This is one of my favorite chicken stir fry recipes. Chinese chicken and green beans sounds so plain and ordinary but this dish is none of that. This recipe is full of bold and delicious flavors and it rivals the best Chinese restaurants!
This chicken and green beans stir fry recipe will 100 percent impress everyone who tries it. This recipe originally came from the Chinese Grandma who was gracious enough to let me share it here 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 when cooking this chicken and green beans recipe are fairly straightforward. Once you begin working with this recipe, these steps will help you master a lot of Asian cooking techniques.
Most of this recipe is the preparation and the cooking portion goes very fast.
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.
Knowing this, this Chinese chicken makes a great meal to prep ahead of time and have all ready to cook when it is dinnertime.
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breast. This is cut into small pieces for fast cooking. You could also use chicken thigh meat if you prefer.
- Green beans. Any variety will do here.
- Soy sauce.
- Brown sugar
- Sherry or balsamic vinegar.
- Vegetable oil.
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Corn starch. The corn starch is the thickening agent for the sauce. It is a common ingredient in Asian sauces and should not be skipped. If you do not have corn starch, you can make a beurre manie which will work in a similar way.
It may seem like lots of ingredients but you probably have most of them in your pantry. Most of the ingredients are for the delicious sauce that coats the chicken and green beans.
I promise this dish is worth gathering up the few extra ingredients. It is so good!
How To Make Chinese Chicken and Green Beans
The full recipe is in the recipe card below. Here is what it looks like:
- Prep the chicken and green beans: This part of the recipe is the prep portion I was telling you about.
- Make the delicious sauce: You also want to make the sauce before cooking so everything is ready to go once you are ready to toss everything into the hot pan.
- Cook green beans then set aside: The first cooking step is cooking the green beans in a really hot skillet. This is a stir fry so you want to make sure your skillet or wok is very hot before starting.
- Cook chicken and set aside: After cooking the green beans, cook up the chicken.
- Cook sauce and reduce: Once the chicken and green beans are cooked and you have set them aside, you want to add that sauce that you made earlier into the hot pan. It will reduce a bit and start to caramelize too thanks to the brown sugar in the sauce.
- Now mix the chicken and green beans with the sauce: Now you add the chicken and green beans back into the pan with the sauce and reheat it while allowing them to get coated in that delicious sticky Chinese sauce.
I told you this chicken and green bean stir fry is simple!
We love making this dish from Chinese Grandma on Fridays or on the weekend because it really tastes like a special meal. You can make it anytime though, depending on your mood.
Tips
- The best way to cook chicken for stir fry: The key is to make sure you have a really hot pan so pre-heating the pan is essential. Once the pan is pre-heated, add some oil (not too much) and the chicken and cook the chicken so that it sears and browns and until it is cooked all the way through.
- Best Green Beans to Use: I love using long French green beans for this recipe because they are more tender and cook up faster than ordinary green beans. You can use any variety you have on hand, even the green beans from your garden. If you do grow your own green beans, just make sure to trim the green beans beforehand.
Variations
This stir fry is very simple and delicious the way it is. You can also throw in more veggies or use a different meat if you prefer.
Here are some ideas:
- Add mushrooms, onions, asparagus or bell peppers to the stir fry. Just make sure they are cut up into small strips or pieces to ensure they cook quickly.
- Swap out the chicken for steak and make a steak stir fry. Again, just make sure you cut the steak into thin strips.
- Make this an all-vegetable stir fry by omitting the chicken and adding in some more vegetables.
The sauce for this chicken and green beans recipe is so good that it will make anything you add to it taste amazing.
Storing
If you have any leftovers, store them in a container with a tight-fitting lid in the fridge for up to 3 days. I like to microwave the leftovers on medium heat for about 2 minutes to warm them back up.
More Green Bean Recipes
More Recipes Like This
- Easy Weeknight Korean Beef
- Pepper steak
- Seared Steak with Mushroom Cognac Sauce
- Juicy Boneless Pork Chops (as good as what you find at a steakhouse.
- Chicken and Basil Stir Fry
I hope you try this one out. Once you try this amazing dish I am sure you will be hooked!
Chinese Chicken and Green Beans
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast about 3-4 chicken breasts
- 1 pound green beans I buy 1 bag at the store
- 4 tablespoon Vegetable oil
Marinade
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sherry I sometimes use balsamic vinegar if I don't have Sherry on hand
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dry sherry or balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated fine
Garnish
- 2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds optional but recomended
Instructions
- Snap the ends of the green beans.1 pound green beans
- Dice chicken into ½-inch pieces then add to a bowl1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- Add marinade ingredients to chicken5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sherry, 2 cloves garlic
- Mix well then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Prepare stir fry sauce
- Add brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sherry, ginger and garlic to a small bowl.2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dry sherry, 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, 2 cloves garlic
- Add cornstarch and stir well.1 tablespoon cornstarch
Cooking
- Heat two tablespoons of oil in an large skillet over medium-high heat4 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- Add green beans and cook for about 3-4 minutes. You will hear lots of sizzling here. Use long tongs to turn beans over while cooking so that they do not burn
- Remove green beans from the pan and set aside.
- Add remainder of oil to the pan.
- Add chicken and stir to separate pieces. Cook for about 4 minutes or until fully cooked all the way through.
- Add stir fry sauce to pan and mix it in well.
- Add green beans back to the pan and toss well making sure to coat the green beans in the sauce.
- Remove from heat.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- Serve immediately with a side of rice
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer hereTried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Izzie says
This was absolutely delicious! Will definitely be making this again
Nancy says
Absolutely delicious & the recipe was so easy to follow. I added a little more brown sugar to the stir fry sauce before adding it to the pan & used balsamic vinegar instead of sherry otherwise followed the recipe as is.
Melissa says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Sonja says
How long do you cook the green beans?
Melissa says
Hi Sonja. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes in the hot pan.
Kevin says
This was absolutely delicious! Will be making it often
Melissa says
Love hearing that 🙂