Spicy Szechuan Green Beans
Spicy Szechuan Green Beans are a great way to cook fresh green beans and these Chinese green beans are so good you’ll make them over and over! And don’t forget this recipe if you have garden green beans in the summer!
PIN the Chinese Green Beans to make them later!
I got infatuated with recipes using fresh green beans after I planted way too many green beans in my garden one year and needed to find recipes using them. Now fresh green beans are widely available all year long, and I love green beans no matter how you cook them, but there’s no doubt that this recipe for Spicy Szechuan Green Beans is one of my all-time favorites!
The day I first tested the recipe I shared the spicy Chinese green beans with a friend and we ate every single one in about five minutes, so I think it’s a safe bet that everyone who likes spicy Asian-flavored green beans is going to like this recipe!
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- fresh green beans
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar (affiliate link)
- Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice
- red pepper flakes
- white pepper (affiliate link), or just use black pepper if you don’t have white pepper
- Peanut Oil (affiliate link) or vegetable oil
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Minced Ginger (affiliate link)
How Spicy are the Chinese Green Beans?
These beans were about as spicy as I would want them (they made your mouth burn a little, but in a good way.) If you like it really hot, just add a little more red pepper flakes. And if you don’t want much spicy flavor, just use a pinch of red pepper or omit it completely.
Is it spelled Sichuan or Szechuan?
Maybe it’s the retired teacher in me coming out, but I wondered about the spelling of Sichuan. On Chinese restaurant menus I’m more used to seeing Szechuan, but when I googled it I found that Szechuan is the postal map spelling often used in the U.S. even though Sichuan is the correct English spelling for the southwestern Chinese province that’s famous for spicy foods. I’m in the U.S. of course, so I went with the one that’s common in the U.S., but it can be spelled either way.
Want more ideas for fresh green beans?
If you’re growing beans and need ideas, you can’t go wrong with Garlicky Green Bean Stir Fry or Lemon Green Beans. Or you can use Green Beans Recipes to see all the recipes on my blog that use green beans.
How to Make Spicy Szechuan Green Beans:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Trim the ends of one lb. of fresh green beans and cut them into halves or thirds. This will be about 4 cups of trimmed green beans.
- Mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweetener of your choice, red pepper flakes, and white pepper. (We used 1/4 tsp. of red pepper flakes and it was just spicy enough for me. Use more if you want it really spicy.)
- Prepare 2 tablespoons each of minced garlic and minced ginger root.
- Heat a large pan, then add beans and 1/4 cup water. Cook covered 3-5 minutes, or until beans are starting to get tender; then uncover and cook until the water has evaporated.
- Add vegetable oil, minced garlic, and minced ginger and cook about about 2 minutes, stirring several times so the garlic and ginger don’t burn.
- Then add the soy sauce mixture and cook about 2 minutes more, until beans are coated with the sauce and some of the liquid has evaporated. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
Spicy Szechuan Green Beans would be great with something like Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken, Korean Salmon with Dipping Sauce, Air Fryer Marinated Chicken Breasts, Spicy Baked Shrimp with Garlic, or Herb-Marinated Air Fryer Chicken Thighs.
More Ideas for Stir-Fried Vegetables:
- Garlic-Lover’s Vegetable Stir Fry
- Stir-Fried Bok Choy
- Spicy Stir-Fried Swiss Chard
- Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan
- Cauliflower Fried Rice with Shrimp
Spicy Szechuan Green Beans
This recipe for Spicy Szechuan Green Beans is a great way to use garden beans.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into halves or thirds
- 2 T soy sauce (see notes)
- 1 T rice vinegar (not seasoned)
- 2 tsp. sweetener of your choice (see notes)
- red pepper flakes (see notes)
- 1/4 tsp. white pepper (or use black pepper if you don’t have white pepper)
- 1 T vegetable oil (see notes)
- 2 T minced garlic
- 2 T peeled and minced ginger root
Instructions
- Wash green beans if needed, trim the ends, and cut beans into halves or thirds if they are large.
- Mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweetener of your choice, red pepper flakes, and white pepper.
- Mince garlic enough to make 2 T minced garlic. Peel ginger root and mince enough to make 2 T minced ginger.
- Use a large frying pan with a tight-fitting lid and heat over high heat.
- When the pan is hot, add the beans and 1/4 cup water; cover and cook on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until the beans are bright green and starting to get tender. (If your beans are thin they will cook more quickly, but larger beans will probably need 5 minutes to get done.)
- Remove the lid and continue to cook until the water is all evaporated.
- Add the oil and minced garlic and ginger and cook about 2 minutes, stirring several times so the garlic and ginger don’t burn.
- Add the soy sauce mixture, let it come to a boil and cook about 2 minutes more, until the sauce thickens and coats the beans and beans are tender-crisp.
- Serve hot or at room temperature.
Notes
I used Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this recipe. Be sure to use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if needed. I used 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes and the beans were fairly hot. Use more if you prefer.) I prefer Peanut Oil (affiliate link) for Asian recipes.
I’m guessing leftovers could be kept overnight in the fridge and reheated the next day, but I’m not sure because when I made these there were no leftovers!
Recipe adapted from Easy Party Food, a special-interest publication of Sunset Magazine.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 83Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 0mgSodium 448mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If they’re made with an approved sweetener, these spicy Chinese green beans would be a perfect side dish for any low-carb eating plan, including any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Green Beans Recipes or Side Dishes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
These spicy Chinese green beans were first posted in 2011, and I’ve made them many, many times since then! The recipe was updated with greatly improved photos and more information in 2022 and last updated with more information in 2023.
90 Comments on “Spicy Szechuan Green Beans”
I make something very similar. Try using sesame oil rather than peanut or vegetable oil.
I don’t recommend Sesame Oil for stir-frying because it has a lower smoke point than many oils. But for people who are used to using it, I’m sure it’s flavorful.
These green beans look and sound amazing! Thanks for sharing! They sound a little like what my husband and I used to get from Trader Joe’s and we called them “crack beans”…they were so good!=)
Hope you enjoy Katia! They have bit a hit whenever I’ve made them!
These all look awesome. Can’t wait to attempt the spicy string beans.
Hope you enjoy. I removed your e-mail address, not a good idea to post that online.
I was wandering on how these will keep. I was wanting to make up ahead of time. What do you think?
I don’t think they will keep especially well. Definitely they will be edible the next day, but not nearly as good when freshly made, sorry!
These Sichuan green beans were absolutely amazing. From one Third Grade (retired) teacher to another they are the ultimate. An epic gift to a vegetarian. OH MY! A few sliced almonds for some protein and some juicy slices of home grown tomato and I had dinner to die for.
Thank you, thank you. I am passing this one on .
So glad to hear you’re enjoying them! I am now retired from teaching, but not from the blog yet!
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Made this into a main dish by adding zucchini and tofu and it was so good!!! Loved it so much I premade the soy sauce (though I used liquid aminos) mixture for tomorrow’s dinner!
So glad you liked it! Also good to know it was tasty with liquid aminos too.
Hi! Can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂 I’ve only ever used seasoned rice vinegar- will that be ok? Is it that much different in flavour? Thanks in advance!
I use unseasoned rice vinegar because the seasoned vinegar contains sugar. But if you don’t care about that I’m sure the flavor will be fine.
Thank you!
Oh my gosh I accidentally read this as 1-1/4-1-1/2 tsp of cayenne (which I thought was a lot but whatever) and almost DIED.
Anyway great flavor! My nose will be running the rest of the day but yum anyway!
Oh my! Glad you still like liked it. I guess you know for next time!
Hi
This recipe looks really good! Would this work on roasted string beans instead?
I love roasted green beans, but if you mean roasting the beans and then tossing with this sauce, I’m not sure how that will work. Seems like the sauce needs to cook a bit to coat the beans. You could try it though; would love to hear how it works.
Delicious. We made these with some Sichuan pork dumplings and it was the perfect pairing. Thanks for a great and easy recipe!
Thanks Marny! So glad you enjoyed it!
Brenda, so glad you liked them!
These were delicious. I made them without the sweetener or the red pepper flakes and they were still wonderful and EASY.
Susie, glad you liked them!
Just made these to go along with sushi & they were very yummy. I doubled the sauce. My husband loved them!
Thanks for all that information about the traditional way to make these!
Made these for Christmas dinner. Very good flavor. This is very similar to what is known here in China as "“Dry Cooked String Beans” or (Gan Bian Si Ji Dou).
Next time, I will probably thinly slice the garlic and ginger (versus mincing).
I recommend adding 1 teaspoon of sesame oil right at the end. Stir to coat. This is a "good" oil and a little bit goes a long way. It just helps finish the flavor.
(Also, the traditional way to serve this is to top with minced pork. I think you could use ground pork if you didn't want to mince it. Approximately 2 oz. sprinkle on top before serving. I've had it with and without meat here and while the pork adds another level of flavor, it's not necessary.)
Really yummy and easy to make! They were wonderful hot, and also quite tasty as a cold salad the next day. These are definitely going to be a staple at my house. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Shoshana, thanks for catching that! It should be 2 T ginger, although you could get by with less. Will fix it right now.
Ingredient list says 2 T ginger, yet the recipe instructions say 1 T ginger. Which is correct?
Dee, my pleasure! And they are so healthy, eat as many as you'd like.
These are fabulous, and so easy. In fact, I'm literally eating them all while standing at the kitchen counter.. Thanks again.
Dee
It's me again! I am coming back to this page so often that I felt like I needed to leave another comment. Hah! One of these days I might just print out the recipe…though I'm surprised I don't have it memorized by now! 😀
Katie, so glad you enjoyed them. When we tested the recipe Jake and I could not stop eating them!
I tried these this past Friday – I. Am. In. LOVE! They were AMAZING! Thank you so, so, so much for sharing!! 😀
Shelley, so glad you enjoyed it.
Made this tonight and it was so delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
LostPast, agreed! I do like these better than the strictly fried ones.
Telebrands, I like to nibble on raw ones when I'm cooking them!
Green beans are great even when raw. Thanks for the recipe to mix things up a little bit.
those look so good… I miss eating those spicy beans which are usually so greasy in Chinese restaurants… these would be perfect.
Jennifer, I agree that it would make a good main dish.
I love this recipe. A great idea for making green beans. I think this would also be a great idea too if you added some chicken, beef, or tofu to make a great stir-fry.
Bala, so glad you enjoyed it.
Kalyn,
I made this last night and the dish was a hit! Thanks for the delish recipe!
Cheers!
Bala.
I added mushrooms and shrimp for a one pan meal, it was fantastic!
Good idea! I am confused by why your comment from 2022 showed up so far back though.
Glad you like it and I love to hear that you're enjoying the recipes.
I bought green beans with no idea on what to do with them. Luickily the next day this recipe showed up. This was so good! We make a lot of your recipes. Thanks!!
Libby, what a great idea to use hot chili oil. So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Kalyn,
These green beans were delicious. I felt like I was having a special treat! Couldn't find my hot pepper flakes so I used Asian hot chili oil which worked just fine. Thanks again for something yummy to add to my rew SB repertoire.
Libby
Oh yes, do try it with the ginger! So good.
My husbands been making a version of this for as long as I can remember but I don't think he's ever added ginger. Something new to try!
Lauren, I wasn't crazy about beans until I started growing them, but now I love them!
I am in love with green beans! These look fabulous!
Roxanne, those red pepper flakes are pretty powerful! Glad you liked it.
Barbara, thanks!
Aggie, go for the full amount of red pepper if you like spicy. I admit I'm a bit of a wimp.
Jenn, green beans/string beans; they're the same thing.
I am definitely trying this over the weekend. My mom grows string beans and she said to me the other day that she's started harvesting some while others need a tiny more time. I'm not exactly sure how mine would be different from when using green beans (or if they are just the same with string beans) but I will try this recipe out with the not so spicy version. 🙂 Thanks! 🙂
I love green beans and am always stumped on how to change them up. This dish looks so so delicious. I love spicy!
No matter how you spell it, it looks delicious!
I made this tonight and the family loved it. It was a little to spicey for me, Ill reduce the red pepper flakes to 1/8 next time, but will certainly make it again. Used some of the extra sauce on the pork
Thanks to everyone who is commenting on this. I'm traveling so I haven't been able to respond too much but I'm enjoying reading the comments on my phone!
I sauteed diced asparagus in the Sichuan sauce and oh my gosh, it became an instant favorite. I'm a spice queen, so I doubled the red pepper and absolutely loved it.
these look great and healthy too! i had this dish in restaurants and they sometime deep fry the beans. tasty as well but definitely not so healthy. thanks for the recipe!
I just love Szechuan food, so spicy and flavorful. This reminds me of a dish I used to make but haven't in a while, so thanks for posting this – terrific way to use all the fresh green beans that are in season.
These remind me of several dishes we enjoyed in China! I'm excited to try making them at home. I'm passing this along to my sister too, she'll love having a taste of something familiar now that she's back living in the US.
You're right, "Sichuan" is now the correct official spelling. Schezuan and other variations where popular in the 1970s-1980s, when China was still sort of closed off. In the last 10 or 15 years the gov has really pushed pinyin (the standard Romanization of Chinese characters), so there would be standardized spellings in the English-speaking world. Just a little background since you seemed interested. 🙂
This looks so similar to the one we get in P.F. Chang and I am getting restless to try it out. Bookmarked 🙂
These sound marvelous Kalyn! I am a huge fan of Chinese takeout. I need to do some at home versions like this!
YUM! I make a similar recipe as my go-to green bean dish.
For those of us not lucky enough to have a garden full of green beans (I'm jealous!!!), this also works shockingly well with frozen green beans. Just skip the first parts, and heat the oil and garlic in a pan. Once hot, add the frozen green beans, cook them for a bit till they get crispy and warmed through, then add the rest of the stuff.
Now I want green beans. And it's not even 10am. I wonder how they go with coffee… 😉
I thought I would not like this recipe because I absolutely detest Sichuan peppercorns. The chinese name for them translates to "numbing spice." The numbness tastes metallic like blood to me, and I find them wholly unpleasant.
But this recipe is just Asian-inspired, so I'm going to give it a try. It looks delicious, but I'm not sure it will beat out my favorite prep: stir fried in olive oil with a little garlic, salt, and cracked pepper.
Lisa and CJ, hope you enjoy it!
Louise, I do have Szechuan peppercorns, but I'm guessing they're not something most people have on hand. Will have to try replacing the white pepper with them next time I make this. BTW, Elise from Simply Recipes is a good friend of mine!
You need some sichuan peppercorns in there, and some dried chili, to really get the flavour going!
This is the recipe I use, although it is not South Beach friendly
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sichuan_style_stir-fried_chinese_long_beans/
But you could easily adapt your recipe to include the sichuan peppercorns. They have an almost numbing effect, which means that you can add more chili, or place around with the spiciness!
This recipe looks fantastic! I will definitely be making this. I love the that it can be served at room temperature. Great for potlucks and BBQs.
Thanks Kalyn!
I love spicy food, and these look tremendous—and easy, always a plus. Trying ASAP! Thanks Kalyn for another great recipe.
Glad people are liking this, and I think even people who aren't especially fans of green beans will like this if they like spicy flavors.
TW, hope you will try it!
This is perfect timing – I was just looking at a bag of green beans in the fridge that I really need to cook, and wondering what I would do with them. Great flavors!
I just made this last night as a side and it was so good! My husband loved it!
I have to admit green beans aren't my favorite but with some of my favorite Asian flavors coating them, I'm pretty sure I'd love these!
Lydia, I'm working on building up my tolerance!
Isn't it fun that the more you eat spicy food, the more tolerance you have for it? I never used to like spicy food at all (hard to believe now, but true), and now I add extra hot pepper or pepper paste to everything. These beans will go on my list to try, too. I'm bookmarking.
I'm so happy people who have garden beans are discovering this recipe. And even if you have to buy beans, trust me, this recipe will be worth it!
These look delish!!! I have some green beans in the backyard ready to be picked. This recipe would be perfect to use them up! Thx for sharing 🙂
I love these out-of-the-ordinary beans, Kalyn. They look absolutely delicious!!
Yum! Got to this recipe for 30 minutes too late. My green beans are already cooking with pintos and squash. I'm experimenting. 🙂
Can't wait to try this next time though!
I love Sichuan style green beans. If you ever have leftover beans, you can send them my way! 🙂
HMMM… I make this sauce when i serve scallion pancakes, and I love scallion pancakes…
My mind is reeling and these sound delicious! And as always, just love the photos
Becki, we must have been writing at the same time. Yes, these are quite similar to some I've had in Chinese restaurants, but maybe a bit less greasy because they're only fried at the end.
Thanks Maris. When we made them, we couldn't stop eating them!
This sounds great. One of the Chinese restaurants we go to serves a big family style side of green beans that always looks soooo good. I bit it's very similar to this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Honestly, these are spiraling up to the top of my to do list. They look so good and I love that marinade