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With crispy fried onions and spicy bits of chorizo, this creamy and savoury Chorizo and Green Bean Casserole will quickly become a Thanksgiving family favourite. You’d never know it, but it’s grain-free, Paleo and Whole30-compliant if you substitute ghee for the butter.
What You Need for Chorizo and Green Bean Casserole
- Chorizo: I used a pre-cooked chorizo sausage in this recipe, but you can also substitute raw chorizo. If using raw, remove the casings before crumbling it into the pan and cooking it until crispy. Andouille sausage also works well in this recipe.
- Green Beans: You can use fresh or frozen green beans in this casserole. If the green beans are long, I like to cut them in half first so that they’re more manageable to eat. For a more tender finished product, quickly blanch them in a pot of boiling water and then transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process and set the bright green colour.
- Mushrooms: Skip the canned cream of mushroom soup and make a quick and easy mushroom cream sauce that’s full of flavour and much healthier. I like to use cremini mushrooms but you can substitute any mushroom variety you like.
- Cassava Flour: One of the keys to keeping this chorizo and green bean casserole gluten-free and Paleo is to thicken the cream sauce with cassava flour. You’ll also need some for the crispy onions.
- Beef Bone Broth: The best flavour will come from using a high-quality bone broth. For a rich flavour, I like to use Kettle and Fire Regenerative Beef Bone Broth for this recipe. It’s a huge time saver and made with all-natural and organic ingredients. It’s also one of the only packaged broths that use grass-fed beef bones raised with regenerative farming practices. Not only does it result in a better tasting broth, but it’s also far better for the environment and our food systems.
- Full-Fat Coconut Milk: The secret to making sure your Chorizo and Green Bean Casserole doesn’t taste like coconuts is to reduce the coconut milk down. If you add the coconut milk at the end of the cooking process, as you would a heavy cream, the flavours will overpower the rest of the ingredients.
As far as brands go, I recommend purchasing either Arroy D and Savoy. Arroy D is usually a bit less thick. Both taste great and are made with minimal, clean ingredients. Savoy is more of a coconut cream and thicker so if you use it, you may need to add a splash of water to thin it out. - Dijon Mustard: Another trick to masking the coconut flavour is to add a spoonful of Dijon mustard to the sauce. It also helps to give a bit of body and twang to the dish.
- Leeks and Shallots: I like to texture and flavour that comes from using a combination of leeks and shallots in the casserole.
- Garlic: As always, measure this ingredient with your heart and don’t let anyone tell you there’s such a thing as too much.
- Spices: Adding a pinch of onion powder and garlic powder adds some flavour to the mushroom cream sauce without being overpowering.
- Crispy Fried Onions: It wouldn’t be a Green Bean Casserole without the crispy onions. The secret to keeping these gluten-free, Paleo and Whole30 is to toss them in cassava flour and shallow fry them in a pan with olive oil.
Chorizo and Green Bean Casserole – Gluten-Free, Paleo
With crispy fried onions and spicy bits of chorizo, this creamy and savoury Chorizo and Green Bean Casserole will be a Thanksgiving favourite.
Ingredients
For the Crispy Onions:
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced into half moons
- ½ cup cassava flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, substitute avocado oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
For the Green Bean Casserole:
- 20 ounces green beans, cut in half and ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 pre-cooked chorizo sausages, diced. If using raw chorizo, remove casings
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon grass-fed butter, substitute ghee
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 large leek, thinly sliced, green top removed
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cassava flour
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk, preferably Arroy D or Savoy brand
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 17 ounces Kettle and Fire Beef Bone Broth
- Freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the Crispy Onions:
- In a large bowl, combine the sliced onion, ½ cup cassava flour, 1 teaspoon onion powder and 1 teaspoon garlic powder and toss to coat.
- Add the olive oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat until the oil reaches around 360F. Working in batches, dust off the excess flour from the onions and add them to the hot oil. Cook, flipping occasionally, until golden brown and crispy all over, around 8 minutes. Transfer the fried onions to a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Season with a pinch of salt and set aside.
For the Green Bean Casserole:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook until slightly tender and bright green, around 3 minutes. Transfer the green beans to a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking and set the colour. Drain the water and set the green beans aside.
- Preheat a large oven-safe pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly crispy, around 8 minutes. Reserving the rendered fat in the pan, transfer the chorizo to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
- To the pan, add the mushrooms and cook, undisturbed, until golden on the bottom, around 5 minutes. Continue cooking the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, 2 more minutes. Add the butter and heat until melted. Add the shallots and leek and season with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the leeks are soft and golden, around 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 60 seconds. Add 1 tablespoon cassava flour and cook, stirring, 60 seconds. Pour in the coconut milk and cook, stirring, until reduced in volume by half, around 3 minutes. Add the mustard, thyme, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder and cook, stirring, 60 seconds.
- Pour in the beef bone broth and cook, lifting any brown bits off the bottom of the pan, until the broth has reduced by 1/2 in volume, around 6 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as desired.
- Add the blanched green beans to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook, uncovered, until the green beans are tender, around 25 minutes. Top the casserole with the cooked chorizo and crispy onions and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the pan from the oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Video
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About the Author
Hi, i’m Ronny! In 2013, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight and body issues, I rehabilitated my relationship with food, lost over 40 pounds and completely changed my life.
