Chinese sauteed green beans with ground beef is a fast weeknight meal, great when served with a large bowl of steaming rice. The green beans are cooked with onion, garlic, and ginger, and then stir-fried with an amazing spicy sauce and ground beef. This recipe is the quick and easy version of the aromatic stir-fry green bean dish you'll find in Sichuan restaurants.
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How to char green beans without oil?
Chinese sauteed green beans is a dish you make when you simply don't have enough time on your hands. This is a much simplified version of the restaurant dish that you'll find at Sichuan eateries, but flavorful enough that it'll hit the spot. The key to the texture is to pat the green beans as dry as possible before throwing them onto a well-heated pan with only a dab of oil. We call this method "dry-frying" which is to fry with very little moisture or oil.
After you have charred the green beans, you then cook the beef down and re-introduce the green beans with a flavorful sauce mixture.
Ingredients
- Green beans
- Ground beef
- Dark soy sauce
- Chili garlic sauce: I always use Lee Kum Lee's brand of chili garlic sauce. This sauce adds a great spicy kick with hints of vinegar. Chili garlic sauce plays a prominent role in my Instant Pot eggplant with garlic sauce recipe!
- Rice vinegar: To balance out the salty flavors in the dark soy sauce and chili garlic sauce.
- Sugar
- Garlic, ginger, onion: All my key fragrants for every Asian dish!
A lot of the flavor comes from the chili garlic sauce! The dark soy sauce adds great color and with the sugar, the two add a hint of sweetness to help balance out the chili garlic sauce.
Step-by-step instructions
- Wash and trim green beans. Chop into 2-3 inch length. Pat dry with a paper towel, this step is important! If there's too much moisture left on the green beans, they won't char properly.
- Make the sauce by mixing dark soy sauce, chili garlic paste, and rice vinegar in a bowl. Set aside for later.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a hot pan until smoking. Add beans and avoid overcrowding. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir beans around, and let sit for 30 seconds. Stir a 2nd time, and let sit for 30 seconds. This helps to ensure that the beans are evenly charred. Place beans in a separate bowl and set aside.
- In the same pan, turn the heat to medium, and cook down the garlic, ginger, and onion until the onions have started to brown. This can take 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add in the ground beef (or pork or turkey) and break down the meat until browned. If there's a lot of excess fat, drain the pan.
- Add in the sauce mixture and sugar, stir for 30 seconds. Finally, add in the green beans and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
- Serve over a bowl of rice!
Can I sub with other ground meats?
100%! This dish is typically made with ground pork, but you can sub with ground beef or if you'd like to use a leaner cut ground turkey. The most important thing is making the sauce to ensure any protein you choose soaks up all the flavors.
Enjoy this dish? Try my other stir-fry recipes such as my Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce, beef and onion stir-fry, and even my Chinese stir-fry rice cakes for something heartier.
📖 Recipe
Chinese Sauteed Green Beans with Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon chili garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- ½ inch ginger chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- ½ small white onion diced
- ½ lb ground beef sub ground pork or ground turkey
Instructions
- Wash and trim green beans. Chop into 2-3 inch length. Pat dry with a paper towel, this step is important! If there's too much moisture left on the green beans, they won't char properly.
- Make the sauce by mixing dark soy sauce, chili garlic paste, and rice vinegar in a bowl. Set aside for later.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a hot pan until smoking. Add beans and avoid overcrowding. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir beans around, and let sit for 30 seconds. Stir a 2nd time, and let sit for 30 seconds. This helps to ensure that the beans are evenly charred. Place beans in a separate bowl and set aside.
- In the same pan, turn the heat to medium, and cook down the garlic, ginger, and onion until the onions have started to brown. This can take 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add in the ground beef (or pork or turkey) and break down the meat until browned. If there's a lot of excess fat, drain the pan.
- Add in the sauce mixture and sugar, stir-fry for 30 seconds. Finally, add in the green beans and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
- Serve over a bowl of rice!
Tyanne says
I love that it is a meat and vegetable recipe!
Freya says
I changed out the meat for vegan meat and this was such a delicious, flavourful meal!
Julia says
What a great idea!
Linda says
This sauteed green beans recipe is so delicious and a favorite at our home
Amy says
Perfect for a mid-week meal!
Megan Ellam says
Oh, now this sounds delicious!
Melinda says
A great new spin on green beans.
serena says
Super easy for a midweek meal
Andrea White says
classic! so good and simple too!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen says
This dish looks so deliciously good. I wish I could eat that right this minute!
Laura says
This is definitely making the list of regulars. It's easy to make for a weeknight.
Jerika says
I can eat this food everyday!:) It's one of my favorite foods paired with steamed rice. Thanks and happy holidays!
Andréa Janssen says
A perfect recipe for weekdays, we loved the combination of beans and beef. And everybody loved it. Surely we're going to eat this more often.
Kayla DiMaggio says
Loving these green beans! They were so savory and delicious!
Ave says
Where do we add the sugar??
Julia says
Thanks for calling this out! I've updated the recipe, you add the sugar at the end with the sauce mixture.
Antonette says
Can it be cooked in a wok instead?
Vickie says
Great idea for ground beef & veggie dish! I doubled the sauce, for best flavor (and added mushrooms).
Paige says
Love this recipe! Tried making this two days ago and had to make it again today because I was craving it. Sauce is so simple yet packed with so much flavor!
Leigh Floyd says
This was so delicious! How would I use firm tofu or mushrooms to sub for ground beef?
Julia says
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I haven't made it with those subs, but you can likely follow the same steps. For the firm tofu, make sure to press beforehand to remove the excess liquid and crumble with your fingers into the pan. Hopefully this helps!