Quick & Easy Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry

Searching for a 30-minute meal that’s bursting with fresh, vibrant, and completely addictive flavors? What if you could make a better-than-takeout stir-fry in your own kitchen that will have everyone asking for the recipe? This incredible Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Ginger, Cilantro and Mint is the ultimate answer for a fast and flavorful weeknight dinner.

This isn’t just another boring stir-fry. We’ll show you a clever chef’s trick for slicing the pork perfectly thin, how to cook green beans so they are wonderfully crisp-tender, and how to create a simple, glossy, sweet-and-savory glaze that coats every single bite. Served over fragrant, lemon-infused rice, this is a complete meal that is guaranteed to impress.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: Better Than Takeout in 30 Minutes

What makes this Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry so exceptional is its perfect balance of textures and its dynamic, Southeast Asian-inspired flavor profile. The key to its success is a series of simple but smart techniques—from briefly freezing the pork for easy slicing to creating an incredible pan sauce in minutes. It’s a fast-paced, high-flavor dish that proves a delicious, well-rounded meal is totally achievable on a busy night.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	30 minutes
Active Prep Time	20 minutes
Difficulty Level	Easy
Servings	4

The Essential Ingredients for This Vibrant Stir-fry

This recipe uses a handful of fresh and flavorful ingredients to create a dish with a beautiful balance of sweet, savory, spicy, and fresh.

• Pork Sirloin Chops or Blade Steaks: These cuts are fantastic for stir-frying. They have great pork flavor and a nice texture that stays tender when sliced thin and cooked quickly over high heat. We’ll use a brilliant trick to make slicing them a breeze.
• Haricots Verts: This is the French term for thin, young, and tender green beans. They cook very quickly and have a wonderful, crisp texture that is perfect for a stir-fry. If you can’t find them, you can use the thinnest regular green beans you can find.
• The Sauce Duo (Dark Brown Sugar & Fish Sauce): This is the simple secret to our incredibly addictive glaze. The dark brown sugar provides a deep, molasses-like sweetness that caramelizes beautifully in the hot pan. The fish sauce adds a profound, savory, umami depth that perfectly balances the sugar’s sweetness (don’t worry, it won’t taste fishy!).
• Lemon-Infused Jasmine Rice: Don’t skip this easy step! Simmering fragrant Jasmine rice with wide strips of fresh lemon zest infuses the grains with a beautiful, subtle citrus aroma that is the perfect, bright foundation for the rich stir-fry.
• Fresh Aromatics (Ginger, Garlic, Jalapeño): This powerful trio builds the flavor of our sauce. Fresh ginger provides a warm, zesty spice, garlic adds its pungent bite, and a little finely diced red jalapeño offers a clean, fresh heat.
• Fresh Herbs (Cilantro & Mint): The final, crucial flourish. A generous topping of fresh, cool mint and herbaceous cilantro is absolutely essential. It adds a burst of freshness that cuts through the richness of the glaze and makes the entire dish come alive.

Step-by-Step to the Perfect Pork Stir-Fry

A great stir-fry moves fast, so the key to success is to have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you even turn on the heat. This is called “mise en place.”

Step 1: Prepare the Lemon Rice and Prep the Pork

First, put the 1 1/2 pounds of pork in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.

Pro Tip: This is a fantastic chef’s trick! Briefly freezing the pork firms up the meat, making it significantly easier to slice into thin, uniform strips.

While the pork is chilling, make the rice. Place the rinsed jasmine rice in a medium saucepan. Add 2 cups of water, the wide strips of lemon zest, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil, give it one good stir, then cover the pot and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for another 10 minutes.

After the pork has chilled, remove it from the freezer and use a sharp knife to slice it into thin, 1 1/2-by-1/2-inch strips. Season the pork strips with salt and pepper.

Step 2: Sear the Pork in Batches

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat until it is very hot and shimmering.

Add half of the seasoned pork strips to the pan in a single layer. Cook, without moving them too much, until they are nicely browned, about 2 minutes per side.

Pro Tip: Do not overcrowd the pan! Cooking the pork in two batches ensures that each piece gets direct contact with the hot pan, allowing it to sear and get a delicious crust. If you add it all at once, the pork will steam and become tough.

Remove the first batch of browned pork to a large bowl. Repeat the process with the remaining pork, then add it to the bowl with the first batch.

Step 3: Cook the Haricots Verts

Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium. Add another 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the skillet.

Add the trimmed and halved haricots verts, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/3 cup of water. Cook, stirring, until the water completely evaporates and the green beans begin to brown and blister in the pan, about 6 minutes. This method first steams the beans so they become tender, then sautés them to get some color.

Add the cooked haricots verts to the bowl with the cooked pork.

Step 4: Create the Ginger-Garlic Glaze

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the skillet. Add the finely chopped garlic, the finely diced red jalapeño, and the grated fresh ginger. Cook, stirring constantly, until the aromatics are golden and very fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the dark brown sugar, the fish sauce, and 1/4 cup of water to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce is thick, glossy, and bubbling, which will only take 1 to 2 minutes.

Step 5: Combine, Glaze, and Serve

Add the cooked pork and haricots verts (along with any accumulated juices) back into the skillet with the bubbling glaze. Toss everything together until the pork and beans are completely coated and glazed, about 1 minute.

Taste and season with more salt if needed. Just before serving, fluff the finished lemon rice with a fork and remove the lemon zest strips.

Serve the stir-fry immediately over the fragrant lemon rice, topped with a generous amount of fresh, chopped cilantro and/or mint.

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Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

While stir-fries are always at their peak when eaten fresh from the wok, you can prep ahead to make this meal even faster.

• Make-Ahead: You can do all your prep work hours in advance. Slice the pork, chop the vegetables, and make the rice. Store everything in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat, the final stir-fry will come together in less than 15 minutes.
• Storage: Store any leftover stir-fry and rice in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Reheating: Reheat the stir-fry briefly in a hot skillet or in the microwave. Be careful not to overcook the pork.

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Creative Recipe Variations

This delicious stir-fry formula is a great base for your own creative touches.

1. Use a Different Protein: This recipe is fantastic with other quick-cooking proteins. Try it with thinly sliced chicken breast or thigh, flank steak, or a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp.
2. Add More Vegetables: Feel free to add other favorite stir-fry vegetables. Thinly sliced onions, red bell peppers, snow peas, or broccoli florets would all be delicious additions. Add them to the pan with the haricots verts.
3. Make it Nutty and Toasty: For extra texture and flavor, add 1/4 cup of roasted, salted cashews or peanuts at the very end when you toss everything together. You can also add a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to the glaze for a wonderful, nutty aroma.

Enjoy Your Better-Than-Takeout Stir-Fry!

You’ve just created a vibrant, delicious, and satisfying meal that is faster, fresher, and healthier than any takeout you could order. This Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry is packed with a perfect balance of flavors and textures that will make your taste buds sing. It’s a perfect example of how a few smart techniques can turn simple ingredients into an extraordinary weeknight dinner.

We hope this becomes your new go-to recipe for a quick and flavorful meal!

If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves a good stir-fry!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)