If you’re looking for a simple, go-to way to cook green beans without too much fuss—or the perfect side dish that goes with everything—this recipe is for you.
Inspired by Chinese cooking techniques, this recipe for garlic green beans yields tender beans with a slightly blistered exterior, and golden, lightly fried garlic. The only ingredients you need are green beans (string beans), oil, water, garlic, and salt.
The Most Versatile Vegetable Side?
A plate of garlic green beans is at home on the table with any main dish, from any cuisine. You could easily serve these alongside any Chinese spread, a simple meal of baked chicken, or a plate of pasta.
Let’s take a look at some of our favorite easy dinner recipes to serve these green beans with, which run across a wide spectrum of cuisines:
As a family that always dutifully serves a green vegetable with every meal, this recipe fits the bill for the green side dish to accompany any of these dinners!
The Techniques
Okay, so the Chinese techniques I’m borrowing here are:
- Pre-blanching vegetables before stir-frying
- Blistering said vegetables in a wok with hot oil (though you could use a large stainless steel, carbon steel, or cast iron skillet as well!), similar to the technique used in our Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans
Don’t let that pre-blanching step turn you off. This recipe is still exceptionally easy. If you’re using a wok, you can blanch in the wok before using it to stir-fry, so you don’t need two pots. Water also boils exceptionally quickly in a wok!
The blanching step helps to ensure that the green beans are nice and tender (not squeaky) and cooked through. This allows you to concentrate on quickly scorching the exterior in the hot oil, without having to worry about cooking them longer.
How to Trim Green Beans
Only the stem end of the green bean (where the bean meets the rest of the plant) actually needs to be trimmed off. The skinny tail end doesn’t need trimming, unless it’s looking a bit scraggly. The easiest way to trim a bunch of fresh green beans at once is to line them up on a cutting board and slice off all the ends at once.
Once trimmed, I wash the green beans in a large bowl of water.
Garlic Green Beans Recipe Instructions
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the green beans for 2 minutes. Drain. (No need to shock them in cold water.)
Heat a dry wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, and add the oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the green beans, and let them fry until they begin to scorch and wrinkle, about 2 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium, and add the water, garlic, and salt to taste.
Stir-fry for 1 minute, just until the garlic turns golden. Serve!
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Recipe
Garlic Green Beans
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the green beans for 2 minutes. Drain. (No need to shock them in cold water.)
- Heat a dry wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, and add the oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the green beans, and let them fry until they begin to scorch and wrinkle, about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, and add the water, garlic, and salt to taste. Stir-fry for 1 minute, just until the garlic turns golden. Serve!
