This stir-fried green beans with shrimp recipe is made with a shortlist of ingredients. It tastes better than take-out. This a quick and easy stir fry recipe that you can make on any weeknight dinner and your family will love it.
Skip the take-out and make this easy stir-fried green beans with shrimp at home. This Asian dinner recipe can be ready in about 10 minutes. Don't forget to serve it with Instant Pot white rice or brown rice.
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10 Minute Stir-Fried Green Beans and Shrimp
This stir-fried green beans and shrimp recipe is quick and affordable. In addition, when you make your own Chinese food at home you can easily modify the amount and type of ingredients. Shift it around according to your taste and diet preferences, it's actually quite fun to do!
Chinese green beans stir fry is one of the most popular menu items you can find at any Chinese buffet or restaurant, such as Panda Express. Surprisingly, restaurant-quality green beans stir fry is not too difficult to make.
Easy Homemade Stir Fry Sauce
In this recipe, I cooked the green beans and shrimp in a homemade stir fry sauce. The sauce is made of garlic, ginger, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. It contains no MSG!
This homemade stir fry sauce is a bit lighter than what you could find at the restaurant. It has the perfect amount of salt and sugar from soy sauce and oyster sauce. It's not too sweet or too salty but you can adjust some of the ingredients to make it taste just the way you like.
Ingredients and Variations
This stir-fried recipe is made of green beans, shrimp, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, ginger, and Shaoxing wine.
Shaoxing wine is a staple ingredient in Chinese cooking. It's a fermented rice wine that is made specifically for cooking to add fragrance and authentic flavor to any dish.
You can find Shaoxing wine at any Asian market, such as 99 ranch market, or H-mart for $2.99+ per bottle.
The best substitute for Shaoxing wine is dry sherry.
Ginger adds pungent, peppery, and fresh flavors to a dish. If you are not a big fan of ginger-flavored dishes, feel free to skip them.
How to Stir Fry Green Beans and Shrimp
The preparation and cooking process is pretty simple and quick. Stir fry is done over high heat and your ingredients should cook fast. For that reason, it's very important to prepare all the ingredients before turning on the heat.
The Preparation:
- Peel and devein shrimp then chop them into ½-inch pieces.
- Snap off the stem end of the green beans then half crosswise.
- Mince garlic and ginger.
- Prepare the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and Shaoxing wine in separate bowls or combine them all in a bowl.
Next, the cooking part......
Step 1. Pre-Cook the Green Beans
Green beans take a longer cooking time compared to the other ingredients. Therefore, it's very important to precook the green beans before anything else, so that everything cooks perfectly at the same time.
If you just throw the fresh green beans with the other ingredients in a wok, you will end up with uncooked green beans or a burnt sauce.
To fix this issue, you can blanch or stir-fry the green beans first.
However, I personally think that stir-frying green beans would be the best option for this stir-fry recipe. This is because blanching requires a lot of water, and wet vegetables can ruin a stir fry or result in mushy vegetables.
Here's how to do it:
- Preheat the wok over high heat then add oil.
- When the oil is shimmering, add green beans and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the green beans from the work and set them aside.
Step 2. Stir Fry the Aromatic Vegetables and Shrimp
- Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Cook the minced garlic and ginger for about 5 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add shrimp into a wok. Cook and keep stirring until the shrimp are just beginning to turn pink, for about 30 seconds.
Step 3. Add Homemade Stir Fry Sauce
- Add the green beans and stir-fry sauce into the wok.
- Cook and keep stirring until the shrimp are cooked through and the beans are crisp-tender, about 2-3 minutes longer.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional soy sauce and/or oyster sauce if needed.
FAQ and Cooking Tips:
Yes, you can substitute frozen green beans for fresh. No thawing required. Please keep in mind that frozen beans tend to get soggy compared to fresh green beans.
You can use vegetable oil, peanut oil, avocado oil, or other oils that have high smoke points.
Yes, you can. Make sure that you season about a pound of chicken and beef with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce prior to cooking. You may also need to double the amount of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and Shaoxing wine for stir-frying.
Properly stored, leftover stir fry can last 3-4 days in the fridge or 1-2 weeks in the freezer.
To make this stir fry spicier, you can add a small amount of Sambal Oelek or garlic chili sauce. Please keep in mind that these chili products contain sodium, so go easy on seasoning.
Yes, you can. Just skip the shrimp and oyster sauce but keep the remaining ingredients the same.
Check Out More Delicious Asian Recipes
- Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
- Sweet and Sour Fish
- Homemade Crab Rangoon
- Shrimp and Green Peas Stir Fry
- Minced Pork Noodles Soup
- Bu Luc Lac (Vietnamese Shaking Beef)
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don’t mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating. Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly recipes and follow me on Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Stir-Fried Green Beans with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh green beans, (trimmed and halved crosswise)
- 12 large shrimp, (peeled, deveined, and cut into ½-inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, (or use dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil, (divided)
Optional ( for spicier stir fry)
- Sambal Oelek or garlic chili sauce, (as needed)
Instructions
- Preheat a wok over high heat then add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is shimmering, add green beans and a pinch of salt. Stir-fry for 3 minutes or until the beans are slightly softened and blistered. Remove from the wok, set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil into a wok over high heat. Add ginger and garlic, keep stirring for 5 seconds or until fragrant. Add shrimp and stir-fry until the shrimp are just beginning to turn pink for about 20-30 seconds.
- Add green beans, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Stir-fry until the shrimp are cooked through and the beans are crisp-tender, about 2-3 minutes or longer.
- Taste, adjust the seasoning with additional soy sauce, oyster sauce, and/or the optional chili sauce if needed, according to your liking.
Melinda Fewless
So much flavor and I love that this is healthier too! So good!
Rika
Thanks, Melinda. I am glad that you liked this recipe.
Jess
A simple and yummy dish that I enjoy any time of the year!
Rika
It's my go-to stir fry recipe to make on busy nights, Jess 🙂
Anjali
I'm all about quick and easy weeknight meals!! I can't wait to try your recipe - it looks healthy and delicious!
Angela
I love dinner recipes that can be ready to eat in under 30 minutes. This recipe was so quick to make. My family really enjoyed it. I will definitely make it again soon.
Rika
Thanks, Angela!
Carrie Robinson
I just love how quickly you can get this on the dinner table! Perfect for busy weeknights. 🙂
Rika
Absolutely, Carrie!
Julia
This was incredible! Cant wait to make it again, so much flavor!
Rika
Thanks, Julia. I am glad that you liked it.
John Helffrich
Rika is absolutely correct on recommending to pre-cook the String Beans, par-boiled or steamed, before adding to the Wok. I followed the recipe exactly but added a squirt of Sriracha. And if you can't find Shaoxing Wine locally, most other Asian or Italian/Mediterranean types will substitute.
Rika
Thanks John for the comment and for backing me on that important step with the string beans. Love the idea of sriracha, I always have my rooster bottle close at hand!
Best,
Rika