Stir fried beef with beans and peas

This is a nice and quick stir fry that you can make in the time that it takes the rice to cook. Perfect for midweek meals, it requires only a handful of ingredients and comes together quickly with very little prep time.

I always try and balance my recipes with things that are well known and from a given cuisine and easy, approachable recipes. This isn't an authentic dish from any country as near as I can tell - I threw somethings in a wok one day at the end of the grocery cycle and it turned out pretty well.

The best part is that this has a sweat & sticky sauce which coats the rice. Give this a shot next time you're short on time and just want to get something on the table quickly with the minimum of fuss!

Ingredients

• Beef mince - don't go too lean or fatty. 80-90% fat/lean is fine.
• Garlic and ginger
• Grean beans - sliced at 2.5cm/1" length. Fresh works better here, but use frozen in a pinch. I like the crispness
• Peas - frozen is fine.
• Scallions
• Chilli - optional, but a little heat works well with the dish
• Egg - optional
• Sesame seeds

The sauce is a pretty standard sweet stir fry sauce, with:

• Water
• Cornflour
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Honey
• White pepper

How to make the stir fried mince with beans and peas

1. As always, mis en place - finely slice the scallions and chilli, slice the green beans, mince the ginger and garlic. Start your rice cooking if you need to.

   

2. Make sauce - add the ingredients for the sauce to a bowl (1). Stir well to combine (2).

   

3. Cook mince - preheat your wok or a large skillet over medium high heat. When it's warm, add some peanut oil and then the beef (1). Cook, using the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula to break the lumps up and stir regularly for about 5 minutes or until the beef is just browned (2).

   

4. Add aromatics and vegetables - add the ginger and garlic (1). Stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the beans and peas (2), and continue cooking for a further 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly.

   

5. Add sauce - give the sauce another good stir to make sure the cornflour hasn't settled and then pour around the rim of the wok, just above the mince. Stir well to combine and allow to slightly reduce.

   

6. Add scallions and chilli - remove the wok or skillet from the heat and stir through the scallions and most of the chilli. The residual heat will soften them slightly.

   

7. Serve in bowls, optionally with a fried egg on top and top with sesame seeds and a little more sliced chilli.

Using other meats

Yes, you could use pork or chicken mince in place of the beef mince. Chicken tends to be a bit leaner, so you'll probably need a little more oil.

Using other vegetables

If you don't want to use beans & peas, you can substitute for other vegetables. Here's some ideas for you to use instead:

• Match stick carrots (julienne)
• Broccoli or cauliflower florets - you'll need to blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute before adding them to the stir fry
• Sliced onions
• Diced capsicum
• Mushrooms
• Baby corn

Stir fried beef with beans and peas

5 from 1 votes

Sam Knight

Beef mince

Prep	Cook	Total
10 mins	15 mins	25 mins

Serves 4

This is a quick and flavour packed stir fry, perfect for lazy weeknights which comes together in about 20 minutes.

• 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 500g beef mince 80-90% lean to fat ratio
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2.5cm (1") piece of ginger, peeled and minced or use 2 tsp jarred minced ginger - see note 1
• 200g green beans, cut into 2.5cm (1") lengths preferably fresh - see note 2
• 100g peas frozen is fine
• 3 scallions, finely sliced
• Red chilli, finely sliced optional
• 4 fried sunny-side up eggs, to serve optional
• Sesame seeds, to serve
• Cooked rice, to serve preferably jasmine or basmati, but use whichever variety you prefer

For the sauce

• 125ml (1/2 cup) water
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp soy sauce preferably Chinese, but any will work
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch

Steps

1. Make sauce - add the ingredients for the sauce to a bowl (1). Stir well to combine (2).

2. Cook mince - preheat your wok or a large skillet over medium high heat. When it's warm, add the peanut oil and then the beef. Cook, using the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula to break the lumps up and stir regularly for about 5 minutes or until the beef is just browned.

3. Add aromatics and vegetables - add the ginger and garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the beans and peas, and continue cooking for a further 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly.

4. Add sauce - give the sauce another good stir to make sure the cornflour hasn't settled and then pour around the rim of the wok, just above the mince. Stir well to combine and allow to slightly reduce.

5. Add scallions and chilli - remove the wok or skillet from the heat and stir through the scallions and most of the chilli. The residual heat will soften them slightly.

6. Serve in bowls, optionally with a fried egg on top and top with sesame seeds and a little more sliced chilli.

Notes

1. Ginger - preferably use fresh because it tastes better, but jarred ginger is usable if that's all you have - in contrast to jarred garlic; I'd never recommend that to anyone!
2. Green beans - fresh results in a better texture as frozen tends to end up soggy.
3. To make a more substantial meal try serving with a sunny-side up fried egg, kimchi and some quick pickled Asian vegetables.
4. Different vegetables? Try using broccoli and/or carrots (blanch them first) in place of the beans.