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    Home » Vegetable Recipes » Chinese Green Beans

    Chinese Green Beans

    Last updated: Jun 10, 2023 · Recipes developed by Vered DeLeeuw and nutritionally reviewed by Rachel Benight MS, RD · This website generates income via ads and uses cookies.

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    Wonderfully tender-crisp and well-seasoned, these flavorful Chinese green beans are one of my favorite side dishes.

    Ready in about 25 minutes, they're so easy to make. And the leftovers are really good!

    Chinese green beans served on a white plate with chopsticks.

    I really like green beans. They are so delicious! Simple boiled green beans, liberally salted, are wonderful. I also love spicy green beans and green beans almondine. When tender-crisp, rather than limp and lifeless, they are like a salty, spicy snack.

    The secret to delicious Chinese green beans is sautéing them until tender-crisp and not a second longer. The tasty sauce - garlic, soy sauce and honey - is wonderfully flavorful.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Variations
    • Chinese Green Beans Instructions
    • Expert Tip
    • Recipe FAQs
    • Serving Suggestions
    • Storing Leftovers
    • More Green Bean Recipes
    • Recipe Card

    Ingredients

    You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty side dish. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:

    • Avocado oil: This neutral-tasting oil has a neutral taste and a high smoke point, making it ideal for cooking.
    • Fresh green beans: I haven't tried making this recipe with frozen beans, but I suspect that fresh is the way to go in terms of flavor and texture.
    • Soy sauce: I use reduced-sodium soy sauce in most of my recipes. I find that traditional soy sauce is too salty. Obviously, you can also use a gluten-free alternative.
    • Rice vinegar: You can replace it with white wine vinegar. But don't use distilled white vinegar - it's too acidic.
    • Honey: Just a little to balance out the other flavors in this recipe. It doesn't make the dish taste sweet.
    • Cornstarch: Just a little to help thicken the sauce.
    • Minced garlic: Mince it yourself, or use the stuff that comes in a jar. Freshly minced does taste best, though.
    • Red pepper flakes: I use ½ teaspoon, which makes the dish quite spicy. If you don't like spicy food, you can use half that amount.
    • Sesame oil: To finish the dish after it's cooked. It adds great flavor!
    The ingredients needed to make Chinese green beans.

    Variations

    • You can use half a teaspoon of garlic powder in the sauce instead of fresh garlic. Freshly minced garlic will be much better, but in a pinch, I have found that garlic powder is an acceptable substitute.
    • You can add a teaspoon of minced fresh ginger to the sauce. It adds great flavor.
    • Try toasting a tablespoon of sesame seeds and sprinkling them on top of the finished dish. It looks good and also enhances the beans' flavor.
    • Instead of red pepper flakes, I sometimes mix a teaspoon of hot pepper sauce into the sauce. The only caveat is that pepper sauce tends to create more fumes when cooked, so if you're sensitive to that, you might want to stick with pepper flakes (and possibly use less of them).

    Chinese Green Beans Instructions

    Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:

    Your first step is to mix the sauce ingredients - soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, cornstarch, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

    Mixing the sauce in a glass bowl.

    Next, sauté the green beans in avocado oil until they are tender-crisp and just begin to brown in spots.

    Cooking the green beans in skillet.

    Reduce the heat to low, add the sauce, and cook briefly, just until the green beans are coated and the sauce has thickened.

    Add the sauce to the skillet.

    Drizzle the beans with sesame oil and serve.

    The dish is served and eaten with chopsticks.

    Expert Tip

    Cooked green beans should be bright green and tender-crisp. You don't want them brown and limp.

    So even though we want them to be browned in some spots, we don't want to overcook them.

    Eight minutes over medium heat works for me (plus a minute after adding the sauce).

    But keep a close eye on them as you cook. Depending on how hot your stovetop runs, they might be ready faster.

    Recipe FAQs

    Should I parboil the green beans?

    Some recipes will instruct you to parboil the beans prior to sautéing them. Frankly, I lack the patience for that, and I also find it unnecessary.

    One-step cooking is always better than two-step cooking, and washing one pot is preferable to washing two!

    So no, I don't parboil the beans, and they turn out beautiful - bright green and crisp and very tasty.

    Can I make this recipe with frozen green beans?

    I don't recommend using frozen beans. You want the beans to be tender-crisp, which is impossible to achieve with the frozen vegetable.

    How do you make green beans taste better?

    I have four suggestions for you:

    1. Use young, very fresh beans. Those will taste great even when simply boiled. Never use canned green beans! They tend to have an unpleasant metallic taste and they also tend to be brownish and limp.

    2. Saute the green beans with lots of butter and garlic. Everything tastes good when cooked with butter and garlic.

    3. Cook them in a bold, spicy sauce such as the one we use here or the one I use in these spicy green beans.

    4. Smother them in cheese! Much like butter, cheese greatly elevates vegetables. Try this cheesy green bean casserole, for example. It's wonderful.

    Serving Suggestions

    You don't have to serve Chinese green beans with an Asian-style meal. They are quite versatile and go well with any meat or fish.

    I often serve them with grilled chicken breast, baked pork chops, broiled shrimp, or seared tuna. They are also very nice alongside fried eggs or poached eggs, for a tasty and filling meatless meal.

    Still, obviously, they pair well with Chinese-style dishes. So I do like to serve them with Asian meatballs or Asian salmon.

    Storing Leftovers

    You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them in the microwave at 50% power.

    Sometimes I just snack on them cold  - they are surprisingly good that way!

    Chinese green beans served on a white plate with red chopsticks.

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    👩🏻‍🍳 I aim to publish a new recipe once or twice a month. Want these recipes in your inbox? Subscribe today! You can unsubscribe at any time.

    Recipe Card

    Chinese green beans served on a white plate with chopsticks.
    4.99 from 153 votes
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    Chinese Green Beans

    Wonderfully tender-crisp and well seasoned, these Chinese green beans are ready fast and go well with many different meals.
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time15 minutes mins
    Total Time25 minutes mins
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: Chinese
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 115kcal
    Author: Vered DeLeeuw
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    Ingredients

    Sauce:

    • 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce or a gluten-free alternative
    • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon honey
    • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon fresh garlic minced
    • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

    Beans:

    • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
    • 12 oz green beans , trimmed, long ones halved

    Instructions

    • In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and cornstarch. Mix in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
    • In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, for about 3 minutes. Add the green beans and sauté them, stirring often, until they are tender-crisp and just begin to brown in spots, about 8 minutes.
    • Reduce the heat to low. Give the sauce another whisk, then add it to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until the beans are coated in the sauce and the sauce has thickened, for about 1 minute.
    • Transfer the green beans to a serving plate, drizzle them with sesame oil, and serve.

    Video

    Notes

    Cooked green beans should be bright green and tender-crisp. You don't want them brown and limp. So even though we want them to be browned in some spots, we don't want to overcook them.
    Eight minutes over medium heat works for me (plus a minute after adding the sauce). But keep a close eye on them as you cook. Depending on how hot your stovetop runs, they might be ready faster.
    You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them in the microwave at 50% power.

    Add Your Own Notes

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    Nutrition per Serving

    Serving: 0.25recipe | Calories: 115kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 293mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g
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    DisclaimersMost of our recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read our Terms of Use carefully before using any of our recipes.

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    About the Author

    Vered Deleeuw Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. Click to learn more about Vered.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. jenelle

      September 26, 2023 at 10:06 am

      5 stars
      These came out so good! I used a full pound of green beans, and there was still plenty of sauce to coat them. I also used sriracha instead of chili flakes - about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon. This isn't overly salty or sweet or spicy. They tasted just like the Chinese green beans I've gotten at take-out restaurants. What I love is that I can make them gluten-free. So, so, so good!!!

      Reply
      • Vered DeLeeuw

        September 26, 2023 at 10:53 am

        I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jenelle! Thank you so much for leaving a comment.

        Reply
    2. Sarah Cheney

      September 12, 2023 at 11:05 am

      5 stars
      Super simple and tasted just like what I was craving. Ended up making a double batch of the sauce and used half of it on some ground pork that I'd fried up and this made for a super yummy quick dinner!

      Reply
      • Vered DeLeeuw

        September 12, 2023 at 1:23 pm

        Sounds like a great meal, Sarah! Thanks for leaving a comment.

        Reply
    3. Melis

      August 30, 2023 at 10:57 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you so much for posting this! It's a very close copycat for my favorite high-end chinese lunch spot. Simple, fast, super delicious. I had everything on hand, which was a total bonus.

      Reply
      • Vered DeLeeuw

        August 31, 2023 at 10:21 am

        You're very welcome, Melis!

        Reply
    4. Boots

      August 14, 2023 at 4:38 pm

      5 stars
      AWESOME! The only change I made was to saute the beans in sesame oil. I could eat the whole wok-full at one time. Easy, healthy and oh, so tasty!!!

      Reply
      • Vered DeLeeuw

        August 14, 2023 at 5:24 pm

        I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.

        Reply

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    Healthy Recipes Blog was founded in 2011 by Vered DeLeeuw. It features real-food recipes with a focus on low-carb and gluten-free ingredients. All recipes are nutritionally reviewed by a Registered Dietitian. Contact us at HealthyRecipesBlog@gmail.com.


    👩🏻‍🍳 I aim to publish a new recipe once or twice a month. Want these recipes in your inbox? Subscribe today! You can unsubscribe at any time.

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