This is the best Copycat PF Chang’s Spicy Green Beans recipe and perfect as a side dish or vegetarian main dish served over rice!
When I was in high school, my friends and I used to frequent PF Chang’s more than I care to admit. It was great, but not so great because lets face it, while the food tastes delicious, it is packed with tons of sodium and other not so healthy ingredients. Figuring out how to make your favorite restaurant dishes at home, is actually pretty simple, but does take some work to get it just right. I am excited to have finally perfected the Copycat PF Chang’s Spicy Green Beans.
Not only do you know what you are putting into these Copycat PF Chang’s Spicy Green Beans when you make it at home, but you also save lots of unnecessary calories. My local Kroger often discounts vegetables and fruits that are ‘on the verge of spoiling’, and I love browsing that section. They often have huge bags of green bags (like 4 pound bags for .99), jalapenos, squash, potatoes, etc etc. I love it. Whatever is there is always .99 and as long as you use it within a few days, it’s absolutely fine. Check your local store to see if they have a section like this. I love saving money, so it’s a great option.
Anyway, back to the Copycat PF Chang’s Spicy Green Beans; It takes 1 minute to whip up this sauce, and then only a few minutes to actually cook the green beans. The longest part is actually trimming and cutting the green beans. I like to cut them into about 2 inch long pieces, but it’s really up to you how you cut them. This dish yields a lot of sauce, too, so it would be perfect to serve these as a side dish over rice, or make baked chicken and top with the green beans and sauce.
This is the best Copycat PF Chang's Spicy Green Beans recipe and perfect as a side dish or vegetarian main dish served over rice!
- 1-2 lbs green beans , trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 green onions , chopped thinly
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes + 1/4 tsp
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 TBS sesame oil
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 TBS low sodium soy sauce
- 1 TBS rice vinegar
- 1 tsp white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp corn starch
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In a small bowl mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, water, corn starch, salt, and pepper; set aside.
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In a wok or large skillet, add oil; let heat over medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add garlic, green onions, and 1 tsp red pepper flakes. Stir fry quickly, for about 30 seconds. Add green beans and stir constantly until they are almost fully cooked, about 3 minutes (should turn deep green). Push green beans to the side, pour sauce into pan, stir to distribute sauce to bottom of pan. Cook for 30 seconds over medium high heat; allow to come to a boil (shouldn't take long), reduce heat to low, stir to coat green beans with sauce. Cook for 30 more seconds.
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Serve and enjoy!
Things you might need for this recipe – Click to shop below:
- Chopsticks
- Dishwasher Safe WOK
- Organic Sesame Oil (killer deal!)
- Rice Vinegar
- Serving Bowls
Like Asian inspired food as much as I do? Check out these other recipes:
Hot and Sour Soup / Spicy Steamed Bok Choy
Baked Cream Cheese Rangoon / Easy Asian Noodles
Garlic Ginger Spinach / General Tso’s Tofu
Thanks for visiting!
– Allyson
Liz says
Thank you for the nice recipes. Have a great Monday!
Tiffany says
Hi, Allyson ~ I’m looking forward to trying out this recipe. I love the idea of adding chicken! I’m with you, I want to know what’s in my food. Thanks so much for sharing!
Kimberly says
So good! Thanks so much ◡̈
Allyson says
So glad you loved it!
Emelina says
I am looking to try this recipe today but I only have frozen green beans. Do you think this will work the same?
Allyson says
Hi, I am not sure as I’ve never tried it that way. Did you end up trying it, if so, how did it turn out? I am sure others would love to know!
Sherri says
I tri d this recipe with frozen green beans from SAMS Club and it was delicious.
thoughtsopinionsandeverything says
Just wrote up a piece on my experience with these! Thank you so much for the delicious recipe! https://thoughtsopinionsandeverything.wordpress.com/2016/05/16/vegan-cooking-with-jules-spicy-green-beans/
Kevin says
Great recipe, although I did some hacking based on items on hand.
I caramelized yellow onion, used garlic powder, siracha powder and did not add sugar and it turned out really nice.
Thanks will use again with the fresh ingredients (and siracha sauce or powder again!)
Allyson says
So glad you loved it! Your changes sound GOOD!
Olivia -Reinvented Collection says
Hi, I just found your recipe on Pinterest while searching for a Gluten Free Chinese chicken salad recipe. Do you think I could substitute honey for the sugar? If it’s not to much trouble, could you email me or contact me through my blog? reinvented(dot) co at gmail dot com is my actively checked email.
I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts on this substitution.
Thank you,
Olivia
Allyson says
Hi Olivia – I have never made that substitution, so I can’t say if it will work or not. In theory it seems like it should be fine, but like I said, since I haven’t tried it, I can’t say for sure. Let me know if you try it!
Mayra says
Are these fresh green beans I should use for the recipe?
Allyson says
Yes, I would suggest fresh beans.
Sherri says
FYI—-I fixed this recipe with whole frozen green beans from SAMs Club and it was delicious.
Rayanne says
Hello! Just thought id add something for you to try out next time you make this dish! Add fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and some chili paste !
Lisa J says
Good but REALLY spicy. Either it is too.much red pepper flake or mine was just really fresh. I’ve had the PFChang beans before and they weren’t this spicy. I added a little extra sugar to take down the heat. Also took a lot longer than 3 mins for the beans to get soft. I finally just threw them in microwave for 2 mins. End results were good though.
JANET LOVETT says
Totally delicious! Will make this again. I paired it with rice and topped with salmon. Love this dish!