One Pan Beef and Green Beans Stir Fry
Beef and green beans stir fry is a simple and flavorful dish, made in one pan and served over fluffy white rice with fried garlicky greens and melt-in-your-mouth slices of tender beef. This recipe is shellfish free, made without oyster sauce.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the common Chinese dish beef and broccoli, as well as, the ever-so popular Din Tai Fung garlicky green beans. Insert an epic combination of the two. This dish was inspired by Jake’s fake allergy to broccoli, combined with his very real allergy to shellfish, and my craving for Chinese food at home. I found that most recipes use oyster sauce, so I set on a mission to make a recipe of my own, without sacrificing any flavor. I was shocked with the outcome and how much better this dish tastes made at home!
Ingredients for the beef: the secret ingredient to get the most tender beef!
Flank steak
My go-to cut of meat for beef stir fry is flank steak. It’s a thin cut of meat making it ideal for slicing into strips. It’s low in fat, but high and flavor, and becomes incredibly tender with the marinade used below.
Beef marinade
- Baking soda this secret ingredient helps to tenderize the meat so that it melts in your mouth once cooked.
- Corn starch helps to thicken the marinade once the stir-fry sauce ingredients are added.
- Sesame oil for a subtle nutty flavor.
- Soy sauce adds flavor to the beef.
How to cut the steak
cut against the grain
Against the grain means across the muscle fibers, cutting perpendicularly through the fibers, not parallel to them. If your flank steak is a long rectangle, the grains would be lines running the long way through the steak, so you’d slice vertically starting with a shorter end. Cutting against the muscle fibers allows the bite of meat to break down and become tender as you chew.
In the picture to the left is a view of a flank steak cut in half, perpendicularly against the grain. The right view is strips of meat after continuing to cut against the grain and then cut in half once more to make smaller size pieces.
Once all the steak is cut, place the meat in a large bowl and toss well with the marinade ingredients. Use your hands to make sure the slices are coated well.
Handy tip: Prepare Ahead!
Cut and marinate the beef up to 24 hours in advance to make cooking dinner even simpler.
Ingredients for the stir fry
- Green beans – make sure these are washed and super dry!
- Garlic – fresh garlic for the best flavor.
- Brown sugar – for just a touch of sweetness to the stir fry sauce.
- Beef broth – in place of water for the sauce.
- Mirin is a sweet rice wine common in Asian dishes, it adds a nice depth of flavor.
- Sesame oil just a little for a subtle hint of sesame flavor .
- Soy sauce for bold flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce compliments the soy sauce to enhance the flavor of the sauce.
- Umami seasoning adds a deep flavor that is meaty, savory, and delicious.
- Garlic chili oil – you can make your own, or purchase. Most grocery stores carry this in their Asian section.
I like to use avocado oil for frying, especially in this recipe due to the high-heat frying required. Avocado oil has an extremely high smoke point, making it ideal for cooking in a wok and making stir fry!
How to prepare beef and green beans stir fry
Flash-fry the green beans
Unlike beef and broccoli, we aren’t steaming the vegetable. We are frying the green beans in high heat to sear them until toasted and blistered. This adds incredible flavor!
To sear the green beans, add a few tablespoons of oil to a very hot wok, and toss over high heat for a few minutes until the beans begin to toast and blister (see picture on the right).
Place the cooked green beans in a medium bowl, and toss with the fresh minced garlic, and garlic chili oil. We will set these aside to add to the beef later.
With the wok still over high-heat, add some more oil, and spread the beef out in the pan. Let it cook on one side without flipping for 1-2 minutes so that it gets nice and browned. Remember, browning=flavor!
Once the beef is cooked through, reduce the heat to medium and add the mixed stir fry sauce ingredients. Let the sauce simmer for a couple minutes until it begins to the thicken.
Return the green beans to the pan, and toss together until the green beans are heated through.
Tips
- Freeze your steak for 30 minutes in advance to make slicing it thin super easy.
- To be sure the oil is hot enough and ready to fry the green beans, wet your fingers with water, and flick water into the hot oil – if it sizzles, it’s ready!
- Make sure your green beans are completely dry after washing.
- Prepare your white rice in the instant pot, just as you begin to cook the green beans.
How to serve beef and green beans stir fry
Serve with fluffy white rice and top with some chili crisps from the chili oil on top!
fool proof fluffy white rice in the instant pot!
- use a 1:1 ratio of white rice and water (1 cup)
- be sure to rinse your rice well
- set on high pressure cook for 3 minutes
- release pressure seal and let the pressure release naturally for 10-2 additional minutes until fluffy
Recipe FAQs & substitutions
cooking in a wok
You can use a wok if you have one, otherwise, this stir can be made in a large sauté pan. Just be sure it is either non-stick, or a well-seasoned cast iron pan would work great!
flank steak
Skirt steak, hanger steak, or tri-tip steak are great alternatives to flank steak.
umami seasoning
If you have trouble finding this seasoning, try looking for Chinese five spice.
vegetables
Feel free to add bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, and onions.
Don’t like spicy?
Skip the chili oil altogether! It’s still delicious.
Beef and Green Beans Stir Fry
Ingredients
Beef & marinade
- 1 lb flank steak sliced into thin strips, against the grain
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Green beans
- 10 oz trimmed green beans washed and very dry
- 3 tbsp avocado oil or other high heat cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp garlic chili oil optional, but recommended!
Stir fry sauce
- ½ cup beef broth
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp umami seasoning
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp sweet rice wine (mirin)
Instructions
- Place the sliced flank steak in a medium bowl. Add the remaining beef marinade ingredients and use your hands to mix well so that all the meat is coated evenly. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix together all stir fry sauce ingredients, set aside.
- For the green beans, heat a wok or large fry pan over high heat. Add 3 tbsp of oil to the pan and allow it to heat up for a minute. Wet your finger tips and flick some water into the pan, if the oil sizzles, it's ready. Add the green beans and cook 4-6 minutes, using tongs to toss around until they begin to blister and look toasty.
- Using tongs, remove green bean to a medium bowl and immediately toss with 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic and the chili oil. Set aside.
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok and return to high heat. Place the strips of beef into the pan, trying to separate and break apart any pieces stuck together. Allow to cook on side for 2 minutes and then stir the beef to flip. Continue to cook another 2-3 minutes, until no pink remains.
- Once cooked through, reduce the heat to medium and pour in the small bowl of stir sauce ingredients. Allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Add the green beens to the pan and toss together. Cook for 1 more minute until heated through.
- Serve over white rice.
