A Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans that packs an amazing flavour punch for something with so few ingredients! You’ll love how it’s eaten with a spoon, and that it takes just over 10 minutes to make.
Made with ground pork, this recipe is a simplified version of the popular Szechuan Stir Fried Green Beans with Minced Pork. Don’t skip the charring of the beans, it’s the defining feature of this stir fry!
Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans
If you’ve ever been to a Chinese Szechuan restaurant, you might be familiar with a green bean and pork stir fry which is a firm favourite among spicy Asian food lovers. Chopped green beans cooked over high heat until blistered, then stir fried with a spicy intense flavoured sauce and pork.
If the full blown Szechuan version is what you’re after, you’ll need a couple of speciality ingredients requiring a trip to the Asian grocery store – Szechuanpicked mustard greens (Sui Mi Ya Cai), Szechuan peppercorns, dried chillies. And here are a couple of recipes from my most trusted Chinese cooking blogs – Woks of Life and Omnivore’s Cookbook.
This Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans recipe is a slightly simplified version of the authentic Szechuan version. It packs a similar flavour punch, and it still has the signature charred green beans, but I pick up everything from the supermarket. In fact, if you have pork mince (that’s ground pork to those of you in Canada and the States!) and beans, there’s every possibility you have everything you need to make this right now.
This Pork Stir Fry is a quick and easy ground pork recipe with big flavours!
Magic 4 ingredient stir fry sauce
The sauce for this Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans only has 4 ingredients in it:
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Chinese cooking wine (see recipe notes for subs)
-
dark soy sauce (for colour)
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Chilli Garlic Sauce (for spice / vinegar / general Asian tasty flavour – see notes for subs)
-
sugar.
The reason this recipe gets away with such a simple sauce is because of this – the charred green beans. Char any vegetable, and you take it from bland to amazing. Steamed beans vs charred green beans is simply no contest!
Best charred in a hot skillet
Unlike most of my stir fries, I like to cook this in a cast iron skillet so you can spread the beans out to char them. It takes a mere 2 ½ – 3 minutes, faster than using a wok.
Because of this extreme high heat cooking – that skillet gets stinking hot – the one tip I have for this stir fry is to chop rather than grate / mince the ginger and garlic. It will stop it from sticking to the skillet and burning in 2 seconds.
Actually, that’s a general stir frying tip. 🙂 Chop instead of grate the ginger and garlic. Never again suffer burnt garlic in your stir fry!
Oh PS That’s the Chilli Garlic Sauce I use. ↑↑↑ Available at supermarket – Woolies, Coles etc. BUT if you can’t find that exact brand or similar, sriracha or even non Asian hot sauces will make a terrific sub. Anything that is spicy but also a bit vinegary – which most hot sauces are. Even Franks Hot Sauce!
You won’t miss sauciness
When it comes to stir fries, I’m usually all about the sauce, the sauce, the sauce. And if you’re in the sauce camp with me, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how you don’t miss sauce with this Pork Stir Fry.
The pork mince sucks up all that sauce and is actually quite intense flavoured – you’d find it rather salty without rice.
So mix it up with the rice, then enjoy the leisure of a stir fry you can eat with a spoon. It’s perfect Couch Food – which I define as food you can eat with a spoon without taking your eyes off the TV. 😂 – Nagi x
PS And because my mother will never forgive me if I don’t mention this – this Beans and Pork Mince Stir Fry is the Japanese version of this stir fry on her website. Similar flavour, but made using Japanese sauces.
More quick ground pork / pork mince recipes
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San Choy Bow (Chinese Lettuce Cups)
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Egg Foo Young (Chinese Omelette with Pork)
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See 15 Minute Recipes recipe collection
Also, try this popular Quick Asian Beef Ramen Noodles or Asian Beef Bowls using ground pork / mince instead of beef!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans
Ingredients
- 10 oz / 300 g green beans (Note 1a)
- 7 oz / 220 g pork mince (Note 1b)
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 tsp finely chopped garlic (2 cloves) (Note 2)
- 2 tsp ginger, finely chopped (Note 2)
- 2 1/2 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable or canola)
Sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 4 for subs)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp + Chilli Garlic Sauce (Note 5)
Instructions
- Mix Sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Trim the tough end of the beans, then chop into 2 - 2.5cm / 4/5 - 1" pieces.
- Charred Beans: Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a heavy based skillet over high heat (I use cast iron) until smoking. Add beans, spread out to cover base. Leave for 1 minute. Quick stir, spread out, cook for 30 seconds. Stir, then leave for 30 seconds, then repeat once more (so 2 1/2 minutes in total cook time) until beans are charred but tender crisp (not withered and floppy). Remove into bowl.
- Turn heat down to medium high, add 1 tbsp oil. Add onion, then garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute until edges of onion are golden.
- Turn heat back up to high. Add pork and cook, breaking it up as you go. Cook for 2 minutes until the pork is cooked through, then add Sauce. Cook for 30 seconds, then add beans and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Serve over rice. Garnish with slices of large red chilli (it's mild), entirely optional. To eat, mix the pork into the rice then eat it with a spoon - forget chopsticks for this one! (For a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice)
Recipe Notes:
.
4. You can substitute Chinese cooking wine with dry sherry, cooking sake or Mirin. If you sub with Mirin, omit the sugar. Here are the cooking wines I use. The Pandaroo Chinese Cooking Wine is sold at Woolies, Coles, Harris Farms. I really urge you to use one of these options as cooking alcohol is key to achieve a truly restauranty quality for Asian food, especially Chinese recipes. If you can't consume alcohol, the next best option is to use low sodium chicken broth. Use 1/4 of cup. It will take an extra minute or so for the Sauce to reduce. 5. Chilli Garlic Sauce is readily available in large supermarkets. It's not "blow your head off" spicy, so feel free to increase it (stick your finger in the Sauce for a taste). It can be substituted with sriracha, sambal oelak or any hot sauce that has a bit of a vinegary taste (eg Frank's) but you'll need to adjust the quantity depending on the spiciness of what you use. 6. Frozen cooked white rice is a quick-meal life saver. A very Asian thing to do, all my relatives in Japan do it! Cook rice of choice as you usually do, including resting it for 10 minutes (never skip this!). While the rice is still warm, cling wrap into serving size portions, put it in plastic bags or containers, then freeze. To reheat, place in a bowl (frozen), sprinkle with water, cover with cling wrap then microwave until warm (1 serving = about 2 1/2 minutes from frozen). Let stand in microwave for 2 minutes - the extra steaming helps remoisten the rice. Serve! 7. The nutritional analysis assumes 3 servings, excluding rice i.e. stir fry only. 3/4 cup of cooked white rice is 130 calories which takes the total up to 498 calories per serving.
Originally published June 2014, long overdue for an update with fresh new photos and a recipe video!
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
At the coffee shop, when he spies food on neighbouring tables. He’s been known to make grown men give up huge chunks of their breakfast with just a glance…
Angelina Lue says
I made this dish and it was AMAZING! My mom doesn’t really particularly enjoy spicy food, so I left the chili garlic sauce out and it still tasted great! It tastes just like Chinese restaurant food. Thank you so much for the simple and easy to follow recipe.
Grace says
Does this keep well in the fridge as leftovers for a few days? I’m excited to try it- it looks delicious!
Nagi says
Yes it does! Much better than most stir fries because the beans don’t go soggy 🙂
Wanda says
Another winner ! My husband said it was very tasty!! Thanks Nagi!!
Nagi says
I love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Wanda ! N x
AGill says
Another awesome recipe. Followed it as is – yummy!! So much flavour in this. I always find it helpful to read the extra notes you put at the end of the recipes. SUPPER WINNER!
Nagi says
🙌🏻 🙌🏻 LOVE hearing that! Thanks for letting me know AGill! N x
Penny Cruz says
Just made this again this week and have to tell you, Nagi, that this is one of our absolute favorite recipes – my husband and I both love it ! ! ! Even though there’s just the 2 of us, I double the main ingredients, and make 4x the sauce, because we love it stirred into rice (for hubby) or cauliflower rice (for me). I make it in my cast iron skillet so I can get it as hot as possible, and one thing I like to do is to cook the pork until it is well browned and has crunchy bits. Sooooo good! Thank you, thank you, thank you for this AMAZING recipe ! (I would give it 10 stars, if I could ! ! !)
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Penny! So glad you and your husband enjoy it so much ! N x
Donna B says
Years ago I cut a recipe for pork stir fry with green beans from a magazine and I used to drool over the photo but never got around to cooking it. Today we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant and I finally got to taste it and loved it. As soon as I got home I looked it up on Pinterest. I picked out the photo that most resembled what we ate and came up with yours. I could have just looked here in the first place! 😄 Another Nagi recipe to add to my TO COOK list.
Lara says
One of my favourite quick evening meals! So much flavour, and super quick to make once you’ve done the prep for it all. Also a big success with a picky eater at home! Thanks Nagi!! 🙂
Nagi says
Love hearing that Lara! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 Have a great weekend! N x
Nicki says
Delicious, another one of your recipes that I can add to the family dinner rotation. You are my go to website for recipes. Thanks
Carol says
We had a lot of beans from our garden that needed to be used so I searched recipe tin eats for green bean recipes and came across this. It was so yummy and will be a regular mid week meal. Thank you
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Carol! I’m so happy to hear that! N x ❤️
Zoe says
This was the bomb loved it!!!!!!!!!
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Zoe! Thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback! N x ❤️
Jason says
I made this at weekend and it will be one of my quick meal staples. Amazingly I had all the ingredients in from about 12 months ago when I was perfecting my hot ‘n’ sour soup. That garlic/chilli sauce seems to last forever in the fridge! To only need two main ingredients and everything else is basically pantry food but yet end up with something so fresh and healthy tasting is fab.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this meal. I love your website – which I’m scouring on a daily basis for new recipes and I love the accompanying no-nonsense(though very well shot) videos.
Nagi says
LOVe hearing that Jason!!! N x
Tamarra says
Great recipe! This has trumped an old pork mince stir fryrecipe I used to use, this one is our new go-to. The key is dark soy and chilli/garlic sauce. First time I made it i forgot to put it in and it was still great 👍
Nagi says
Vereeee flattering Tamarra! 🙂 So pleased you enjoyed this! N x
Andi says
Fixed this dish last night and the flavors were just DEVINE, authentic and good. I had all the ingredients except Mirin, Chili Garlic Sauce, and green beans and used regular soy sauce. The dish was DELISH, so DELISH. I’ll visit my Asian grocer soon to pick up Chinese cooking wine and dark soy sauce for future use.
Thank u for explicit recipes, substitutions, and explanations. You’re a Jewel.
Nagi says
So great to hear Andi!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
Peter Stephenson says
The recipe was a big winner tonight Nagi, served with cauli rice – zuzzed up cauli, 6 minutes in MW, (stirred between time) plus a handful of chopped coriander and a teaspoon of roasted cummin seeds.
Who has smoke detectors in the kitchen?
Nagi says
😂 Open plan living is the bane of my life!
CC says
What brand soy sauce (light and dark) do you recommend using?
Nagi says
Hi CC! I usually use Lee Kum Kee because it’s available at supermarkets 🙂 N x
Lisa F says
I have a very sensitive fire alarm right outside the kitchen, so I can’t get my pans smoking hot. I broiled the green beans for a few minutes per side until charred, and sauteed the veg and pork, then added the green beans at the end. VERY tasty! The whole family enjoyed it!
Nagi says
HIGH FIVE Lisa! PS My kitchen fire alarm goes off almost every week…. 😂
Taz says
I made this today but only I used ground beef. So I enjoyed it so much ….I kind a ate the whole thing😳. I know it’s meant for 2-3 servings but basically I helped myself to 2-3 servings..is that so wrong? Too bad for hubby …it’s every man for himself when I cook using Nagi recipe.
carol says
lol, I’m with you, I just made this and so far have eaten two serves, hubby want to hurry up and get home,
Nagi says
I’m with you. You snooze, you lose! 😂
NancyC says
This was SO SO SO SO SO (I could go on….) GOOD. Like I-Want-To-Eat-It-Everyday-GOOD!
Nagi says
WHOO HOOOOOO!!!!
Penny Cruz says
OMG – This is soooooo good!
I would give this even more stars if it would let me!
I made it just as written, but DOUBLED the main ingredients and made 4x the sauce (I knew we would want more than just a single batch, and we love extra sauce). It turned out perfectly! Because I was making a larger batch, I cooked the green beans in two batches, allowing that each batch would still be able to be in a singe layer so that it could get the char. After cooking the onions/ginger/garlic, I removed them to the bowl with the green beans, so that I would have lots of hot pan surface for cooking the pork. That allowed the pork to get nicely browned and a bit crunchy in places which is something that we really like. Then followed the rest of the directions for sauce and adding the beans/onions back into pan. Because I avoid carbs, we kept the dish separate from the rice, and I enjoyed it over “Cauliflower Rice”. We both loved it!
Your recipes are ALWAYS the best, Nagi – and this one is right up there at the top! It will be a regular quick and easy “go-to” for sure, and is also very company worthy!
Thank you, Nagi!
P.S. I hardly ever use pre-prepped “convenience” foods, but I have found that the convenience of frozen Cauliflower Rice makes is so worthwhile! Here in the U.S., my favorite one (by FAR ! ! ! ) is the Green Giant brand of “Riced Vegetables” that is called “Cauliflower Medley”, as it also has peas, onion and shredded carrots. When accompanying Asian dishes I saute it in a little sesame oil and add soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds at the end. If I’m making a Southwest “Mexican” meal, I saute it in a little olive oil and sprinkle in seasonings such as cumin and chili powder, then garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.
Nagi says
YES YES YES! I am so happy you enjoyed this Penny. And I agree re prepared cauliflower rice! I don’t think have frozen yet but we have fresh and it’s terrific! I have been meaning to post a cauliflower fried rice 🙂 N xx
Susan says
Hi Nagi,
Did this for dinner this evening…..even the fussy, very English in his food tastes husband, left off his DIY to scoff the lot.
I mixed it in with the rice as you did in the video and was wondering if it could be freezed that way.
Thank you for all your lovely recipes Nagi and all your hard work.
Lots Of Love.
Susan in the UK
Nagi says
Whoot! Approval from the hubby! 😂 Absolutely it can be frozen after mixing with the rice, as long as the rice hasn’t already been frozen 🙂 N xx
Susan says
Thank you Nagi.
Susan. xx