Stir-Fried Cumin Green Beans and Chicken

By Melissa Clark

Updated July 24, 2026

  • Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog.
Media 1 of 2
Ready In
25 min
Rating
5(1,370)
Comments
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The most time-consuming part of any stir-fry is chopping the ingredients into small, quick-cooking pieces. But in this very savory recipe, using ground meat streamlines the process. The tiny bits of ground chicken are also better at absorbing the seasonings, fully taking on the flavors of garlic, cumin, ginger and soy sauce, all brightened by a dash of rice vinegar. The ground chicken (or turkey) gives this a subtly meaty flavor, letting the vegetables and aromatics take center stage. But feel free to substitute ground pork, beef or lamb, if you want something richer and brawnier.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 2 tablespoons neutral-tasting oil, such as peanut, sunflower or grapeseed, plus more if needed

  • 1 pound ground chicken or turkey, preferably dark meat

  • 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

  • 8 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths

  • 2 red or green chiles, seeded or not, thinly sliced

  • 5 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

  • ¼ cup cilantro or basil leaves and tender stems, chopped, plus more for serving

  • 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, plus more for serving

  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce, plus more to taste

  • 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce or ½ teaspoon honey

  • Cooked white rice or rice noodles, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

20 grams carbs; 71 milligrams cholesterol; 265 calories; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 8 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 603 milligrams sodium; 29 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

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

    Heat a large (12-inch) skillet or wok over medium-high for 1 minute. Add oil and heat for another 30 seconds — it should be hot but not smoking.

  2. Step 2

    Stir in chicken and ¾ teaspoon salt. Cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until browned and crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

  3. Step 3

    Return pan to heat and add more oil if it looks dry. Stir in green beans and stir-fry until they are crisp, tender and bright green, 1 to 3 minutes. Stir in chiles, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute longer.

  4. Step 4

    Return chicken to skillet, along with chopped cilantro, vinegar, soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Stir briefly to combine. Taste and add more vinegar and soy sauce if needed. Top with more chopped cilantro, and serve with rice or noodles if you like.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,370 user ratings
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Comments

Raffa

Why would you add the ginger garlic chillies cumin later, AFTER frying the beans? Start off with them in this order: Cumin, till popping Chillis Ginger and garlic. Once fragrant, add beans - they will take the flavors of these much better. Also, I would not fry the ground meat to crispness, it will harden. It should remain soft, just undercooked, and fully cook when you add it back in. Last, Western basil and cumin don’t pair well. Prefer fresh coriander or mint, preferably Asian mint varieties.

Sabina

Am I in the minority by hating the taste and texture of barely cooked green beans?

Stephen in NJ

I'm in the other camp - I like them "crisp-tender." But the good news is that in this recipe, the green beans are the only ingredient in the pan when they're cooked. So instead of the recommended 1-3 minutes, maybe cook them for 3-5 minutes or even longer, to your liking. Because they're the only thing in the pan, there's no danger of over-cooking another ingredient. I bet it'll work.

Kathy G

I made it by the recipe except cut back on salt and used Thai basil instead of regular. Beans were cooked enough and it was very tasty but it was very dry over rice. With the leftovers, I added chicken broth and it was much improved.

Deedee P.

I added garlic powder to the ground chicken while it was cooking out of habit. I also added a few of the bigger basil stems and fished them out when the chicken was done. This is a keeper of a recipe. Adding fresh basil at the end brought it to another level and didn’t clash with the cumin at all. I usually go with cilantro when given the option, but I’m glad I chose basil for this dish. I doubled the recipe and am happy I did so. It was very good! Extremely flavorful, relatively quick, great on a hot day, and nutritious to boot.

cary

loved the flavor but it came out very dry.

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