Sesame Beef and Green Bean Stir-Fry
with rice
Smarts: A two-ingredient marinade adds flavor and tenderizes the beef. Even 20 minutes of marinating time will pay off, but overnight is best.
Ingredients
- Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
- Water - 1/4 cup
- Brown sugar - 1 Tbsp
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 3 Tbsp
- Vinegar, rice - 1 Tbsp
- Gochujang - 1 Tbsp (sub a combination of chili garlic sauce and honey)
- Oil, toasted sesame - 1 tsp
- Rice, uncooked - 1 cup
- Steak, skirt or flank - 1 lb, thinly sliced against the grain
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 1 Tbsp
- Vinegar, rice - 1 Tbsp
- Bell peppers, red - 1/2, finely diced
- Green beans - 1 lb, sliced into 1” / 2.5 cm pieces
- Green onions - 2 stalks, chopped, green and white parts separate
- Limes - 1, wedges
- Water - 2 Tbsp
- Cornstarch - 2 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Hot sauce (opt) - for serving
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Rice - (Skip if rice was made ahead for Monday.) For white rice, rinse until clear. Fill a saucepan or Dutch oven (or rice cooker) with rice, water (use 2:1 ratio for water to rice), and some salt. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Once water boils, stir, lower heat to a low-medium, and cover. Check white rice after ~20 min; brown at ~45 min. Rice is done when it's absorbed all the water. If it's not done, leave the cover on until all water has been absorbed. Take cover off to release steam and fluff with a wooden spoon after 5 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Steak - Thinly slice steak against the grain. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Marinate steak - Combine steak with soy sauce and rice vinegar (portions for stir-fry). Marinate for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Garlic / Bell peppers / Green beans - Prep as directed. Store garlic in one container. Combine bell peppers and green beans in another container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make sauce - Combine garlic, water (portion for sauce), brown sugar, soy sauce (portion for sauce), vinegar (portion for sauce), gochujang, and sesame oil. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Green onions / Limes - Prep as directed.
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Make
- Whisk together water (portion for stir-fry) and cornstarch to make a slurry.
- Heat a wok over high heat. Add cooking oil and then bell peppers, green beans, and white parts of green onions to heated oil. Saute until green beans turn bright green and start to turn golden in spots, ~3 minutes.
- Drain marinade off steak and add steak to vegetables. Saute until steak is nearly cooked through, ~3 minutes.
- Pour sauce over steak and vegetables and bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch slurry to simmering liquid. Continue cooking until sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes more.
- If rice was made ahead, reheat in the microwave.
- Serve stir-fry over rice with green parts of green onions on top and lime wedges on the side. Add hot sauce, if you’d like. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
34 reviews
Super tasty and easy. Used yellow beans and green pepper because that’s what I had on hand. Will definitely make again.
This was a hit but I wish I had added more vegetables to the stir fry to make it more nutritious. We love veggies in rice. The beef was tender too. We used a sirloin steak.
Every single kid ate it! Sauce had an excellent flavor and I even liked the green beans which is rare for me.
Totally solid meal. I gave 4 stars because I reserve 5 stars for absolutely stellar meals. Flavor good, family liked it, easy to make!