This quick Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans packs a big flavour punch! It’s a fast take on the classic Szechuan dish, Stir Fried Green Beans with Minced Pork. Made with ground pork, this recipe comes together in just over 10 minutes. Don’t skip charring the beans, it’s the defining feature of this stir fry!
Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans
If you’ve ever been to a Chinese Szechuan restaurant, you might be familiar with a green bean and pork stir fry which is a firm favourite among spicy Asian food lovers. Chopped green beans cooked over high heat until blistered, then stir fried with a spicy intense flavoured sauce and pork.
If the full blown Szechuan version is what you’re after, you’ll need a couple of speciality ingredients requiring a trip to the Asian grocery store – Szechuanpicked mustard greens (Sui Mi Ya Cai), Szechuan peppercorns, dried chillies. And here are a couple of recipes from my most trusted Chinese cooking blogs – Woks of Life and Omnivore’s Cookbook.
This Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans recipe is a slightly simplified version of the authentic Szechuan version. It packs a similar flavour punch, and it still has the signature charred green beans, but I pick up everything from the supermarket. In fact, if you have pork mince (that’s ground pork to those of you in Canada and the States!) and beans, there’s every possibility you have everything you need to make this right now.
This pork stir fry is a quick and easy pork mince recipe with big flavours!
Magic 4 ingredient stir fry sauce
The sauce for this Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans only has 4 ingredients in it:
Chinese cooking wine (see recipe notes for subs)
dark soy sauce (for colour)
Chilli Garlic Sauce (for spice / vinegar / general Asian tasty flavour – see notes for subs)
sugar.
The reason this recipe gets away with such a simple sauce is because of this – the charred green beans. Char any vegetable, and you take it from bland to amazing. Steamed beans vs charred green beans is simply no contest!
Best charred in a hot skillet
Unlike most of my stir fries, I like to cook this in a cast iron skillet so you can spread the beans out to char them. It takes a mere 2 ½ – 3 minutes, faster than using a wok.
Because of this extreme high heat cooking – that skillet gets stinking hot – the one tip I have for this stir fry is to chop rather than grate / mince the ginger and garlic. It will stop it from sticking to the skillet and burning in 2 seconds.
Actually, that’s a general stir frying tip. 🙂 Chop instead of grate the ginger and garlic. Never again suffer burnt garlic in your stir fry!
Oh PS That’s the Chilli Garlic Sauce I use. ↑↑↑ Available at supermarket – Woolies, Coles etc. BUT if you can’t find that exact brand or similar, sriracha or even non Asian hot sauces will make a terrific sub. Anything that is spicy but also a bit vinegary – which most hot sauces are. Even Franks Hot Sauce!
You won’t miss sauciness
When it comes to stir fries, I’m usually all about the sauce, the sauce, the sauce. And if you’re in the sauce camp with me, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how you don’t miss sauce with this Pork Stir Fry.
The pork mince sucks up all that sauce and is actually quite intense flavoured – you’d find it rather salty without rice.
So mix it up with the rice, then enjoy the leisure of a stir fry you can eat with a spoon. It’s perfect Couch Food – which I define as food you can eat with a spoon without taking your eyes off the TV. 😂 – Nagi x
PS And because my mother will never forgive me if I don’t mention this – this Beans and Pork Mince Stir Fry is the Japanese version of this stir fry on her website, RecipeTin Japan. Similar flavour, but made using Japanese sauces.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Pork Stir Fry with Green Beans
Ingredients
- 300g / 10oz green beans (Note 1)
- 220g / 7 oz pork mince (Note 2)
- 1/2 small onion , finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped (Note 3)
- 2 tsp ginger , finely chopped (Note 3)
- 2 1/2 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable or canola)
Sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine) (Note 5 for subs)
- 1 tsp white sugar (sub any sugar or faux sugar)
- 1 1/2 tsp + Chilli Garlic Sauce (Note 6)
For serving
- Rice of choice
- Sliced red chilli
Instructions
- Sauce – Mix Sauce ingredients in a bowl.
- Trim the stem end of the beans, then chop into 2 – 2.5cm / 4/5 – 1" pieces.
- Char Beans: Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a heavy based skillet over high heat (I use cast iron) until smoking. Add beans, spread out to cover base. Leave for 1 minute. Quick stir, spread out, cook for 30 seconds. Stir, then leave for 30 seconds, then repeat once more (so 2 1/2 minutes in total cook time) until beans are charred but tender crisp (not withered and floppy). Remove into bowl.
- Sauté aromatics – Turn heat down to medium high, add 1 tbsp oil. Add onion, then garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute until edges of onion are golden.
- Cook pork – Turn heat back up to high. Add pork and cook, breaking it up as you go. Cook for 2 minutes until the pork is cooked through, then add Sauce. Cook for 30 seconds, then add beans and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Serve over rice. Garnish with slices of large red chilli (it's mild), entirely optional. To eat, mix the pork into the rice then eat it with a spoon – forget chopsticks for this one! (For a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published June 2014, long overdue for an update with fresh new photos and a recipe video!
More quick pork mince recipes (ground pork)
Also, try the popular Quick Asian Beef Ramen Noodles or Asian Beef Bowls using ground pork / mince instead of beef!
Life of Dozer
At the coffee shop, when he spies food on neighbouring tables. He’s been known to make grown men give up huge chunks of their breakfast with just a glance…
Great recipe! This has trumped an old pork mince stir fryrecipe I used to use, this one is our new go-to. The key is dark soy and chilli/garlic sauce. First time I made it i forgot to put it in and it was still great 👍
Vereeee flattering Tamarra! 🙂 So pleased you enjoyed this! N x
Fixed this dish last night and the flavors were just DEVINE, authentic and good. I had all the ingredients except Mirin, Chili Garlic Sauce, and green beans and used regular soy sauce. The dish was DELISH, so DELISH. I’ll visit my Asian grocer soon to pick up Chinese cooking wine and dark soy sauce for future use.
Thank u for explicit recipes, substitutions, and explanations. You’re a Jewel.
So great to hear Andi!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
The recipe was a big winner tonight Nagi, served with cauli rice – zuzzed up cauli, 6 minutes in MW, (stirred between time) plus a handful of chopped coriander and a teaspoon of roasted cummin seeds.
Who has smoke detectors in the kitchen?
😂 Open plan living is the bane of my life!
What brand soy sauce (light and dark) do you recommend using?
Hi CC! I usually use Lee Kum Kee because it’s available at supermarkets 🙂 N x
I have a very sensitive fire alarm right outside the kitchen, so I can’t get my pans smoking hot. I broiled the green beans for a few minutes per side until charred, and sauteed the veg and pork, then added the green beans at the end. VERY tasty! The whole family enjoyed it!
HIGH FIVE Lisa! PS My kitchen fire alarm goes off almost every week…. 😂
I made this today but only I used ground beef. So I enjoyed it so much ….I kind a ate the whole thing😳. I know it’s meant for 2-3 servings but basically I helped myself to 2-3 servings..is that so wrong? Too bad for hubby …it’s every man for himself when I cook using Nagi recipe.
lol, I’m with you, I just made this and so far have eaten two serves, hubby want to hurry up and get home,
I’m with you. You snooze, you lose! 😂
This was SO SO SO SO SO (I could go on….) GOOD. Like I-Want-To-Eat-It-Everyday-GOOD!
WHOO HOOOOOO!!!!
OMG – This is soooooo good!
I would give this even more stars if it would let me!
I made it just as written, but DOUBLED the main ingredients and made 4x the sauce (I knew we would want more than just a single batch, and we love extra sauce). It turned out perfectly! Because I was making a larger batch, I cooked the green beans in two batches, allowing that each batch would still be able to be in a singe layer so that it could get the char. After cooking the onions/ginger/garlic, I removed them to the bowl with the green beans, so that I would have lots of hot pan surface for cooking the pork. That allowed the pork to get nicely browned and a bit crunchy in places which is something that we really like. Then followed the rest of the directions for sauce and adding the beans/onions back into pan. Because I avoid carbs, we kept the dish separate from the rice, and I enjoyed it over “Cauliflower Rice”. We both loved it!
Your recipes are ALWAYS the best, Nagi – and this one is right up there at the top! It will be a regular quick and easy “go-to” for sure, and is also very company worthy!
Thank you, Nagi!
P.S. I hardly ever use pre-prepped “convenience” foods, but I have found that the convenience of frozen Cauliflower Rice makes is so worthwhile! Here in the U.S., my favorite one (by FAR ! ! ! ) is the Green Giant brand of “Riced Vegetables” that is called “Cauliflower Medley”, as it also has peas, onion and shredded carrots. When accompanying Asian dishes I saute it in a little sesame oil and add soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds at the end. If I’m making a Southwest “Mexican” meal, I saute it in a little olive oil and sprinkle in seasonings such as cumin and chili powder, then garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.
YES YES YES! I am so happy you enjoyed this Penny. And I agree re prepared cauliflower rice! I don’t think have frozen yet but we have fresh and it’s terrific! I have been meaning to post a cauliflower fried rice 🙂 N xx
Hi Nagi,
Did this for dinner this evening…..even the fussy, very English in his food tastes husband, left off his DIY to scoff the lot.
I mixed it in with the rice as you did in the video and was wondering if it could be freezed that way.
Thank you for all your lovely recipes Nagi and all your hard work.
Lots Of Love.
Susan in the UK
Whoot! Approval from the hubby! 😂 Absolutely it can be frozen after mixing with the rice, as long as the rice hasn’t already been frozen 🙂 N xx
Thank you Nagi.
Susan. xx
Hi Nagi! I just cooked this for dinner and turned it into a bibimbap as I had leftover stirfried lettuce and mushrooms. It’s delicious, perfect amount of soy sauce, cooking wine and sugar. I added a dash of sesame oil and used siracha sauce as I could not find any chilli garlic sauce. Topped with fried egg! Delicious! This is a keeper. Simple recipe and easy to cook!
I love hearing the Imee! And fried egg – what a terrific addition! (Very Asian actually! 🙂 ) N xx
Love the way the green Color of beans pops up. Sauce is easy. Our food also has lots of sauce which we mop up with bread. Thank you. It’s good that you talk about your Mum. No Mr Dozer Face this time. Have good w/ end. Will be cooking like mad, soup, soups, change of weather. Menu will be: watercress and pears soup, cauliflower, making my own stock, beef ribs, potato and leek soup got butternut pumpkin. I just want something warm in my tummy. Was at the beach yesterday. Be HAPPY, smiles all around!
I’m all about couch food. If I can sit on the couch and eat it with a spoon, I’m in. Plus, I LOVE Szechuan green beans, and am loving this super simple recipe. I even feel like I could bring this for lunch at work. I have such a hard time finding Chinese cooking wine. I do typically use mirin or sake, but am determined to hunt it down someday. Awesome recipe.
Couch Food for the WIN!!!!
Can I use frozen green beans or only fresh?
Hi Bev! Frozen is fine but you’ll need to thaw first then pat dry 🙂 Thanks for the question, I’ll update the recipe! N xx
Made this last night with ground turkey, and we loved it! I had some Trader’s Joe’s brown rice medley already made in the fridge, and I stirred about a cup of it into the mix and warmed it all through. I found Kikkoman double fermented Japanese soy sauce at my local HEB here in Texas, and used a good sherry wine with the other sauce ingredients and it worked very nicely. Thanks for making this recipe available.
I’m so pleased to hear that Cheryl! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x ❤️
This looks oh-so-good and I REALLY appreciate your videos, but….Dozer takes the cake! Love that pooch and your pics that give us Dozer at his “most-Dozer” moments. What a character.
Thank you!
This looks oh-so-good and I REALLY appreciate your videos, but….Dozer takes the cake! Love that pooch and your pics that give us Dozer at his “most-Dozer”. What a character!
Thank you!
Hi Nagi,
Think you forgot to add the onion amount to ingredient list? I’m a “wing it” kinda gal so I’m good, just thought you like to know. Thanks for the great dinner suggestion by the way, headed to store right now 🙂
Ga! Thanks so much for picking that up Tracie, fixed 🙂 It’s 1/2 a small onion, chopped. N xx PS Hope you love it!
Dinner done here in Las Vegas, NV and it was awesome! Will definitely, definitely, definitely be making this again! Well done, Nagi. Love your recipes. Keep up the great work ⭐️
That’s terrific to hear Tracie! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Will definitely be making this recipe A Lot!
Last night had made a Tomato, Egg, and Pork Stir-Fry gleaned from an Oprah Magazine newsletter concerning the March 2012 issue of “O” Magazine, which had featured people’s favorite meals that were “so deceptively simple” they were easy to memorize and quick to prepare. The only other ingredients involved in the original “non-recipe” recipe were salt, sugar, ginger, and scallions. I’ve also used soy sauce, cooking wine, garlic and quick-wilting greens at times in it as well, depending on what had been hanging around in the kitchen, and sub a can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes when native tomatoes are not in season, but it’s tasty without any additions or alterations too.
I’m so thrilled to have another recipe that’s just as simple and fast, but with an entirely different and delicious flavor profile! It’s still been snowing here weekly, so I won’t be waiting for native green beans (or yellow/wax beans) to start making this regularly, but when warmer weather arrives we’ll have a great supply of fresh-picked beans from the several direct-sell farms around town for making this, so I’m already anticipating how great this will be with those! (Another favorite — country-style yellow/wax beans simmered with several strips of bacon.)
I must say, I’m a bit envious to not have a Woolies or a market as versatile as some in the UK have mentioned! Those all sound like great places! The US once had an entirely different Woolworth’s chain of stores that had operated for some hundred years or so, but of a type known here as a “5 & 10 cent store,” with all sorts of little household and personal bits and bobbles and “notions”, a great lunch & ice cream counter, and freshly popped corn and freshly roasted Spanish peanuts, but the last of those had disappeared during the early 70’s, along with the A&P (Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) nationwide chain of grocery stores. The US has a Walmart chain aka “Wally’s” and many of those also function as both a department store and a supermarket, but your Woolies sounds to be just AH-Mazing in the selection of things it has available! It’s a 30-mile trek north on the interstate to a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods store to get a broader selection of ingredients like that. We need some Woolies here! 🙂
That stir fry sounds lovely Wynn! As for not having a Woolies – gosh, you have SO MANY other things that I wish we had! Can you believe, for example, we do not have: chipotle powder, canned green chillies, chipotles in adobo, meaty pork ribs, clam juice, American chilli powder, canned pumpkin, pumpkin spices??? I don’t miss Pilsbury and other pre prepared doughs / cookies, or Cool Whip, but I DO miss the former because I love them and use them!!! I have to hunt wide and far for said ingredients 😩 N xx PS Though to fellow Aussies reading this, tip for meaty American cut ribs – COSTCO!! I nearly wept with joy. The ribs are so big and juicy, just like you get in the states. It’s criminal that we pay $25/kg for ribs that are mostly bone! At Costco, I think it was $15/kg for a very big rack which is mostly meat – WOO HOO!!!!!!!
Nagi, I would happily bring you all those things from the US you are missing in exchange for a stay at your place 🙂
##AUSTRALIAISMYULTIMATEBUCKETLISTTRIP!!
😂 Maybe I should try and pull together a trip to Australia as a giveaway package! That would be pretty cool 🙂 N xx
Nagi, I’ve found a few places online in Sydney that might be of help to your spice needs.
Monterey Mexican Foods is in Prestons and they sell the
chipotle powder – http://www.montereyfoods.com.au/product.php?productid=17685&page=1
canned chiles – http://www.montereyfoods.com.au/home.php?cat=251
Fireworks Foods in North Rocks sell Mexican-sourced food. They sell whole chilli as well as powders and pastes.
You *have* to check out the Tortilla page.
http://www.fireworksfoods.com.au/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=11&Treeid=24&Itemid=53
They both ship although warehouse visits are by appointment M-F.
It’s a shame you can’t find the pumpkin spice at Costco. I haven’t been brave enough to visit because I’m a bulk shopper, by nature, and with only 2 of us in the house, it would be dangerous. And hot dogs are my Kryptonite. 🙂 USA Foods sells canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice in a syrup. Shipping has been reasonable since I tend to buy cans and maraschino cherries in restaurant quantities.
http://www.usafoods.com.au/search?keywords=pumpkin&order=quantityavailable:desc&show=48
And this is the recipe I use for copycat American chili powder:
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons oregano
1 1⁄4 teaspoons cumin
1 1⁄4 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1⁄4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
3⁄4 teaspoon onion powder
Thank you so much for that Eva!! I didn’t know of the Monterey Food one, YOU ROCK! N xx
Wow, thanks Eva. I live in the Macarthur, so not far from Prestons.
Hi, Nagi,
Thank you for the recipe! How much onion do you suggest? (I’m not really a stickler for measuring with this kind of dish, but I do try to follow a recipe the first time through to get the ‘gist’ of it.)
Thanks so much!
Hi Shelley! So sorry I forgot that in the ingredients 🙈 Updated! N xx
Instead of the chili garlic sauce, what should I use if I don’t want any spiciness in mine? Will leaving it out without a substitute ruin the dish?
Hi Gina! It will still taste absolutely terrific 🙂 Though I would add 1 tsp of something sour – even ordinary white vinegar (which is actually used quite frequently in Asian cooking! or any other vinegar you have on hand. Just to balance out the sweet / salty / sour in this recipe! N xx