Keto Mashups: Cream Chipped Beef Green Bean Casserole

Need a breakfast/Brunch Side dish/meal?? This covers all the bases. Taking the classic comfort casserole and beefing it up a bit. Cream chipped beef can’t help but turn the flavors up a notch. Try this keto mash up recipe out on your family and friends for a new twist on two classic recipes.

Keto Mashups.

All the songs have already been sung and all the recipes have already been written. Well almost. I’ve been in the food game long enough to know that when you write a recipe chances are someone beat you to it. Maybe you didn’t deliberately copy it from someone but we have all taken inspiration from the food we see on television and social media. I love to put twists on classics and lately I’ve begun taking two familiar dishes and combining them. These Mashups are just my version of recipes that I think go well together. Think of it like “Culinary Matchmaking”

You see two recipes that you love and say to yourself. Those two were made for each other. Maybe it’s a dish like my Sloppy Joe Shepherd's Pie or the Reuben Egg Roll Bowl.  Both recipes are tasty on their own but together they become a ketogenic power couple.

Fresh, Canned or Frozen?

When I think of the traditional green bean casserole I think of mushy canned green beans. As you might guess I’m not the biggest fan of canned veggies in general and especially not green beans. Now flash frozen veggies are a different story. When picked fresh and flash frozen vegetables not only retain their true color but their nutritional content as well. I prefer to simply thaw out my frozen green beans under some room temperature water then strain and pat dry.

Fresh green beans are great but require a few extra steps. First you’ll need to trim the stems. A task often given to me as a child by my grandmother. Next you will want to blanch them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before shocking in cold water to preserve the color and not over cook. I will leave the decision up to you but for this recipe I’m using thawed out frozen petite green beans.

S.O.S. It’s not just for our troops.

Cream Chipped Beef has revived a lot of bad press in my opinion. Everyone always talks about sausage gravy fondly but turns their head at the thought of cream chipped beef. Though there are many stories of the recipes origin one of the first appearances was in the 1910 Army Cooks Manuel. It called for a mixture of condensed milk, butter, flour, parsley and a hearty amount of dried beef. Served over toast it quickly became a popular dish among soldiers and over time found its way into civilian kitchens across America.

This recipe ditches the flour butter Roux and used cream cheese and heavy cream to achieve the same richness but without all the extra carbs. I often crave this dish but felt that eating a bowl of it like soup might drawn unwanted looks from my family. Combining cream chipped beef with green bean casserole seemed like a perfect way to enjoy two of my favorites in one dish.

Fried Onions: Smash or Pass??

Those crispy canned onions that top this casserole can be quite controversial in the keto community for many reasons. First, I’m sure it’s fried in a low quality oil like canola or safflower. Then it’s breaded with some other questionable ingredients that contain gluten. All that being said my family really enjoys them, myself included and I used them for this recipe. And no, I didn’t die. Healthier alternatives that I would suggest are crushed pork rinds or cheese crisps. Almond slivers would also be an option to add some extra crunch. We are all adults who make our own decisions so I will once again leave it up to you on what to top your casserole with.

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