Stir Fried Green Beans
These stir-fried green beans are a delicious and easy-to-make side dish that can be prepared in just a few minutes. The green beans are cooked quickly over high heat until crisp-tender or your desired texture. I love them with a little char on them for deeper flavor. They are flavored with delicious aromatics: garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chili garlic and sesame oil. This give the green beans a savory and slightly spicy flavor. You can also customize the dish by adding other ingredients like bell peppers, mushrooms, or protein sources like chicken or shrimp. Serve them over rice or with your favorite noodle dish. I like sprinkle them with sesame seeds and chili crisp before serving but of course those are optional.
Green Bean Stir Fry Recipe Ingredients
- GREEN BEANS: Any variety of green beans work for this recipe or you could use even use snow peas, snap peas (sugar snap peas) or snake beans. Cooking time may vary depending on how thick or tough the skin is on each variety.
- GARLIC & GINGER: I always use fresh ginger and fresh garlic for best flavor but feel free to use paste if you prefer. I don’t usual add any onion but if you prefer to add onion or shallots I recommend stir frying them with the green beans so they have more time to soften as opposed to adding them in with the garlic and ginger.
- SOY SAUCE: Use any brand you like. I usually use regular not dark soy sauce but either will work. For a substitute you could use tamari (for gluten-free) or coconut aminos. I don’t usually add rice wine or dry sherry to this stir fry but you could add a splash if you like for more flavor.
- SESAME OIL: This adds loads of flavor to the dish and a little goes a long way.
- CHILI GARLIC SAUCE: You can use any chili garlic sauce you like and have on hand - Huy Fong chili garlic sauce, sambal oelek or Sriracha sauce. If you don’t have chili garlic sauce you can simply add some heat to the dish by adding some red pepper flakes - not quite the same flavor of the sauce but you will get some smoky heat/ spice in the dish using the chili flakes.
- HONEY: The honey gives these green beans just a small hint of sweetens but helps really caramelize the sauce a bit. I recommend it and always make my green bean stir fry with it but It is optional. Please adjust the amount to taste especially if you prefer the dish sweeter.
- VEGETABLE OIL: Use a high heat friendly (high smoke point) vegetable oil like avocado oil, canola oil, grape seed oil and peanut oil.
How To Make Stir-Fried Green Beans (detailed instructions in recipe card below)
- PREPARE SAUCE stir all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- HEAT pan and oil. This ensures that the green beans will start cooking quickly as soon as they hit the hot pan.
- STIR FRY the green beans well coated in the oil tossing every minute or so to evenly cook and get a little browned on the edges for flavor. (feel free to use a wooden spoon to stir them around or chop sticks or I prefer using tongs)
- ADD the aromatics - sesame oil, garlic and ginger - cook stirring for 30-60 seconds
- STIR in the sauce and toss beans well to coat
- SERVE with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and chili crisp for extra crunchy texture and flavor if desired.
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Recipe
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari for gluten free
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil like (avocado oil, canola oil or grape seed oil)
- 1 inch piece of ginger minced or grated
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
Directions
- In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, honey and chili garlic sauce. Set aside.
- Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and allow for it to get nice and hot.
- Add the greens beans, and gently toss to coat them with the oil then spread them out in the pan and allow to cook for about 4-7 minutes, stirring or tossing every 45-60 seconds, until edges are slightly blackened and just tender.
- Stir in the sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the soy sauce mixture, toss the green beans to coat well with the sauce. Cook for 30 seconds to reduce sauce a little then remove pan from heat and serve warm.
Recipe Note
- Stir-fried green beans, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, will typically last for 3 to 5 days. To keep them fresh, allow them to cool down after cooking to room temperature and refrigerate them within an hour. Reheat them stove top in a skillet or in the microwave.
