With rising grocery prices, I think we could all use a few quick, low-cost, delicious meal options. This is my ground beef and green bean stir-fry. You can put the whole thing together in less than 30 minutes, it costs less than ten bucks, it tastes amazing, and you can feed a bunch of people with a pound of ground beef and a bag of frozen green beans.
Does that sound too good to be true? It's not. Let me show you. As always, you can find the recipe directly below but keep reading for more details.
Jump to:
Making Stir-Fry Sauce
You can't have a stir-fry without a delicious stir-fry sauce. Okay, you can but it's much better with a sauce. The sauce for this ground beef and green bean stir-fry is about as straightforward as they come. Get a small bowl and combine:
- Two teaspoons of cornstarch
- One tablespoon of brown sugar
- A quarter cup of beef stock (chicken stock or water will work too)
- Two tablespoons of soy sauce
- Two teaspoons of rice vinegar (white wine vinegar will work)
Mix all the ingredients and set them aside until you're ready to use them.
Prepping The Ingredients
Any stir-fry will benefit from a bit of onion. For this ground beef and green bean stir-fry, I use green onions, but you can use any other type of onion you want. If you use white, yellow, or red onions, use about a quarter of a cup of sliced onions.
If using green onions, separate the whites and the greens as I did in the picture below. Cut the whites into finger-width pieces, and thinly slice the greens. The greens and the whites of the onion cook differently so we don't want to add them to the stir-fry at the same time. The whites will go in first and cook with the other ingredients. The greens will be added near the end of cooking to add a fresh flavour to the dish.
Along with the green onion, you need:
- Two cloves of thinly sliced garlic
- Two teaspoons to a tablespoon of minced or grated ginger
- Half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- Two teaspoons of Chinese 5 Spice
Ingredient Substitutions
If you don't have fresh ginger and garlic, you can use one teaspoon each of garlic and ginger powder. Add the powders to the sauce. You can buy Chinese 5 Spice at most grocery stores now in the spice aisle. You can also make it using my recipe here.
If you don't have Chinese 5 Spice, you can use Garam Masala or Yellow curry powder with a pinch of cinnamon and clove.
Making The Ground Beef and Green Bean Stir-Fry
The key to a good stir-fry is a very hot wok (or pan if you don't have a wok). The wok has to be hot so that the moisture that comes off the ingredients while cooking hits the pan's surface and evaporates. If the wok isn't hot enough, all that moisture will hit the pan's surface, turn from a gas to a liquid, and pool, further cooling down your wok. This leads to a mushy boiled dinner rather than a crisp and fresh-tasting stir-fry.
You can read more about the stir-fry technique here. In the meantime, put your wok on the burner, crank it up to high, and let it sit for a minute or two to get really hot. Next, add a teaspoon or two of cooking oil (I like peanut oil for stir-frying). Swirl the oil around the wok and add in the ground beef.
Browning the ground beef
There is a common mistake that people make with ground beef. When a recipe says to "brown the ground beef" they see that and think it means to "grey the ground beef". Browning is a form of caramelization. Think about the surface of a burger cooked in a pan or a seared steak. That deep mahogany brown is what you want.
This takes a little time but it is well worth the wait as the flavour will be deeper and richer. So, put the beef in the pan, break it up a little bit, then leave it alone for a few minutes. Let the bottom of the beef turn that deep brown before you stir it. Then, stir it and leave it alone for another few minutes.
Once most of the meat is browned and it is all cooked, drain the excess fat and put the wok back on the burner. This technique also works great for my Homemade Sweet and Sour Meatballs and my Sloppy Joes.
Adding The Other Ingredients To The Stir-Fry
The ground beef is brown, you've drained the excess oil, and the pan is back on the burner. Make sure the pan is very hot again, then add the frozen green beans, garlic, ginger, Chinese 5 Spice, and crushed red pepper flakes. Now stir-fry for about three to four minutes or until the green beans are no longer frozen.
This may take a little longer depending on how hot your wok was when you added everything in. Also, if you notice that your wok is cooling down, push the green beans to the sides and let it heat up.
Once the green beans are no longer frozen, stir the sauce, then pour it into the wok. Stir-fry until the sauce is thick and the green beans are tender. Take the wok off the heat and stir in the tops of the green onions. Taste a green bean and a bit of the meat. Add a bit of salt and pepper as needed. If you're looking for more ways to use your wok, check out my recipe for Take-Out Style Fried Rice.
How To Serve The Ground Beef and Green Bean Stir-Fry
Serve the ground beef and green bean stir-fry with some rice, and you've got a delicious meal that took less than thirty minutes to make. It's enough to feed four to six people, and it is delicious. Even if only one or two of you are eating this, I suggest making the whole batch. It makes excellent leftovers.
I also like to serve it with a zig-zag of sriracha hot sauce over the top. This adds a little more heat and a little more acidity. The stir-fry doesn't need it, but it does bump up the flavour that extra notch. For a little more flair, you can sprinkle some white and black sesame seeds over the top for garnish. I would have, but I didn't have any.
The Wrap-Up
I've made this twice now, and I've eaten way more than I should have both times. It's a little sweet, a little spicy, and completely delicious. It is very much the kind of thing that you don't want to stop once you start eating it. And, it's a great meal for four to six people for less than ten dollars. You can't beat that.
Let me know if you try this stir-fry and what protein or veggies you added. I'm always looking for new ideas! Rate the recipe below and leave a comment -- I read every single one.
Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Wok
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ cup beef stock or water
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon peanut oil
- 1 lb medium ground beef 454 g
- 1 lb green beans fresh or frozen
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoon minced or grated ginger
- 2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
- 4 ea green onions, whites and green separated and diced
- teaspoon salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together the cornstarch, brown sugar, beef stock, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Set aside.
- Heat a wok over high heat.
- Add the peanut oil to the wok and swirl it around. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Drain off excess oil.
- Add the green beans, garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, Chinese 5 Spice, and the whites of the green onions to the wok. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until the beans are tender.
- Stir the cornstarch mixture and pour it into the wok. Cook until thick.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Garnish with the green parts of the green onions and serve with rice.
- For a little more kick stir in a few teaspoons of sriracha.
Leave a Reply