Chinese Eggs and Green Beans (15-Minute Stir Fry)
This post may contain affiliate links.This Chinese eggs and green beans stir fry is a quick and comforting homestyle dish made with crisp green beans, fluffy scrambled eggs, and simple garlic seasoning. It’s an easy 15-minute recipe that pairs perfectly with steamed rice for a simple weeknight meal.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
🏷️ Recipe Name: Chinese Eggs and Green Beans
⏱️ Ready In: ~ 15 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 3 portions
🔥 Calories: 114 kcal (per portion)
🧾 Main Ingredients: Green beans, eggs, garlic, Shaoxing wine, salt, pepper.
🥗 Dietary Info: Gluten free
🧠 Difficulty: Easy with guided steps.
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Chinese eggs and green beans stir fry is a quick and comforting homestyle dish made with crisp green beans, fluffy scrambled eggs, and fragrant garlic. This simple Chinese-style recipe comes together in just 15 minutes and pairs perfectly with steamed rice for an easy weeknight meal.
With only a few humble ingredients, this dish is budget-friendly, satisfying, and full of flavor. The eggs become soft and fluffy while the green beans stay slightly crisp, creating a delicious contrast of textures in every bite.
Chinese eggs and green beans stir fry is a quick and comforting homestyle dish made with crisp green beans, fluffy scrambled eggs, and fragrant garlic. This simple Chinese-style recipe comes together in just 15 minutes and pairs perfectly with steamed rice for an easy weeknight meal.
If you enjoy easy Chinese home cooking recipes, you’ll also love my sautéed green beans with garlic, green beans ground beef stir fry, pork and broccoli stir fry and kikurage mushroom chicken.
This recipe is a great addition to your collection of Asian vegetable recipes and Asian egg recipes.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Green beans – Also called string beans, green beans are commonly used in Chinese home cooking because they stay crisp and flavorful when stir-fried. For this Chinese eggs and green beans stir fry, use fresh green beans for the best texture and natural sweetness. Trim the ends and slice them diagonally so they cook quickly and absorb the garlic flavor beautifully.
Eggs – The eggs are cracked directly into the stir-fried green beans instead of being pre-scrambled separately. Letting the eggs cook briefly before stirring creates tender white and golden-yellow curds that cling beautifully to the green beans, giving the dish its rustic Chinese homestyle character.
Cooking wine – Shaoxing wine adds a subtle savory aroma often found in Chinese stir fries. It’s optional, but it gives the eggs and green beans a deeper restaurant-style flavor. If you don’t have Shaoxing wine, dry white wine can work as a substitute.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
Variations
Skip the eggs – Not an egg fan? No worries! You can turn this into a simple yet flavorful sautéed green beans with garlic side dish that’s just as comforting and even quicker to make.
Make it heartier – Add ground beef for a more filling meal. My green beans ground beef stir fry version turns this simple vegetable dish into a satisfying one-pan dinner perfect with steamed rice.
Make it spicy – Love heat? Toss in a spoonful of chili oil or sambal while stir-frying for a spicy kick.
Add umami flavor – Swap the salt and pepper for soy sauce and oyster sauce for a deeper savory flavor often found in Chinese-style stir fries.
Bacon twist – Replace the eggs with chopped bacon for a smoky and savory variation. Reduce the salt slightly since bacon already adds saltiness.
No green beans? – Snap peas or asparagus can work as substitutes, although they cook a bit faster. For more green bean alternatives, check out this helpful post from Chris at Superb Salt.
How to Make Eggs and Green Beans Stir Fry
STEP 1. Prep and sauté the garlic. Wash the green beans thoroughly, trim both ends, and slice them to your liking. I like cutting them on a slant, about 1–2 cm thick, it gives those sharp, angled edges that look so good in stir-fries (Images 1, 2).
Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a bit of oil and wait until you see light smoke. Toss in the crushed garlic (Images 3, 4) and sauté until it turns lightly golden and fragrant.
STEP 2. Stir-fry the green beans. Add the sliced green beans to the wok (Image 5). Stir-fry until they deepen in color slightly. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and continue to stir (Image 6).
Optional: Add a splash of Chinese cooking wine or white wine for aroma (Image 7). If you prefer not to use alcohol, just add a little water instead. Cover the pan with a lid for about 1 minute to help the green beans cook through. Remove the lid and push the green beans to the sides of the wok, creating a well in the center. Pour in the beaten eggs (Image 8) and let them sit for a moment to cook undisturbed, this gives you nice, fluffy chunks of egg.
STEP 3. Use a spatula to break the yolks gently (Image 9), but don’t stir everything together just yet. Let it cook for another minute, then stir to combine the eggs with the green beans. Add the remaining salt and a dash of pepper (Image 10), and stir-fry everything together until the eggs are fully cooked (Images 11, 12).
Turn off the heat and serve your eggs and green beans stir fry while hot. Enjoy!
Pro Tips
- Slice on a slant for better texture – Diagonal cuts create more surface area, helping the green beans cook faster while giving the stir fry a more classic Chinese-style look.
- Don’t rush the garlic – Let the garlic turn lightly golden to release its aroma and subtle sweetness. Avoid burning it, or the dish can become bitter.
- Wine or no wine? Both work! – Shaoxing wine or dry white wine adds extra aroma and depth, but the dish will still taste delicious without it.
- Let the eggs sit before stirring – Crack the eggs directly into the center of the pan and let them cook briefly before stirring. This creates tender white and yellow egg curds that give the dish its rustic Chinese homestyle texture.
- Season at the end – Eggs absorb seasoning quickly, so it’s easier to control the flavor by adjusting the salt and pepper after the eggs finish cooking.
- Use high heat for better wok flavor – High heat lightly chars the green beans and adds that subtle smoky flavor often found in Chinese stir fries.
Serving Suggestions
These Chinese eggs and green beans are delicious served with a bowl of warm steamed rice for a simple and comforting homestyle meal. For a complete Chinese-style dinner, serve them alongside Hainanese chicken and fragrant Hainanese chicken rice. They also pair beautifully with rich braised dishes like hong shao rou, or dong po rou.
The soft egg curds and crisp green beans also complement crispy appetizers and fried dishes like fried wontons, meatballs, shrimp balls, menbosha, or chicken karaage. The contrast of textures makes the meal even more satisfying and flavorful.
Eggs and Green Beans Stir Fry FAQs
Stir-fry the green beans over high heat and avoid overcrowding the pan. Cooking them quickly helps them stay crisp-tender while developing that lightly charred flavor common in Chinese stir fries.
Yes, you can use frozen green beans if fresh ones are not available even though the texture may be a little bit different from the fresh ones.
Yes, this recipe is vegetarian as long as you use vegetarian-friendly seasonings. However, it is not vegan because it contains eggs.
In this Chinese homestyle method, the eggs are cracked directly into the pan after the green beans are stir-fried. Letting them cook briefly before stirring creates soft white and yellow curds with a more rustic texture.
Yes. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat gently in a pan or microwave, although the green beans may soften slightly over time.
Storage
Store leftover eggs and green beans stir fry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The green beans may release a little moisture as they sit, which is completely normal. Reheat the dish in a hot pan for a few minutes to evaporate the excess moisture and bring back some of the stir-fried texture.
More Chinese Stir Fry Recipes
- Shrimp Omelette – A fluffy Chinese-style omelette packed with juicy shrimp and simple savory seasonings.
- Chinese Chive Eggs – Soft scrambled eggs stir-fried with fragrant Chinese chives for an easy homestyle dish.
- Chinese eggplant stir fry with ground pork – Tender eggplant cooked with savory ground pork in a rich garlic sauce.
- Tomato Egg Stir Fry – A classic Chinese comfort dish with silky eggs and juicy tomatoes in a sweet-savory sauce.
Chinese Eggs and Green Beans
Ingredients
- 250 gr green beans
- 4 eggs
- 3 pcs garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Instructions
- First, wash clean your green beans. Cut both ends, slice them according to your preference. I like to slice them slanting in 2 cm, so it has sharp edges.
- Heat the wok and put some cooking oil. Let the oil heat up until you can see some smoke. Put in the crushed garlic.
- Sautee the garlic until it is a bit golden brown.
- Afterwards, put in the sliced green beans. Stir fry until they look a little darker in color.
- Pinch some salt and stir into the green beans.
- Sprinkle some cooking wine. I would recommend white wine so the flavor will be stronger. Stir fry. Please keep in mind, white wine is optional. Use water instead for those who can't use wine.
- Cover with lid for one minute to cook up the green beans.
- Take off the lid. Create a space in the middle by pushing aside all the green beans.
- Pour in the eggs. Let the heat cook up the eggs first, leave it unstirred. This way you will get big chunks of eggs.
- Pour the eggs in the middle. After that, use the spatula to break the egg yolks, but still let them remain untouched for a while.
- After one minute, stir to let the eggs mix with the green beans. Push the green beans to the middle part.
- Afterwards, put in the remaining salt and then pepper. Stir fry until the eggs are all cooked up.
- If you like big chunks of eggs, do not stir too often. I like some big chunks, so I only stir once in a while.
- Finally, turn off the stove and serve in a plate. Your Asian green beans garlic with eggs are ready! Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Cut the green beans 1 cm width and slating to make it look more attractive.
- If you like big chunks of eggs, let the eggs cook for a while, stir once in a while.
I love this simple dish because it is super quick and easy to make. Try it and you will love it, too!