Beautifully blistered and glistening Mexican green beans with sauteed onions, sweet tomatoes and jalapeno, all tossed in cilantro and queso fresco are a scene-stealing side that’s ready in a flash.
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This recipe is inspired by the deliciously blistered Chinese-style dry fried green beans we make anytime we’re craving Sichuan food, but once blistered and chewy, adapted to a Mexican-style preparation called a la mexicana, where onion, tomato and jalapeno add a patriotic pop of color to plates of eggs or steak. Ultra-flavorful, garlicky, and as spicy as you’d like, this side dish goes great with just about any protein and can even be upgraded to a light vegetarian main course if you serve it with a hearty grain like brown rice or quinoa, thanks to the addition of cheese!
Chile Peppers
Jalapeno or serrano typically serve as the green part of the colors for the Mexican flag and give a dish a bit of spice. I did use Jalapeno in this dish, but because the ones we’ve been buying recently haven’t been very spicy; I’m cooking for a toddler who has recently taken to telling us things are ‘picoso’ (spicy) when he sees even a speck of chili pepper. It’s pure theatrics of course; he loves staining his fingers red with Takis, but all the same, I’m not trying to get him to refuse to eat his veggies.
If you don’t have a melodramatic three year old in your household and you like spice, go for the serrano. Guaranteed to light your taste buds on fire.
And if you don’t want ANY heat, I’d say you can swap for green bell pepper, but this dish is already pretty green, so you get the visual effect ‘a la mexicana’ strives for without the heat, and I’d probably just omit the chili pepper altogether.
Why You’ll Love These Tomatoey Green Beans
- Light, healthy side dish, which makes it great for accompanying heavier dishes.
- Bursting with flavor. I think green beans get a bad rap; but so often, it’s just because they haven’t been seasoned enough. Using vegetable or chicken broth and Maggi give this dish an extra punch of umami, not to mention the herbaceous cilantro and creamy queso fresco it’s all tossed in right before serving
- Blistered green beans are slightly chewier and way more addictive than your run of the mill sauteed green beans. This blistering technique is achieved using a Chinese cooking technique called ‘dry-frying’ where green beans are cooked in small batches in very, very hot oil. This technique causes green beans to release moisture and become crisp/chewy. If you don’t have stainless steel or cast-iron cookware, I recommend using a wok for this recipe as you want to get your pan rip-roaring hot and/or give your green beans as much surface area to cling to as possible.
Ingredients for Mexican Green Beans
Fresh green beans: I used French green beans here because it’s not green bean season (when I get them by the bag from my parents) and this way they coe prepared and ready to eat. I don’t even take the time to snap them in half.
Jalapenos, white onion and roma tomatoes: The three ingredients you need to convert any dish to ‘a la mexicana’ preparation. (Again, you can swap jalapenos for serrano or green bell pepper, or in this dish, simply leave them out because of the beans.)
Garlic: Feel free to use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder if you don’t have any fresh cloves available to you.
Vegetable oil or some other oil that will stand up to the high heat required to blister the green beans. For convenience, you can use vegetable oil for the whole recipe, or you can switch to olive oil for the second half of cooking, starting when you saute the onions.
Vegetable stock: Using vegetable stock gives you the option to make these vegetarian (or vegan if you omit the cheese), It’s what I used to test this recipe, although, spoiler alert: I accidentally bought veggie stock vs chicken stock, which is my go-to pantry staple. In this recipe we use vegetable stock to give the tomatoes time to cook down a bit, and then we toss our chewy green beans in the sauce that ensues.
Maggi: Maggi is a umami-packed flavor bomb that you will find readily in most Mexican home kitchens. It’s flavor is distinct from that of Worcestershire or soy, but in a pinch, you could use either of these in this recipe.
Cilantro: Fresh, chopped cilantro leaves are optional (in case you are one of those Team Cilantro Tastes Like Soap folks), but tossing your green beans in them before serving is a great way to add bold, fresh herbs to this dish.
Queso fresco: I love adding crumbled cheese to these green beans. It adds an added pop of color and makes these veggies more appealing to the kids.
Oregano: I used dried oregano for a bit of extra flavor in this recipe. Completely optional.
How to Make Mexican Green Beans (Ejotes Toreados a la Mexicana)
- Blister the green beans in batches.
- Saute the onion, jalapenos for 3 minutes. Then add the garlic. Continue to cook for another 90 seconds.
- The, add the tomatoes, the oregano, and ½ of the liquid until it starts to cook down. Then add the other half.
- Combine with the green beans. Season with Maggi, salt, and pepper. Add the other half of the liquid. Saute until liquid thickens up.
- Toss in cilantro and cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
- Serve.
Notes & Tips for A Great Plate of Mexican Green Beans
- You’ll know it’s time to add the green beans when the tomato and broth combo cook down and start to thicken.
- The key to really great green beans (and most food really) is seasoning. Don’t be shy with the salt.
- Most recipes you will find for these green beans a la mexicana blanche the green beans. Alternatively, you could prepare your green beans this way. You can also steam them. Both alternatives will use less oil, but I personally like the taste and texture you get from blistering them.
Serving Suggestions
This sautéed green beans recipe is a versatile side dish. I love it with simple proteins like a juicy steak, baked white fish or this grilled achiote chicken. This would also be delicious served with my family’s Mexican Arroz Rojo (Red Rice) recipe.
📖 Recipe
Blistered Mexican Green Beans
Ingredients
Blistered Green Beans
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or any oil with a high smoke point
- 1 pound french green beans
- ½ teaspoons salt
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
For the Mexican Green Beans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ white onion diced
- ½ jalapeno seeded and deveined, diced small (or to taste)
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 3 roma tomatoes
- ½ cup vegetable stock or chicken
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Prepared blistered green beans from above
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon Maggi or to taste
- ¼ cup cilantro
- ½ cup queso fresco
- Optional: spritz of lemon or lime for serving
Instructions
- Wash, pat dry and trim the tops off the green beans.
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, working in two batches depending on the size of your skillet, fry them for 5-7 minutes or until the green beans turn a deeper shade of green and start blistering. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Using the same skillet, saute the onion and diced jalapenos for 3 minutes. Then add in the garlic and continue to saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and the oregano along with ½ of the liquid to the skillet. Let it start to cook down, and then add in the other half of the liquid.
- Add the green beans back to the skillet with the tomatoes. Season with maggi, salt, and pepper. Cook until the liquid in the pan starts to thicken.
- Toss in cilantro and cheese. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
- Serve. (With a spritz of lemon or lime if you’d like.)
