Rice just got a new best friend with this delicious, saucy Asian Green Beans and Mushrooms. It makes for a perfectly healthy, quick weeknight dinner that the whole family will love. Tender-crisp green beans, earthy mushrooms, and hearty chickpeas combined with an amazing umami sauce that is super tasty and satisfying. This week’s awesome Whip It Up Wednesday recipe is sure to put a smile on your face!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
This week’s Whip It Up Wednesday is our amazing Asian Green Beans and Mushrooms. If you love the Asian cuisine like I do, then you will fall in love with this beautiful dish.
The tender-crisp green beans pair perfectly with the earthy mushrooms and the sauce, don’t even get me started. The sauce has just the right flavors for a great umami taste bud experience.
Whip it up Wednesday
As you already know, every Wednesday, we feature a quick and easy recipe that can be “whipped up” in 20 minutes or less. This recipe can be made in about 20 minutes, even faster if you buy sliced mushrooms.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
Take Out
Look out “Take-Out,” this dish is so tasty, you won’t ever miss Chinese take-out again. This Whole Food Plant Based recipe is a nod to the classic Asian food fare with some obvious changes, of course.
This veggie packed dish is simple and easy to prepare, and it was gone in a flash!
The Hardest Part
The hardest part of this recipe is finding that perfect balance of tender-crispness of the green beans that satisfies everyone in the family.
Dad typically likes his green beans in “mush” form. Mom likes tender green beans, but not mush, and I like them very crisp. It’s kind of a Goldilocks experience for green beans in our house.
We found that boiling them for 8 minutes (from the start of the boil process) made everyone in our family happy. They weren’t super crisp, but they weren’t mush either. They fell right in the middle, even Dad enjoyed them.
We hope you give it a try, it’s pretty gosh-darned yummy! If you try this flavorful dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
We hope you enjoy our new Whip It Up Wednesday quick and easy ideas!
More Asian Take Out Ideas:
- Vegan Chinese Pepper “Steak”
- Fast and Easy Sesame Noodles
- Orange Veggie Stir Fry
- Vegan Spicy Honey Garlic Stir Fry
- General Tso’s Broccoli Mushroom Stir Fry
- Veggie Lo Mein
- Szechuan Veggie Stir Fry
Products Used:
- Large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven, skillet or similarly sized pot.
Asian Green Beans and Mushrooms
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 20 Minutes
- Yield: 3-4 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
This 20 minute Asian Green Beans and Mushrooms is brimming with healthy ingredients, bathed in amazing umami sauce, and sure to put a smile on your face! Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
Green Bean Ingredients:
- 1 – 1b. fresh green beans *
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- Pinch baking soda
- Sprinkle sea salt *
Skillet Ingredients:
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced *
- 1 Tablespoon tamari *
- 1 teaspoon water
- ¾ cup chickpeas *
Sauce Ingredients:
- 3 Tablespoons tamari *
- 3 Tablespoons organic maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- ½ teaspoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon chili garlic paste (+/-) *
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable broth *
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (or thickener of choice) *
Optional Toppings/Sides
- Sesame seeds
- Sliced green onions
- Sriracha sauce
- Steamed rice
Instructions
- Place the fresh green beans and smashed garlic cloves into a large skillet, cover with water, heat until boiling, then add a pinch of baking soda. Low boil for 5 minutes, then add the sprinkle of sea salt to the water, and continue a low boil until the green beans have reached the desired tenderness (approximately 3 additional minutes for us or 8 minutes in total). Then remove the green beans and smashed garlic and place them on a plate (discard the water) and set aside until ready to use.
- In the meantime, place all the Sauce Ingredients into a small bowl, whisk, set aside.
- In an enamel/ceramic lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, place the sliced mushrooms and one Tablespoon of tamari and a teaspoon of water, sauté for 4 minutes over medium heat to release some of the water from the mushrooms. Then push the mushrooms to the side of the pan and add the sauce, increase the heat and cook the sauce until it thickens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the chickpeas and green beans. Gently stir and toss to coat the mushrooms, green beans and chickpeas. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat, serve over rice and garnish with your favorite toppings.
Notes
*Tips for Success: Frequently taste test the green beans to ensure they are the desired tenderness. They will not get any more tender once the sauce is added, so it is important that you test them for the desired level of tenderness before adding them to the sauce. The baking soda speeds up the tenderizing of the green beans. Don’t add the sea salt at the same time as the baking soda, they tend to counteract each other. That is why you are boiling the green beans for 5 minutes before seasoning them with the sea salt after the 5-minute mark.
*Green Beans Tenderness: We used fresh green beans. The addition of baking soda enhances the softening of the exterior cellular wall of the green beans to break down faster (soften quicker). We prefer tender-crisp green beans. If using frozen green beans, then you may wish to omit the baking soda. Simmer frozen beans, largely dependent upon how tender you like your green beans. If using canned green beans, then there is no need to boil the green beans, just add them at the same time when you add the chickpeas. Fresh or frozen green beans work best in this recipe.
*Mushrooms: You can use your favorite mushroom as just about any mushroom works well in this dish. We used white button mushrooms. If you do not like mushrooms, you can add about ½ cup of extra chickpeas.
*Cornstarch: You can substitute the cornstarch for arrow root powder. Additionally, once you add the sauce, make sure you cook the sauce for at least 3 minutes to ensure the cornstarch is cooked through (in Step 3). If you don’t cook it enough, you may get this very subtle hint of “cornstarchy” flavor that comes through in the final dish.
*Chickpea Substitutions: Don’t like chickpeas, feel free to substitute with your favorite bean in an equal amount. Edamame would be a fantastic substitute.
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Chili Garlic Sauce: We used Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce. This brand does have a small amount of sugar. However, this brand is generally accepted by the WFPB community.
*Add Ins: If you are looking to add soy curls, baked tempeh or tofu, you may wish to 1 ½ times or double the sauce recipe to ensure that there is enough sauce to coat everything. Soy Curls really “drink up” sauce, so we suggest making extra sauce if adding in soy curls.
*Serving: 3 to 4
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
Made this tonight and it was fabulous!
Hi there Andrea 🙂
Yaaaay!!!! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this dish! Thank you so much for your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this tonight – April 20, 2020. It was so good. I used half the maple syrup and I left out the vegetable stock, tahini, and tomato paste – added 2 tablespoons of just water instead and increased the amount of chilli garlic sauce, and it’s perfect. Thank you so much
Hi there Amandeep 🙂
Wooooot! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your adjustments with us. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Love this. Didn’t have green bean so substituted asparagus and carrots. Maybe next time I’ll try it with green beans then maybe not it was so good with the substitutions.
Hi there Diane 🙂
Woo Hoo! We are SUPER excited that you loved this dish! Love the idea of asparagus and carrots all coated in that sauce – Mmmmm! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your wonderful feedback with us.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Oh, this sure made those bland old green beans zing! I could have eaten the whole recipe, but I saved some for lunch the next day. Definitely making this again.
Hi there Helene 🙂
Woot woot! We are so thrilled to hear this dish delivered on flavor and that you will be making it again! Thank you so much for your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Made this tonight. Very good!
Hi there Jana 🙂
Yaaaayyy!!! We are SUPER excited that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This recipe is so delicious! It is on my regular rotation.
Hi there Courtney 🙂
Awesome!!! We are so thrilled you enjoyed this recipe and added it to your regular rotation. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight. Wow! It was better than anything I’d get at our local Chinese restaurant and so much healthier. I substituted black beans for the chick peas and I would certainly do that again. Thank you. I’ll be making this regularly.
Hi there Esther 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious adjustments and wonderful review. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Just found your site and this recipe sounds fabulous. I’m looking forward to making it as soon as I buy the chili garlic sauce. I’m a little concerned about that ingredient, though, as I can’t handle very much spice. If it’s spicy, is there a mild substitute I could use?
Hi there Rosalie 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. You can leave the chili garlic sauce out or use a tiny drop. I hope this helps.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
We made this and it was absolutely delicious! Every bit good as take-out.
Hi there 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. <3 Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
So glad I found your website! I made this two nights ago and it is amazing! Wonderful veggies in a delicious sauce – what’s not to like? I’ll be making this again. Thank you for all the wonderful oil-free recipes!
Hi there Sally 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome review with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Made this tonight but left out the tahini and tomato paste coz I didn’t have any. It was delicious!
Hi there Misty 🙂
Woot! We are glad that you and your family enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate you sharing your wonderful review. Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I make this recipe regularly. It is so good! Sometimes I have it over rice, but sometimes I mix it with brown rice noodles–both are great. I agree with the review that says it’s better than takeout.
Hi there Maria,
YAYYYYY!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! We appreciate your kind words and support.
Thank you so much.
-Ameera and Robin
this is my new favorite!!! I ate 1/2 the pot with all my taste testing so now i will make another LOL the flavors were perfection
Hi there Annette,
WOOO HOOO!!! We are so happy that this dish is your new favorite! Thank you so much for giving it a try! We are thrilled that you enjoyed it!
-Ameera and Robin
I’ve made this a couple of times now, once for my husband and I, and once for company. Big success both times. I omit the chickpeas, because I cannot eat them, and just add more green beans and mushrooms. I am planning to make just green beans with the sauce for Thanksgiving dinner for 21 people and am wondering if I can cook the beans the day before and just heat them up by adding them in when making the sauce?
Hi there Leslie,
Thank you for your question. Absolutely that will work, just don’t overcook them as the green beans will be a little flimsy if over cooked. Green beans are always just a tad bit challenging to get them to the desired tenderness that most people enjoy. Our family is hugely divided on how they like green beans. Some like them tender crisp while others will only eat them if they are super mushy! Best wishes!
-Ameera and Robin
Just made this for dinner tonight , I did have to make a couple of changes .. I had NO clove garlic , so I just used my best guess at jarred garlic and tossed in to cook with the green beans .. and the biggest change would be no mushrooms. My husband hates them and I’m not crazy about them , so aside from adding the extra chickpeas , I sliced up a sweet onion and cooked them in place of the mushrooms. My husband absolutely loves the sauce .. he is a saucy guy .. so I had… Read more »
Hi there Marlene,
WOOO HOOO!!! We are so happy that you gave this recipe a try and made it your own with a few changes. YAYYY!!! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a fantastic review of this recipe.
-Ameera and Robin
10/10. This was so good. The only thing I did differently was using more green beans because I had more. Such a good recipe to ease me back into whole food plant based cooking.
Hi there Kate,
YAYYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try and leaving us a fantastic review.
-Ameera and Robin