For years, my husband has been cooking this amazing dish of Chinese chicken and green beans and let me tell you that the name does not do it justice. Chicken and green beans sounds so plain and ordinary but this dish is none of that!
This recipe originally comes from Chinese Grandma and it has never failed us once! We have put a few tweaks on it over time but it is still true to the original recipe.
The techniques used in this recipe are fairly straight forward. Once you begin working with this recipe, these steps will help you master a lot of Asian cooking techniques. The techniques are mostly in the preparation and the how to cook everything fast and on high heat.
If you do not do lots of Asian style cooking, I like to emphasize that the bulk of the work is on the front end, or the preparation. This includes all the dicing, chopping and preparation of the ingredients.
Once this is all done, the cooking actually takes very little time. Knowing this, it makes a great meal to prep ahead of time and have all ready to cook when it is dinnertime.
What I love about this recipe:
- It works with basic ingredients most people have or can get at the store.
- It does not take a lot of time to make making it a great dish for weekdays in addition to weekends.
- In my opinion, it tastes so much better than chicken dishes from Chinese restaurants
We love making this dish on Fridays or the weekend in place of takeout. Although this dish is easy to make, it tastes so good that it makes a great alternative to ordering out.
If you like making your own version of takeout like we do, these recipes will help you out:
- Pepper steak
- Spaghetti with Pork Bolognese
- Indian Garlic Soup
- Venezuelan Arepas (cornmeal sandwiches stuffed with meat and cheese!)
I hope you try this one out. Once you try this amazing dish I am sure you will be hooked!
Chinese Chicken with Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 ¼ pounds green beans I buy 1 bag at the store
- Cooking oil I use vegetable oil
Marinade
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sherry I sometimes use balsamic vinegar if I don't have Sherry on hand
- 1 clove garlic
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar or rice vinegar will work
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry or balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
Instructions
- Take the ends off of the green beans and wash.
- Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces (approx ½-inch cubes).
- Place diced chicken in bowl.
- Add marinade ingredients to chicken – soy sauce, sherry, garlic (chopped or pressed through garlic press).
- Stir well to distribute marinade and then refrigerate.
- Prepare stir fry sauce (note: you can double the stir fry sauce if you prefer a saucier stir fry).
- Add brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sherry and garlic in small bowl.
- Add fresh ginger if you have it.
- Add your cornstarch and stir well, pressing out any lumps until sauce has a consistent milky brown color
- Heat two tablespoons of oil in an large skillet over medium-high heat
- Add green beans. If green beans don’t fit in one batch, cook half at a time. You will hear lots of sizzling here. Use long tongs to turn beans over while cooking so that they do not burn
- Do not overcook, as beans will go back in the pan briefly later.;Remove beans from pan and set aside.
- Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan.
- Add chicken and stir to separate pieces and cook fully
- When chicken is cooked, add prepared stir fry sauce and mix it in well.
- Sauce will quickly turn from milky light brown to glossy dark brown as it cooks.
- Add green beans and stir to combine.
- Remove chicken and green beans from the heat and add to a serving dish.
- Serve with a side of rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Jeff says
Well this was certainly good!