Beef & Green Bean Stir-Fry - Easy Stir-Fry Recipe - Our Best Bites (2024)

I love stir fries on busy weeknights and during the dead of summer and this beef and green bean stir-fry is no exception! Loaded with veggies and lean protein, we guarantee your family will love it, too! (Read more about it after the recipe.)

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blas from the past to when my 8-year-old was a baby ????

Pretty much my favorite healthy weeknight meals are all stir-fries; I love that I can prep all the ingredients earlier when the day when baby Willbo is napping and when I’m not exhausted and overwhelmed in the after-school rush. I love that they’re loaded with fresh veggies and lean proteins, and yet they taste so good that you don’t feel deprived and sad. I love that I can feel that nerdy thrill of satisfaction when I use up all that produce in my fridge that I bought withreally good intentions 5 days earlier.

This stir-fry has been a major hit at our house the last few months. Even people who don’t like stir-fries (my babysitter and go-to gal Laura), even people who don’t like steak (my daughter), even people who don’t like green beans (my son), even people who don’t like doing dishes (me). Everyone loves it. My daughtercried when she ran out of meat. She asked if she could have it for lunch the next day. I wondered what demon spawn of pleasantries had possessed her.

how to make this beef & green bean stir-fry

To get started, you’ll need 1 1/2 pounds of flank steak, a sliced colored bell pepper (I had a whole bunch sliced up, so I just grabbed a few handfuls), a pound of green beans (fresh or frozen; I use frozen because I’m lazy), fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and a bunch of green onions (chop up the whole bunch and use the firm, white ends in the stir fry and the green stems as a garnish).

Then for the sauce, you’ll need pear juice (look for it near the baby food, but you can also sub white grape juice or apple juice), soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and sesame oil.

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.Set aside 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

and 2 tablespoons of pear juice as well.

Slice the steak into 1/4″ slices (or slightly thinner if you prefer; freezing the meat for 30-60 minutes before slicing can help make this easier). Sprinkle them lightly with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

and toss to coat the steak.

In a large skillet, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil (one with a high smoke point like grapeseed, peanut, or canola oil) over medium-high heat. Add the steak in a single layer that covers the whole pan and cook 3-5 minutes or until the steak is cooked through. Move the steak off to the side of the pan (if it’s very large) or transfer it to a plate while you cook the veggies so the meat doesn’t “boil.”

Add the green beans and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they start to become tender-crisp. Add the chopped white ends of the green onions and the bell pepper and cook 1-2 minutes more. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add the steak back to the pan and cook until the steak is heated through.

Turn the heat to high and add the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. While the sauce is heating, whisk together the reserved cornstarch and pear juice. When the sauce is boiling, add the cornstarch mixture and cook about 1 minute or or until the sauce is clear and thickened. Remove from heat and serve immediately over hot rice (this Instant Pot Brown Rice is my go-to, but we also have white rice in an Instant Pot).

Makes 6 servings.