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Favorite Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey

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This Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey recipe is my readers’ favorite! This dinner is quick, flavorful, and healthy. I bet it will be a hit at your house!

These Chinese Green Beans are my most popular dish of all time!

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I’ve mentioned that we live in San Francisco and are surrounded by AMAZING Asian cuisine, so we’re pretty picky about our Chinese food. When I saw a couple ground turkey stir fry recipes floating around, I thought turkey in an Asian-inspired dish seemed peculiar, but then I remembered having something similar that had ground pork instead. Pork. Turkey. What’s the difference, right?

I’m so glad I decided to try these Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey because this easy meal was delicious! To make it even better, it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare, making it one of my best recipes for busy days!

My oldest usually turns his nose up at green beans when I make them, but he makes an exception for Chinese green beans. I can’t understand that kid. He won’t eat gravy or spaghetti sauce, but he loves sushi and anything smothered in black bean sauce.

These Chinese Green Beans are my most popular dish of all time!

It’s hard to say he’s picky exactly. Maybe he just has discerning taste. He’s certainly growing up in the right city. We didn’t have a lot of Asian food options when I was a kid in Mississippi! Fortunately I’m making up for it as an adult.

This green bean stir fry was born for weeknights. If you can find Chinese long beans in your supermarket, those make the recipe taste even more authentic. If not, regular American green beans are perfect too. Just make sure they are fresh (not canned!) for a great result. If you don’t have fresh available, try frozen instead. However you make yours, I hope you love this Asian ground turkey recipe.

Watch the how-to recipe video!



Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey
This dinner is quick, flavorful, and healthy. I bet it will be a hit at your house!
© The Weary Chef 2013-2018
Author: Andi Gleeson
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Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey
Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey
This dinner is quick, flavorful, and healthy. I bet it will be a hit at your house!
© The Weary Chef 2013-2018
Author: Andi Gleeson
Add to Meal Plan →
Add to Meal Plan
SAVED! Click here to customize your meal plan!
Print Recipe
Print Recipe
Click here to see your meal plan and grocery list!
Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings: Units:
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings: Units:
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup medium grain rice, uncooked
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 small bunch green onions, sliced thin
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1 teaspoon crushed ginger
  • 1 pound washed and trimmed green beans, or Chinese long beans if available
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
Instructions:
  1. Start rice cooking in lightly salted water.
  2. When rice is about 15 minutes from done, heat large skillet over high heat. Add sesame oil, and sauté green onions and garlic for about 2 minutes. Stir in ground turkey and sauté 3-5 minutes, until meat is mostly cooked. Crumble meat as much as possible.
  3. Stir in chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, and ginger. Add green beans and soy sauce, and stir to coat. Continue cooking over high heat for 7-9 minutes longer, stirring frequently, until beans are slightly tender.
  4. Stir in rice vinegar, and cook one minute longer. Serve over cooked rice.
Recipe Notes:

Adapted from recipes from The Lemon Bowl and Cook Snap Savour.

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Nutrition Facts
Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey
Amount Per Serving
Calories 446 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 18%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 81mg 27%
Sodium 563mg 23%
Potassium 287mg 8%
Total Carbohydrates 53g 18%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars 7g
Protein 27g 54%
Vitamin A 19%
Vitamin C 35%
Calcium 9%
Iron 27%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Please note: This nutritional information is only an estimate. It can vary based on ingredient brands and is not guaranteed to be completely accurate.

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Comments

  1. I made this exactly as written, except I browned and drained the turkey first. Wow, I loved the result, and anticipate making it regularly. No one would ever know this was made with turkey and not pork. I found the flavor deliciously complex and only very mildly spicy; will add some hot peppers next time. While I loved the green beans (using the first harvest of yard-long beans from my garden), I think this would be good with more veggies as well- onion, bell pepper, broccoli, sugar peas… the possibilities are endless. Thanks!

    Reply

  2. My husband has started following a keto-ish diet and so I’ve been on this culinary adventure trying to find things that he can eat. The hoisin sauce does have sugar in it but since he gets almost no carbs through the day, I figured he could handle the few carbs the sauce would contribute. Same with the about half a yellow onion that I added. I made the dish with the additional sliced yellow onion, double the sauce and double the meat. It was fantastic. I scooped out his portion and the. Added some rice stick noodles instead of the rice and our kiddo ate every bit that was on her plate.

    Reply

  3. I wasn’t to sure if this at first, but it is really good! Has some great flavors! It would be good as a lettuce wrap too. I also thickened mine a little because I like that consistency. However this is really good and something new! Thank you!

    Reply

  4. So delicious and affordable to make. Next time I will drain it after the turkey is cooked since I used a higher fat ground turkey. Thank you for a new favorite.

    Reply

  5. This dish was a winner. I went out of my way to pick up green onion completely forgot to add it anyway. I added black sesame seeds though. Delicious!

    Reply

  6. I made this with a what the heck attitude, I needed to do something with ground turkey. HOWEVER! this was soooo delicious! I can’t thank you enough for perking up a boring Thursday night with an awesome dish. ?

    Reply

  8. I’ve made this multiple times now and wanted to share how DELICIOUS this is! I usually use ground ginger instead of fresh and have taken it easy on the chili sauce (we find ours to be really spicy), but this is a ‘go-to’ in the summer with garden beans!

    Reply

  9. Oh my gosh thank you–you saved dinner tonight! What do you do when all you really have is frozen green beans and ground turkey and you need to feed seven people??? I did add coconut milk to temper the heat (cuz my daughter’s a spice wimp) and a squeeze if lime fur a little zing. Delicious. Thanks so much!

    Reply

  10. I’ve made this several times, and is a family favorite. However i can’t find nutritional infomation anywhere in the print. Looking for how many servings as well as calories. Thank you

    Reply

  14. This was excellent!! My extremely picky 9 year old son gave it a 9 out of 10 and claimed it was fantastic. :) It was easy , quick and delicious.

    Reply

    • I’m so glad to hear it!! Thank you! I have a 10-year-old son too! He’s getting less picky as he gets older, thankfully. Take care, Charmaine!

      Reply

  16. Hi! I a planning to make this for dinner tonight and I was wondering if I can use regular oil instead of sesame oil?

    Also, I do not have any rice vinegar in hand, I was wondering what is a good substitute for that?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi! Yes regular oil will work. You could toss in a teaspoon of sesame seeds if you have them. You could try white wine vinegar if you have that.

      Reply

    • Hi! Do sorry for not answering sooner. I’m sorry to hear you can’t find it! You could use Sriracha and garlic to taste instead. Thank you!

      Reply

  19. Made tonight. Great flavors, Andi! I cooked a bit differently. I used a wok and cooked the ground turkey first so I could drain all the fat. (I used Jennie-O brand which ended up much more crumbled than your photo– I was thinking maybe you used turkey sausage, it was that different).
    It might have been my electric wok but I couldn’t get the green beans to cook to the ‘wrinkly’ stage, so I ended up finishing up/roasting them in my Infra-Wave at 400F for about 15-20 mins. Gosh, they were perfect! I also added thin sliced celery and carrot just to stretch it. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  20. I am a newly diagnosed heart failure patient. I’m now always looking for low sodium recipes. This was delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe online.

    Reply

    • I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but I’m happy if my recipes help you! I will admit that I do like my food pretty salty, but most times I call for salt to taste. As long as it doesn’t have bacon or sausage or something that it is inherently high in sodium, you should be able to adjust it to your needs. Thanks, Tara!

      Reply

  25. I make this recipe at least twice a month — it’s becoming one of my all-time favorites! I usually add a bit more chili powder for some extra spice. Thanks for sharing it!

    Reply

  26. My daughter and I tried this recipe today and let’s just say she’s asked for 2nd’s, twice! It’s delicious and very flavorful! We tweaked the recipe by cutting back on the chili paste (used 1t vs 2T) as it has a little “kick” and we did not have any rice vinegar. At first we were going to substitute it with Apple Cider Vinegar, but when all was said and done, the dish was so good as is…it didn’t need anything else to enhance the already great flavor! Thanks for the great recipe. Is now a welcomed additon to our dinner rotation!

    Reply

  27. This was soooo delicious and flavorful. I’ve already made it about 5-6 times in the past 3 weeks. Only adjustment I made was used ground ginger.

    Reply

  28. This was absolutely wonderful! The 2nd time I made it I added broccoli with the string beans. My picky teenagers like it! Thinking of using this as a meatball! We’ll see what happens.

    Reply

    • Thank you, Kymi! I’m so glad you liked it!! My husband hates broccoli, or I would try it your way too :) Have a good weekend!

      Reply

  29. Super yum but adjustments were made to accommodate ingredients on hand. Used red onion and 4 cloves of garlic. Subbed sweet chili sauce for garlic chili sauce and 2 tsp oyster sauce for the hoisin (totally thought I had some) Used 1/4 tsp ground ginger for fresh. Added a splash more soy sauce and a sprinkle of roasted garlic powder & coconut sugar (hoisin is pretty sweet) at the end. Really loved it. I think with the hoisin all my adjustments at the end would have been unnecessary.

    Reply

  30. Holy crap this was amazing and so simple to make! I missed the ginger and added extra garlic instead and it was still AMAZZZZZZING! Thank you for this super easy recipe :)

    Reply

  31. Love this recipe!!! I use ground chicken in place of turkey. It’s on our weekly menu rotation! Thank you…

    Reply

  33. I am making this tonight and am wondering if I can add honey to the sauce to lesson the spice as I’m making it for two young children.

    Reply

    • Hi! The finished dish isn’t really that spicy (in my opinion). If you wanted to make it milder, you could use 3 tbsp. hoisin sauce and 1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce. Adding honey isn’t a bad idea either! :) Let me know how you like it!

      Reply

    • Hi, Hermi! I”m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I haven’t tried this recipe in the freezer to be honest. It only takes about as long to make as it does to cook the rice, so I just do it all at once when I’m ready to eat. I’m going to post your question over at my reader forums https://wearychef.com/forums/ to see if anyone else might be able to answer!

      Reply

  35. Thank you for this recipe. I am going to try it for lunch. I am going to substitute the hoisin for Oyster sauce and wholeweat noodles as that’s what I have in! Hopefully it will taste as good! Thanks

    Reply

  36. Found this recipe on Pinterest! I am always looking forward to recipes with ground turkey with some FLAVOR, which this absolutely did! Loved it!!!!!! Will be making this frequently!

    Reply

  37. I LOVE this recipe. I have made it a million times (well, not that many), but it is so good that I crave it. SO yummy! I am close enough to drive to Chinatown in San Francisco, and I wouldn’t even know where to get it to even have it in person. I am so glad that I can make it at home whenever I want.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Melissa! It means a lot to me if you are so close to Chinatown and make my recipe instead :)

      Reply

  39. I made this last night and it was soooo good! Reminded me of the lettuce wraps you get at PF Changs but in a stir fry. I will definitely make it again. I added mushrooms and used sweet onion instead of green (because that’s what I had) and it was amazing. Thank you so much for this recipe!

    Reply

    • Oh, Kelli, thanks so much! I’m so happy to hear that it has made a repeat appearance at your house. Have a good week!

      Reply

  41. Soooooo tasty! My family loved it. I left out the chili sauce for my two toddlers and just added it to the adults plates. Thank you!

    Reply

  42. Andi,

    I found your recipe today while looking for something to do with the ground turkey I had in the fridge…it was really fantastic! I don’t normally leave comments on the things I try but it was so good, so full of flavor – my 12-year old and I both really loved it – I just had to tell you.

    I will definitely try more of your recipes :)

    Your new fan,
    d.

    Reply

    • Hi, Donna! Thank you so much for your comment. I feel flattered since you don’t usually leave them :) I’m very happy to have you as a new reader, and I’ll try my best to keep bringing you more dinners to love! xo

      Reply

    • Thanks, JJ. I like my beans crisp in this dish, but I appreciate the tip for others who like them more tender.

      Reply

    • Hi, Diane. I’m so sorry. I thought I had already answered this! Yes, you can just double the hoisin sauce and leave out the chili garlic sauce. Or, if you have another sauce like Chinese black bean sauce on hand, you could use that instead. Hope that helps, and thank you!

      Reply

  46. I’m not a ground turkey lover but saw your post on Pinterest and had to try it. I must say your recipe totally made me forget I was eating ground turkey. The spices and hoisin compliment turkey well and absorb throughout this dish. I didn’t really care for the green beans and will try with asparagus or broccoli next time. Thanks for sharing

    Reply

    • So glad you liked it, Andrea (well, except for the green beans). I think it would be delicious with broccoli, but unfortunately my husband hates the stuff. Enjoy an extra helping for me :)

      Reply

    • Hi, Lisa! It’s not very spicy, but if you want to make it even more mild, leave out the chili sauce and add extra hoisin sauce to make up for it. Hope that helps. Thanks for asking :)

      Reply

  48. Making this for dinner again tonight–it is one of my fiance & my all time favorite quick & healthy meals! We have been making it ever since I stumbled across your recipe about a year ago. The flavors are perfect–we usually use sriracha (because we already have it) and add a little extra hoisin to control the spice.
    I just wanted to finally leave a comment to let you know how much we love this dish! :)

    Reply

  50. This dish was yummy and easy to make, which is always a plus for me. I added in sliced mushrooms with the greenbeans and doubled up on the sauce, because I love my rice saturated too. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I look forward to making it again!

    Reply

  52. i don’t usually comment on recipes, this is actually my first time, but I had to let you know how amazing this recipe is! I tried it for the first time tonight and my hubby and kids loved it! My 6 year old doesn’t like green beans but she ate all of her dinner and asked for more! Only thing I did differently was halve the amount of garlic chili sauce because of the kids. But otherwise I followed the recipe and it was great! Thanks for posting!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Shalana! I’m so flattered that you would break your commenting silence for me :) I’m very happy to hear that you all liked this recipe so much!

      Reply

  53. Wonderful!!!!! I used fresh green beans and some canned and a bit more of sriracha. My family loved it! Definitely a keeper.

    Reply

    • Hi, Heather! I bet you will be able to find the vinegar in the Asian or salad dressing section of your store. If not (or if you don’t want to buy it), you could try white wine vinegar instead. Thanks for stopping by :)

      Reply

  56. What is housing sauce? And does it have to be used and can I make the Chinese green beans rice and ground turkey with out it?

    Reply

    • Hi, Heather! Hoisin sauce is a Chinese sauce that’s usually pretty easy to find in the Asian section of your grocery store. It’s a little sweet and a little salty. You could substitute black bean sauce or even bottled teriyaki sauce (both also found in the Asian section). I hope that helps!

      Reply

  57. This was great! I am always looking for ground turkey recipes that aren’t bland.. I substituted apple cider vinegar with a pinch of sugar since I did not have seasoned rice vinegar on hand. The heat was in the background of the dish, which was perfect! Thanks, we’ll be adding this to our regular rotation.

    Reply

  58. Am I missing something?? Where’s the recipe…all I see is the list of ingredients! Help! I’ve got everything ready to go and it’s time to start dinner but I can’t figure out where the recipe actually is. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi, Katie. I’m so sorry I just saw this! I looked at the post, and the recipe looks fine for me. I’m not sure what went wrong on your end. I hope your dinner plans weren’t ruined. Are you still not able to see it? You can always email me if you need a quick response and I’m not answering your question: andi@wearychef.com.

      Reply

    • Sorry for not getting back to you, Brittany. I don’t have the nutritional info for my recipes, but I’ll work on adding that feature. Thank you!

      Reply

  60. Hi, I keep trying to click on the chili garlic sauce link and it just keeps bringing me back to this page. What are the ingredients to make it?
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi, Adrianna. Thank you for letting me know there was a problem with that link. Sorry about that! I fixed it now, but it is a link to the product on Amazon to show you what it looks like (not a recipe). It is a pre-made sauce in a jar that can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store. Thank you!

      Reply

  61. What is the chili garlic sauce? The link just leads to the same recipe page. I’d love to try the recipe but don’t want to miss a crucial ingredient!

    Reply

    • Hi, Kelsey. Sorry, I’m not sure what went wrong with that link but I fixed it. It just goes to the product page on Amazon to show you what it looks like, but you can find it in the Asian section of most grocery stores. Thank you!

      Reply

  62. Found this on Pinterest. Made it for dinner tonight, and it is delicious! Just enough spice for me. I boiled the beans a little, as my guy doesn’t like super-crisp beans. So yummy!

    Reply

  63. This is possibly the best recipe I’ve ever found. Made it for dinner for my hubby and I last night and neither of us could stop raving about it. I hope he won’t be annoyed when I make it every night for the rest of the week…

    Reply

  64. Hi, I made this recipe for dinner tonight. It was good, great flavor but Oh my! So spicy…I wasn’t sure about the Chili garlic sauce and used Sriracha (I used 1 table spoon instead of 2) but still very spicy…I am not sure I used the right sauce…. So what kind of chili garlic sauce did you used in this recipe? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Yikes I bet that was spicy! The chili garlic sauce I used is in the Chinese food section with things like black bean sauce, hoisin sauce, etc. I hope you were still able to enjoy it! I’ll check the recipe to make sure the link to the sauce is still working. I put it there to show what kind I was talking about. Thank you, Maryse!

      Reply

  65. So unbelievably delish! My turkey to bean ratio was off…with more beans (Costco giant pack). So I upped the hoisin, soy and vinegar. Perfect! Spicy, but not burn-off-your-mouth-so-you-can’t-eat-another-bite spicy (yes, I am baby when it comes to spicy). Didn’t miss the beef at all. Thanks for a perfect, inexpensive twist in our meal plan!!

    Reply

    • Wow, Wendi! Thanks so much for this rave review! You made me want to make this again this week. It’s a favorite around here too, but I haven’t gotten around to making it in a while. Hope you’ve had a nice weekend :)

      Reply

  66. This looks really great, but I’m wondering about the heat factor. I have two little guys that will eat almost anything, and can even deal with a little heat, but not a lot. Any thoughts on the chili garlic sauce or substitutions for such to bring it down a bit?

    Reply

    • Hi, Jen! You could just double the hoisin sauce and leave out the chili garlic sauce. It’s not that spicy as written, but I understand what you mean. My boys won’t eat food if there is even a hint of spiciness! I hope you like the recipe :)

      Reply

  67. Tried this for dinner last night and it met *every* one’s stamp approval. It was delicious and it was easy and even the picky eaters raved over it. What more can you ask?

    I used frozen whole green beans and just cooked them until hot.

    Thanks for an amazing recipe.

    Reply

  68. I have made so many of your recipes and we LOVE them! Yours is my go to site when I am looking for ideas. But although this one tasted great it was very dry any idea where I went wrong? I’d love to make it again but my hubby must have sauce/gravy for his rice. Any suggestions would be appreciated and thanks for all your hard work on the site, I LOVE it!

    Reply

    • Hi, Chrystal. Thank you so much for this sweet message! I appreciate it so much!

      I can understand wanting more sauce. Here’s what I would do: Add 2 tbsp. more of hoisin sauce. At the end of cooking, stir 1 tbsp. corn starch into 1/4 c. cold water, and stir that into the skillet. That should give you a bit more sauce, and you could stir in up to another 1/4 c. water to thin it more. Give it a taste and add a little more soy sauce or chili sauce if needed. I haven’t tried this, but I think it will turn out the way you want. Have a good weekend!

      Reply

  70. Made this last night and it was so tasty! I switched out the white rice with brown and added some cooked lentils for added nutrients. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

    • Hi, Alisha! I’m so glad you liked it, and I really appreciate that you took the time to come back and let me know. Lentils in the rice sound great. I’ve started to switch mostly to brown rice too. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I actually prefer the chewy texture. Thanks for your comment :)

      Reply

  71. LOVE this recipe! I never thought ground turkey could turn in to something so flavorful! Can you list the nutrition content by chance?

    Reply

    • Thank you, Heather! Unfortunately, I don’t usually calculate the nutritional value of my recipes because I don’t have an easy way to do it. I know I saw a site once where you could paste in recipe ingredients and calculate the nutritional facts, but I can’t find it again. I’ll look again and email you if I find it. Thanks again for your sweet comment :)

      Reply

  72. I usually but a whole turkey when it’s super cheap and then figure out what to do with it later. Since it’s so close to the holidays I didn’t want to make my regulars and this sounds wonderful. But we are on a super tight budget too, I was wondering if I could use Sriracha Chili sauce and if that is the chili garlic sauce you are referring too? Also I only have rice vinegar in the house what is the seasoned kind seasoned with, could I just add seasonings to it? Thank you.
    We tried your Bacon Cheddar Ranch Burgers with Parmesan Ranch Chips last night. Great burger a new staple in our house but I wasn’t able to get the dry buttermilk powder at my grocery and I may have left out the Parmesan because they were a little flat. But I will try them again when I can get the buttermilk and be SURE to add the Parmesan. lol

    Reply

    • Hi, Chrystal. I’m sorry for not replying sooner! I got sidetracked researching alternatives to the chili garlic sauce and seasoned rice vinegar and forgot to actually respond. I think you will still enjoy the turkey and green beans if you make some substitutions. Just give it a taste and see if it might need extra garlic, soy sauce, salt, or something like that if it seems too plain.

      The powdered buttermilk seems pricey, I think $4 or $5 for the canister, but it ends up being much cheaper than buying ranch dressing packets. I’ve used it a lot and still have probably half left! I’m so happy you liked the burgers. Thanks a lot for your comment and questions :)

      Reply

    • Thanks, Paula! I was used to using my Sony camera in manual mode, so that helps, but the controls are different so there’s still a learning curve. It’s hard to spend time learning a new camera when you just want to take your picture and eat! ;)

      Reply

  76. This looks really great! I don’t eat beef so I am always looking for different recipes that include ground turkey instead of ground beef. I’m pinning this!

    Reply

  77. We love Asian food! I have never had it with ground turkey, but I’m will to give it a shot :) Awesome photo!!!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Carrie! I was a little surprised how good it was just because I don’t usually think of turkey for stir fry.

      Reply

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