Spicy String Beans in Garlic Sauce
When we go out for Chinese take out, the main dish I choose changes, but the side dish I am ALWAYS craving, is those Chinese string beans. You know, the ones that come coated in that slightly spicy/sweet sauce?
I could seriously eat only those for dinner, and be completely happy! The downside around here is that those string beans only come in the big family size portion…. now I know what you’re thinking… “ummmm WHY is that a downside?!”. Well, my stomach is saying, “Oh darn… guess I have to eat more string beans… 😛 “, but my wallet is not happy lol. Especially because typically, I’m the only one who loves to eat them, and I can’t justify spending that much on a family size dish, just for me. Previously, my solution is that whenever we go to a Chinese buffet, I eat my body weight in the string beans to make up for missing them most of the time. I mean sometimes I wish I could just grab the tray of them and take it back to my seat. Hmm, I think I may have a problem…. lol.
So instead, I found a recipe online HERE that looked really good! We eat a good deal of green beans around here… usually steamed, roasted, or in a casserole (mmmm green bean casserole!)… but somehow it never occurred to me to make this stir fried version at home. Doh! Now these do taste a little different than take out, in that I think they’re spicier, but you could easily adjust that down to your tastes.
I recommend serving these with some rice to cool down the spice level. They’re hot, but man they are TASTY!!

Spicy String Beans in Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans - washed and ends trimmed
- 1 Tbsp black bean garlic sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp Chinese rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp garlic - grated or minced
- 1 Tbsp ginger - grated or minced
- 2 scallions - chopped
- 2 tsp chili paste
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together the bean sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Set aside.
- Bring a large skillet or wok to medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp of the oil. Add green beans and stir fry for 5-7 minutes until their skins blister and the green beans are tender. Transfer beans to a bowl.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil to the pan, add the garlic, ginger and scallions. Stir fry for a few seconds, then add chili paste, sauce from step 1, and the green beans. Toss to coat all beans in the sauce.
- Serve.
If changing the recipe serving quantity, the recipe plugin will change the ingredient values for you, but it does NOT change the written instructions, those are manually added and not subject to a slider/button. You will have to extrapolate that multiplication to any amounts listed in the instructions.
For example: if an ingredient calls for 4 cups, and you doubled the recipe, it will automatically change to 8 cups. In the instructions, if I say “use 4 cups of cheese”, you will have to realize that since you doubled it, you use 8 cups, not 4
The photos capture this dish beautifully Amanda. So saucy and all that juicy shredded chicken! 🙂 Love this recipe!
Thank you Nagi!! I’ve been meaning to re-shoot this dish, but really it’s just an excuse to eat it again 😉
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This looks amazing! It’s a Tickle Tastebuds feature over at http://notatrophywife.com Thanks for linking up and hope to see you again! Laura
Thank you so much for the feature!!! It’s such an easy delicious meal 🙂 You’re welcome and will definitely see you on Tuesday 🙂
i love those string beans!! both dishes look so good, definitely need to try ..pinning! 🙂
Thank you!! The string beans were my favorite part 😀
What a delicious dinner! I’m dying for some right now.
Thank you!! It was definitely very tasty 😀
This chicken sounds so good and that’s great that it’s made in a crockpot–so convenient!
Thank you! The crockpot is definitely a huge time-saver 🙂