Vegan Steak and Green Bean Stir Fry with Black Pepper

by Olivia Biermann on Jan 13, 2021 (updated Dec 30, 2025)

This is my favourite beef and green beans stir fry. The juicy, vegan seitan steak and fresh crisp green beans are tossed in a sweet and spicy black pepper sauce. It’s the perfect easy weeknight dinner, served with steamed rice or your favourite noodles.

This dish uses our vegan seitan steak recipe. You can make the steak ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days to slice up when the craving strikes!

I’ve been cooking for well over fifteen years; long enough to know that the dishes I crave most are the ones that taste like they could have come out of a takeout container. A little spicy, a hint of sweet, and unapologetically savoury.

I tested this delightfully peppery vegan beef and green beans recipe until it hit that elusive balance the right texture, the right heat and the utmost satisfaction. It’s the kind of recipe you keep in your back pocket for nights when you want dinner to feel like a reward!

Building depth even in a quick dish is easy!

What over a decade of plant-based cooking has taught me is that flavour doesn’t come from mimicry alone. It comes from timing and contrast. I wanted this recipe to lean into contrast to bring out the depth! Heat versus sweetness, tenderness versus snap.

Pepper isn’t just a spice here; it’s aroma, bitterness and bite all at once. And the green beans aren’t filler or an after-thought; they’re in this recipe to cut through the richness and provide an alternative to the sometimes overdone beef & broccoli cliché.

Liv’s tip for perfect texture

Use a large enough pan to avoid over-crowding. When everything has some space, the steak can actually brown instead of sweating and the sauce can thicken properly.

The texture test (and where you might fail)

Texture is where you often have to be ruthless in a dish like this one. If the steak doesn’t have that crave-worthy chew, or the green beans are soggy, I don’t care how good the sauce is! Keep an eye on the clock when you’re making this recipe and don’t leave the stove for too long!

I tested different cooking times and what I learned matters most is:

The steak pieces only need a few minutes on each side to sear in the hot pan before you add in the green beans.
Only sautée the green beans a few minutes before adding the sauce, because they’ll continue to cook in the pan while the sauce thickens.