Spicy Green Beans

green beans covered in chile paste, garlic and soy sauce piled into a white bowl

This recipe is from Good and Cheap.

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Good and Cheap is a gorgeous cookbook for people with limited income, particularly on a $4/day food stamps budget. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. I have more cookbooks, too!

Whenever I make this easy green bean dish, I think, “why don’t I have this every day?” It’s so simple and fast to cook and it gets all my favorite flavors in one place, salty, garlicky and spicy. Throw a fried egg on top, serve with rice, and you have a delicious meal. A great side dish to go along with Classic Sesame Noodles or Filipino Chicken Adobo.


green beans covered in chile paste, garlic and soy sauce piled into a white bowl
Spicy Green Beans
Print Recipe
A simple recipe for spicy green beans stir fried until just cooked and coated in a spicy, salty and garlicky sauce. Serve it with rice and an egg and you've got a full meal.
Servings
2
Servings
2
green beans covered in chile paste, garlic and soy sauce piled into a white bowl
Spicy Green Beans
Print Recipe
A simple recipe for spicy green beans stir fried until just cooked and coated in a spicy, salty and garlicky sauce. Serve it with rice and an egg and you've got a full meal.
Servings
2
Servings
2
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 lb green beans ends trimmed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sambal oelek or other chile paste
Additions
  • 1 tsp ginger grated
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Add the vegetable oil to a frying pan on medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the green beans. Let them cook undisturbed for about 1 minute.
  2. Mix the garlic, soy sauce, and sambal oelek in a bowl (and the ginger and lemon juice, if using).
  3. The beans should have turned bright green. Add about ¼ cup of water to the pan. Cook another 2 minutes, until the water is mostly gone. Pour the sauce into the pan and toss gently to coat. Cook another 2 minutes, until everything is fragrant and most of the liquid is gone. Poke the beans with a fork: if it goes through easily, they’re done. They should take about 5 minutes.
  4. Taste and add more chili sauce or soy sauce if you want the beans hotter or saltier.

4 Comments

  • Vicki says:

    Hi

    can you make this ahead and reheat

    Cheers, Vicki

  • Amanda says:

    I just want to let you know, I found this site shortly after it went up, and my family really loves a lot of these recipes. These green beans are a huge favorite of my children. They have requested them over and over.

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Leanne Brown

Hi, I'm Leanne Brown. I’m a bestselling cookbook author. I want to help you find peace, healing and freedom through cooking.

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My newest creation, Good Enough, is a self-care cookbook that offers personal and vulnerable storytelling, delicious recipes, and encouraging advice to teach you how to accept yourself, love yourself, and find peace through the act of cooking. Learn more here!

Good and Cheap cover 2nd edition

Good and Cheap is a gorgeous cookbook for people with limited income, particularly on a $4/day food stamps budget. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) and has been downloaded over 15,000,000 times. For more info, see All About Good and Cheap and Donation Impact.

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