that I could use the crescent dough for the shell of these green bean casserole cups since they are another holiday meal favorite side. I would just marry the two and cross my fingers that it turned out.

Well, it really did! Not only are these vegan green bean casserole cups adorable, and a creative twist on the original classic, they are extra delicious nestled into a “buttery” crescent crust! So instead of making a traditional vegan green bean casserole this year, maybe try these, I think you may love them as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need a muffin tin for this recipe. The recipe yields 12 cups

  • 1 lb fresh green beans

  • 1/2 cup finely diced button mushrooms (itty bitty pieces)

  • 2 tubes vegan crescent roll dough

  • 1 cup crispy fried onions (not all brands are vegan, read the label)

  • 1/2 cup cashews (plus water for soaking)

  • 1 cup water

  • 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon onion powsder

  • 1/2 tesaspoon black pepper

Vegan Green Bean Casserole Cups

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Wash green beans, and snap or cut them into thirds. They have to fit in a muffin tin, so the pieces need to be pretty small.

  2. Fill a medium pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the green beans and let them cook for about 5 minutes, just until they are tender. Drain and set aside.

  3. Cover cashews in water in a microwave safe container. Microwave them on hight for 3 minutes then drain. If you do not have a microwave you can soak them in hot water for a few hours, or even boil them in a small pot for several minutes.

  4. Add cashews, 1 cup of water, starch, nutritional yeast, onion powder, vinegar, salt, and pepper to a high speed blender or food processor. Blend on high until the mixture is COMPLETELY smooth and there are no bits of cashews left.

  5. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and a sprinkle of salt and let them cook for several mintues until cooked through. Pour the cashew mixture into the same pot with the mushrooms and heat, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens. You want the the mixture kind of thick , about the consistency of pudding. Mix in the drained green beans and 1/2 cup of crispy onions into the pot, and set aside to cool.

  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Open up both cans of crescent rolls. On a clean surface roll out each can so the precut seams press together and seal, and you have on large square piece of dough (I do one can at a time, and aim for a square shape vs a rectangle) cut the square into 6 equal pieces. Kind of eyeball how big the squares will have to be to fit in the tin. Muffin tin sizes can vary, so you may have little dough left over, as you don’t want to over fill each cup with dough. You just want the piece of dough to fill the space of the cup. Spray a muffin tin with some cooking oil if things tend to stick. I have a ceramic muffin pan and typically don’t need to spray it. Fit a square of dough into each muffin cup, pressing it in to fit and making sure the dough goes all the way up the sides of the cup.

  7. Pop the dough filled pan into the oven for about 5 minutes, you just want the dough to pre cook a bit. Remove from the oven and using the back of a spoon, press the dough that has puffed up, back down into the cups. Divide the green bean mixture between each muffin cup. Sprinkle more crispy onions on top, and pop back into the oven on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes. Once you see the edges of crescent begin to brown, they should be done.

  8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit before removing the green bean cups from the tin and serving.

If you like this recipe, try these:

 
Vegan Green Bean Casserole Cups