Green Beans With Ginger and Garlic

Updated Nov. 14, 2023

Green Beans With Ginger and Garlic
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(4,266)
Comments
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Here is a recipe for fresh green beans, boiled just until barely tender and bright green, then tossed in a pan with minced garlic and ginger. The beans can be cooked a day ahead, leaving nothing more to do before the meal than to assemble everything over high heat.

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Ingredients

Yield:10 servings
  • Salt
  • pounds green beans (slim haricots verts work especially well), trimmed
  • 4tablespoons vegetable oil
  • ¼cup minced fresh ginger (from 6 inches peeled ginger root)
  • 4medium garlic cloves, minced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

88 calories; 6 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 285 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and fill a large bowl with ice water. Working in two batches, boil beans until just tender but still crisp and bright green. Start testing after 4 minutes or so, being careful not to overcook. When done, plunge beans into ice water to stop cooking, lift out immediately when cool and drain on towels. (Recipe can be made to this point up to a day in advance and kept refrigerated, wrapped in towels.)

  2. Step 2

    When ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide skillet over high heat. Add half the beans, half the ginger and half the garlic, and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until beans are heated through and ginger and garlic are softened and aromatic. Sprinkle with salt, and remove to a serving dish. Repeat with remaining oil, beans, ginger and garlic. Serve.

Ratings

5 out of 5
4,266 user ratings
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Comments

I never boil beans! They should actually be steamed. Bring the beans to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let them sit for a few minutes, taste one to test, then drain.

If you do this, they will be perfect when reheated the next day.

I add 1 T of soy sauce and 1 T of White wine vinegar ( or sherry vinegar) for a minute, before the ginger and garlic. Delicious.

We keep bags of fresh ginger in the freezer. When we want to use it in a finely-shredded way, we use a microplane. No need to thaw or peel -- just grate from frozen.

I was looking forward to making this recipe with over 4,000 likes using my first crop of green beans. I cooked EXACTLY as stated but halved the recipe since there is only two of us. I did not taste any of the ginger or garlic just salt (1/4 tsp) and that’s it. Disappointed but I don’t know what I could have done wrong pretty simple recipe . My beans weren’t overcooked. Thinking maybe that high heat was too much for minced garlic and ginger. Maybe seared it and didn’t let the flavor out. Suggestions?

We made this with broccoli, roasting for 10 min then moving to the skillet to finish with the garlic and ginger. Delicious!

Great and flavorful green beans, that said, I'd go with butter instead of vegetable oil next time.

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Credits

By Julia Moskin

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