How Many Calories in a Serving of Green Bean Casserole?

It can be tough to keep track of how many calories you're consuming since homemade foods don't come with nutrition labels. It would seem like a healthy rule of thumb to fill your plate with mainly vegetable dishes, right? Not always.

Green bean casserole is one of my favorite holiday foods. But how many calories are in one serving of traditional green bean casserole?

A) 70 calories, 2 grams of fat
B) 120 calories, 5 grams of fat
C) 275 calories, 10 grams of fat
D) 500 calories, 18 grams of fat

The correct answer is C) 275 calories, 10 grams of fat

Keep in mind that there are several variations of this recipe so the exact nutritional information will vary. This calorie and fat information is for one side-dish sized serving serving (approximately 1/6 of a casserole baked in a 9x9 pan) using green beans, cream of mushroom soup, milk, seasonings and french fried onions for the topping. These numbers aren't horrible, but when you consider the fact that this is just one small side dish meant to be served with other sides and a main dish, that's a lot of calories and fat.

The main problem here is the topping. Those french fried onions more than double the calorie count and quadruple the fat content of the casserole alone.

Green Bean Casserole Dishes

Since last year I have been creating new green bean dishes. Now that my children enjoy it, I can have fun, and still make it tasty and not boring. Have you ever tried your beans mixed with tomatoes and parmesan cheese? This easy recipe is a great crowd pleaser.

How To Make Green Bean And Tomato Casserole With A Hint Of Cheese

For this recipe you will need 3 cans of beans, (make sure to drain them), 2 cans of Hunt's Stewed tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, minced onion, basil seasoning, Italian breadcrumbs, butter, and parmesan cheese.

To make this is so simple. Grab a large casserole dish and place the beans, hint of salt, taste of pepper, few sprinkles of breadcrumb, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and basil into the dish. Mix it up, and then place your cheese allover. Make sure to cover it well. Now add a touch of butter on top, or Pam cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes on 400.

In my house we use Ranch dressing on almost everything, why not give your green beans a taste of ranch? Here's how.

How To Make Green Bean And Ranch Casserole

This recipe is fun, and kids will love them. You can either bake the beans in the oven or deep fry them. My love is to deep fry the green beans, the taste is phenomenal.

Place the beans into a pot of water. Allow the water to come to a rapid boil. Then rinse them off in cold water.

Prepare your seasoning, flour and egg wash like you would chicken. Roll in flour, then egg, then seasoning and breadcrumb. I like to use garlic powder, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper seasoning, and minced onion.

Make sure the deep fryer is hot, and cook the beans for about 1-3 minutes until they appear crispy brown.

Allow them to cool off and prepare the ranch. Pour some ranch dressing into a bowl. Then add some bacon bits, and cheese. Mix this up, and pour over the green beans.

Making green bean casseroles can be quite fun, because you can add so many different foods to accommodate the beans such as hamburger meat, pork chops, chicken, mushrooms, onions, eggs, bacon, corn, barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, mustard, and all types of cheeses.