This 20-Minute String Bean Chicken Stir-fry is another weeknight staple from me, The Woks of Life’s resident lazy weeknight cook.
A Quick and Easy Dish
It’s no secret that I love recipes that can be made in 20 minutes or less. The fewer ingredients you need and the less time spent at the stove, the better.
While I do love taking the time to cook an elaborate, high-effort sort of meal on weekends and for special occasions, on regular weeknights, I’m looking to do a lot less cooking and a lot more relaxing (read: sweatpants and TV).
But along with the soothing voice of Sir David Attenborough narrating some intense nature drama on Planet Earth or the latest food-related Netflix documentary, I want in my hands something hot, tasty, and balanced (i.e. protein and vegetable, all in one).
This String Bean Chicken Stir-fry, whipped up in 20 minutes or less, fits the bill perfectly.
A Note on the Recipe
This recipe emulates the Chicken with String Beans you may get at your local takeout restaurant.
For me, a good string bean chicken stir-fry has plenty of dark brown sauce to soak into a plate of steamed rice.
The signature dark color of the sauce here can be achieved using dark soy sauce, a thicker, darker soy sauce that, with just a couple teaspoons, can transform a dish from pale to that tantalizing dark amber we all want in our Chinese takeout-style dishes.
Also, you all can rest assured that this Woks of Life resident lazy cook’s recipe was thoroughly vetted by The Woks of Life’s resident Chinese Takeout expert, my dad––ya’ll know him here as Bill. So you know it’s legit.
Ok, let’s talk about how to make this String Bean Chicken Stir-fry.
20-Minute String Bean Chicken Stir-fry: The Recipe
Start by slicing your chicken. Make sure that you’re slicing it against the grain! See those faint horizontal lines in the photo below? That’s the “grain” of the meat.
You want your knife to slice the chicken perpendicular to those lines for the most tender result.
It also helps if the chicken breast is slightly frozen. The semi-solid chicken will be easier for the knife to slide through.
Next, add all the marinade ingredients to the chicken in a bowl, mix well with your hands so the chicken absorbs all the marinade liquid, and set aside.
Prepare the sauce by mixing together ½ cup chicken stock or water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon sesame oil, a pinch of freshly ground white pepper, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
When ready to cook, preheat your wok over medium high heat until it’s almost smoking. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the wok. You’ll know it’s hot enough if the oil “shimmers” when it spreads across the wok, like so:
Sear the chicken until it’s just browned. If your wok is as hot as it should be, the chicken should not stick.
Turn off the heat while you transfer the chicken to a separate bowl. Leave any oil/fat in the wok.
Add 2 additional tablespoons oil to the wok, and add the string beans in a single layer. Sear the string beans on one side, about 1 minute.
Stir-fry the beans for 30 seconds, and then add ¼ cup water to the wok. Cover the wok and allow the green beans to steam for 60-90 seconds (still on medium high heat).
Add the garlic and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Spread the Shaoxing wine around the wok to deglaze it, stir-frying for 15 seconds. Then add the sauce mixture and bring it to a simmer.
Add the chicken back to the wok and stir-fry everything together for another 30 seconds.
The cornstarch in the sauce mixture will thicken it. When the sauce is at the consistency you’d like, plate and serve immediately with rice.
20-Minute String Bean Chicken Stir-fry
Ingredients
For the chicken and marinade:
- 12 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
- white pepper (to taste)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
- 1 pound string beans (ends trimmed and cut in half)
- 3 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
Instructions
- Add all the marinade ingredients to the chicken in a bowl, mix well with your hands so the chicken absorbs all the marinade liquid, and set aside.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing together ½ cup stock or water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon sesame oil, a pinch of freshly ground white pepper, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
- When ready to cook, preheat your wok over medium high heat until it’s almost smoking. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the wok and sear the chicken until it’s just browned. If your wok is as hot as it should be, the chicken should not stick. Turn off the heat while you transfer the chicken to a separate bowl. Leave any oil/fat in the wok.
- Add 2 additional tablespoons oil to the wok, and add the string beans in a single layer. Sear the string beans on one side, about 1 minute. Stir-fry the beans for 30 seconds, and then add ¼ cup water to the wok. Cover the wok and allow the green beans to steam for 60-90 seconds (still on medium high heat).
- Add the garlic and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Spread the Shaoxing wine around the wok to deglaze it, stir-frying for 15 seconds. Then add the sauce mixture and bring it to a simmer.
- Add the chicken back to the wok and stir-fry everything together for another 30 seconds. The cornstarch in the sauce mixture will thicken it. When the sauce is at the consistency you’d like, plate and serve immediately with rice.
This recipe was a success! Sauce is very good. I subbed oyster for dark soy as well as rice vinegar for wine and both worked fine. Teens liked it!
Yay! Thank you for trying it, Aimee!
Added mushrooms and ginger and doubled the sauce. It was very good
Thanks Margaret!
I have been making this recipe for a couple of years, it is a family favorite. I use minced garlic. I moved 1 clove of the garlic from the string bean portion to the marinade portion. I also substituted one tablespoon of the water in the marinade with additional soy sauce and added a teaspoon of ginger to the marinade. I reversed the green bean and chicken quantities. I use a pound of chicken and 12 oz. of green beans. I frequently add about 1/2 cup of toasted halved almonds at the end. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Thank you for sharing your adjustments to the recipe, Audrey—and glad you and your family have been enjoying it over the past 2 years!
Absolutely delicious! I served with jasmine rice.
Thank you so much for the review, Lisa!
Easy and delicious!!! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the review Kathleen, and you’re very welcome!
I added 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1 tbsp of oyster sauce and roasted salted peanuts, came up good!, next time will add a little bit of hot crushed peppers.
Glad you enjoyed it and that you’re making this dish your own, Steven!
Tantalizing recipe, Sarah. Fantastic images… I can almost smell the dish! You have become an accomplished food stylist and photographer, as well as wonderful cook. Thanks for all the efforts your family puts into this website (blog and IG).
Thank you so much for those compliments!
great
Thanks!
Any chance of adding metrics in parentheses/brackets to your recipes? I do get US measurement but I find that volume measurements(ie cup) are not useful for things like flour etc as the weight can vary based on temp, air, humidity etc.
PS love the site and recipes
Wayne(UK)
Hi Wayne, we do have metric buttons under the ingredients for a lot of our recipes (click the button and it’ll switch to metric). I’ll add that feature to this recipe as well!
This recipe was really good. I loved how the string beans were still crisp. I’m normally not a fan of string beans but this recipe is going into the rotation.
So happy to hear that! :)