Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry made with an easy garlicky stir fry sauce, lean beef and green beans.
Chinese Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry Recipe
Stir Fries are a weekly occurrence in our household. I used just about any vegetable that I have in the fridge or that looks amazing in the store. In this case the green beans looked amazing at the store. Super fresh, not dinged up. And they were on sale! I love making stir fries, they’re fresh and easy and can be made in just minutes.
In the case of this stir fry we really have a pantry recipe. Aside from the beef and green beans you can go to the cupboard for most of the rest of the recipe. In fact if you find yourself out of garlic or ginger you can use powdered in a pinch (try to use fresh if possible, the flavors are much bolder and fresher).
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What is a good substitute for Mirin?
If you don’t have or can’t find mirin use white wine and increase the sugar by an additional teaspoon.
One of the most important notes I can give you about stir fries is to make absolutely sure all your ingredients are ready to go before you heat up the pan. Stir fries can go from delicious and done perfectly to sad and overcooked in a hurry.
In addition to that when making beef stir fries (especially with a lean cut of beef as we are using) I highly recommend slicing the beef very thinly and against the grain.
What does cutting against the grain mean?
Cutting against the grain is something I discuss a lot in cooking meats that are sliced thinly (especially lean meats like flank steak or chicken breast). Thing of meat (which is essentially muscle tissue) as a bunch of fibers that are tied together. Basically if you had a bunch of green beans banded together. Instead of chewing on a long piece of a green bean you would slice thin sheets of many green beans. Then when chewing you can see how much easier it is to chew through these smaller pieces instead of one long piece.
Looking for more Chinese Takeout Favorites?
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Tools used in this Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry Recipe:
Lite Soy Sauce: This is the only variety I use, I NEVER use regular sodium.
Mirin: This is a sweeter version of a white wine used in a lot of Chinese and Japanese recipes.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoons canola oil
- 3/4 pound flank steak cut thinly against the grain
- 1 pound green beans trimmed
- 2 teaspoon ginger minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl or measuring cup mix the soy sauce, mirin, cornstarch and sugar.
- Add the canola oil to your skillet on medium high heat.
- Cook the beef in batches in the skillet for 1-2 minutes on each side before removing from the pan.
- Add in the green beans and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds while stirring.
- Add the stir fry sauce into the skillet and cook for 30 seconds, then add the beef back in and toss to coat.
- Garnish with sesame seeds if desired.
This is the perfect family meal! Everyone loved it !!!
I love a good stir fry recipe! Always a hit at my house!
I love this idea! So simple and pretty!
Looks so good! I love stir fry recipes!
Stir fry is always a hit at my house! I need to try this one out!
This looks so delicious! Can’t wait to to add this one to our menu soon!
We are a household of stir-fry lovers, too! This looks like on to add to the rotation, soon!
This look so amazing! If I don’t cook with alcohol, should I leave it out all together or is there another substitution? Thanks!
You can leave out the mirin, but the dish won’t be as sweet.
I tried this recipe a few months back and it was AMAZING. At the time I recall there was a weight watchers points value per serving but I believe it has been removed since? Is there any way you could remind me how many points per serving this was? I’d like to make it again today and track accordingly 🙂
The company that uses “points” has reached out to me claiming points are proprietary and demanded that I stop sharing them with my recipes. You’re going to have to calculate it on your own with a recipe calculator.
Made this tonight exactly as written plus 1 c of brown rice to serve it on in the rice cooker. Our family (4 yr old, 2 yr old and hubby) we’re completely silent, it was THAT GOOD! We wrote it down, it’ll become a regular go-to for work night dinners. The stir fry was done and cooling by the time the rice cooker was done; recipe was easy to follow and well-seasoned. Just enough sauce to flavor rice so nothing else was needed. Our daughter is allergic to wheat, egg, almonds, and cow milk so dinners can be a challenge to come up with. This met all our needs; thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this dish for dinner tonight and it was very good. I will make again. I served over rice.
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Delicious recipe! I am allergic to soy and had pretty much written off Chinese food but I found this “no soy soy sauce” by Ocean’s Halo (they had it at my Whole Foods) so I use that and this came out great. I use a little extra cornstarch to thicken the sauce. The beef cooks really quickly so I will take it out sooner next time, I overcooked a little bit.
Excellent!
Delicious recipes
Awesome dinner…love the ginger and garlic
Can you substitute the garlic with anything?
Ginger would be great, or minced red onion for a milder flavor.
I came across this recipe when looking for something to use up an abundance of green beans and happened to have all the ingredients on hand. So yummy! My kids (ages 3, 5, 7) all happily ate it and the 5yo said it was her new favorite. We served with brown rice.
Overall great recipe. I doubled the sauce, added a tablespoon of cornstarch rather than 2 teaspoons, and added a bit of sesame oil to the cooking oil. Served over Jasmine rice.
Could I freeze this? Making meals for when daughter had baby!
Yes Donna you can! It’s best not to cook your stir fry before freezing however; if you are freezing leftovers allow them to cool before warming them to serve again.
For uncooked Stir fry meals:
Separate Into Portions into relevant portion sizes. It’s better to do this before you freeze it, so you can easily remove the required amount of stir fry from the freezer when you come to prepare it. Then place in Freezer Bags being careful to press out as much air as possible from the bag before sealing. Then label and freeze for up to two months.