What Should I Do If My Green Bean Casserole Is Soupy on Thanksgiving?

Expert advice and quick remedies to save your Thanksgiving side dish.

There is no concrete evidence, but "soupy" is probably the most common criticism about green bean casserole. Sure, a can of cream of mushroom soup is frequently included in the ingredients, but the final texture should be rich and creamy rather than loose and runny.

"A soupy, thin casserole makes a mess on your Thanksgiving plate, tastes watered down, and will often not support the crunchy topping," explains Blair Lonergan, founder of The Seasoned Mom.

The prescription for a soupy casserole? Thickening. "Thickening the sauce is important because it helps the casserole hold together," says Lauren Allen, owner and creator of the food website Tastes Better From Scratch and the same-named Amazon best-selling cookbook. "Instead of being loose and watery, thickening it creates a creamy texture that coats the green beans, and it allows the other flavors to be more concentrated instead of diluted."

How do food influencers succeed? We asked Instagram foodies for their best green bean casserole thickening ideas so that we might all have casseroles that taste as delicious as they look.

3 Ways to Make Soupy Green Bean Casserole 

1. Gather the cornstarch

According to lifestyle blogger Chantelle Hartman Malarkey, who has over 132K Instagram followers, the creamier the sauce, the better the casserole. However, thickening does not have to involve a lot of effort or substances. If you're putting together a recipe and the sauce doesn't appear thick enough, you have a few options. 

"The easiest route is to get a separate bowl and mix a couple tablespoons of cornstarch with some water," Malarkey said. "Other routes would be adding more cream of mushroom soup."

2. Prepare a roux

Another approach for thickening sauces is to prepare a roux, which is simply a fancy word for a mixture of fat (typically butter) and flour that works well for thickening sauces. Allen enjoys it in green bean casserole. This is how she does it:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
2. Flour should be sprinkled over the melted butter.
3. For 1-2 minutes, whisk continually.
4. Cook, constantly whisking, until the roux thickens and turns somewhat tan.
5. Whisk in some cream or milk slowly. Stir the sauce until it is smooth and thickened.
6. Combine the sauce with the green beans (and any additional ingredients, such as sautéed mushrooms). 
7. As usual, bake.

3. Go to the stove.

Your best bet is to thicken the green bean casserole filling before baking it. If the ship has sailed and you're left with a soupy dish, Lonergan assures you that all is not lost. 

"If you've already baked the casserole and it seems too runny," Lonergan tells me. "Then remove the onion topping as best you can."

Then, as Lonergan suggests, follow these steps:

1. Place the filling in a Dutch oven or large pan over medium heat.
2.  Warm the filling until it reaches a moderate simmer. Make a "slurry" of cornstarch or flour.
3. Begin by whisking a tiny amount of cornstarch or flour with water or broth to make a slurry, a tool for thickening sauces.
4. Whisk until no visible lumps remain. It should be thick but drizzly in texture.
5. Add little amounts of the slurry to the filling while constantly stirring. On the stovetop, the filling will bubble.
6. When the filling has reached the appropriate texture, return it to the baking dish and finish it in the oven.
7. Breathe.

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