Chicken And Green Beans Stir Fry
Tender chicken thigh and green beans are tossed in a classic Chinese stir fry sauce. The glossy thick stir-fry sauce coats the chicken and beans beautifully and there is enough of it to serve with rice. I would suggest cooking the chicken and green beans separately to get the perfect juicy chicken and green beans with a little crunch.
This saucy chicken green beans has the juciest tender chicken pieces and green beans that’s cooked just right (not soggy, overcooked kind) and smootherd in a salty, savoury glossy sauce. Two ingredients that makes this stir fry sauce as good as any Chinese restaurants is Chinese cooking wine and toasted sesame oil.
You just can not go wrong with stir-fries. Pick any protein, vegetable(a combination would do as well), and a good stir-fry sauce, that’s all. Healthy and nutritious one-pan dinner ready in under 30 minutes. Pairs perfectly with rice. I make this Chicken broccoli stir fry regularly ( that’s one of the few ways I can feed my family broccoli).
Stir fries are also one of the best ways to use any leftover veggies. I make stir-fries at least once in a week. To make the process easy and quick, I do the prep over the weekend. So while making dinner it doesn’t take more than 15 mins.
I tried steaming the beans separately and then add to the dish but I was not impressed with the texture. Cooking Chicken and Beans together resulted in overcooked mushy beans. So for the best flavor and texture cook green beans on a hot cast iron pan stirring frequently for about 2-3 minutes.
Ingredients For Chicken and Green Beans
- Chicken thigh– Cut into thin strips. Before you ask, you can also use chicken breast cut into thin strips against the grain.
- Green Beans– Tender fresh green beans, trim ends. Frozen beans will also work. Because frozen beans are already blanched, it takes less time to cook.
- Onion and garlic– Thinly slice onion and chop garlic fine( don’t mince to a paste, as it might stick to the pan).
- Cornstarch – To thicken the sauce, so that it clings to the chicken and veggies.
- Green onion – chopped, white and green parts separated.
- Sauce- Basic Asian pantry staple sauces like soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, brown sugar and bit of sriracha.
- Toasted sesame seeds.
How To Make Chicken and Beans Easy and Quick?
Stir-fries are the quickest way to serve dinner for a hungry family. Below are a few tips to make the process really quick and best flavour.
It Is All About The Stir Fry Sauce.
The stir fry sauce is pretty basics but packed salty umaminess. Use low-sodium soy sauce to control the amount of salt. Make the stir fry sauce in advance, it stay well for a week or even more.
Mise en place
Once the prep is done, then the rest will be done in no time. Keep all the ingredients ready and reachable. You can also do the prep work well ahead of time as I do. Over the weekend clean vegetables (in this case beans), drain any excess water, cut it to the desired size and keep in a food-grade container.
Mariante Chicken before cooking
The stir fry sauce works as a marination also. We don’t need to marinate chicken for longer, 10-15 mins is just fine.
To sear the chicken perfectly, use a wide skillet or better a wok. Heat oil and spread marinated chicken in a single layer and cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes undisturbed. Then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat. Remove chicken from skillet. ( It is fine if the chicken is still a little undercooked, it will cook in the remaining heat while reasting and will cook further along with beans towards the end)
In the same skillet, add a couple of teaspoons of oil. Saute onion for a minute. Then add green beans and cook until it is tender but still has a crunch to it.
To quickly cook the beans, sprinkle little water and place a lid. Beans will cook just right in the steam. Towards the end add minced garlic and saute.
Add cooked chicken, white part of green onion back to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce around the corner of the wok. Increase heat and toss everything until the sauce has slightly thickened and clings to the veggies and chicken. Finish it off toasted sesame seeds.
Can I Use Chicken Breast instead?
Chicken breast can be substituted for thigh in this recipe. Cut chicken breast into thin strips against the grain. The cooking time would vary because chicken breast tends to cook quite fast.
Other Quick Chicken Stirfry Recipes To try…
Chicken and Green Beans Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1 pound Chicken thigh Cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ pound Green Beans cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 tablespoon Oil
- ½ Medium Onion
- 2 teaspoon Garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Ginger
Stir fry Sauce
- 2 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 2 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce or Sriracha
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients mentioned for stir fry sauce in a bowl.
- In another marinate chicken with 2 teaspoons on the sauce. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Sear chicken – In a wide wok or skillet, heat 1.5 tablespoons oil. Increase heat to medium-high. Spread marinated chicken in a single layer and cook on high heat undisturbed for 2-3 minutes. Then flip and cook again for 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat.
- Remove chicken from the wok and keep aside. Chicken will cook further in the remaining heat.
- To the same pan add rest of the oil. Add sliced onion. Fry for a minute, until softens.
- Add green beans. If the skillet looks too dry add a splash of water. Then cover and cook beans until tender but still has a bite to it. (By covering with a lid, the steam created helps cook the beans faster.)
- Once the beans are almost done, add cooked chicken back to the skillet followed by white part of the onion, and pour stirfry sauce around the edges. Toss everything on medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and stick to the chicken.
- Finish it off with toasted sesame seeds and green onion.
Nutrition
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This turned out really well- thanks!
Next time I’ll add more sriracha and I served it over brown rice ramen, since it was convenient. Rice would have been better. Otherwise didn’t change anything.