Toss Green Beans With This Crunchy Condiment And You'll Genuinely Crave Them Every Day

Behind perhaps only broccoli, green beans have to be one of the most universally enjoyed vegetables. They may not have shown up yet as America's favorite vegetable, but the delicate texture and mild flavor mean that they are generally a crowd pleaser. Or, at least, they are when made properly. A bland dish of overcooked mush isn't topping anyone's list, but a side of crisp, well-seasoned green beans is a surefire hit. And, as it turns out, you only need to bring one condiment to the table in order to season your green beans to perfection: chili crisp.

For those who have never tried it before, chili crisp is essentially a seasoned chili oil with a bunch of other ingredients tossed in to give it not just a balance of spicy, salty, and sweet flavors, but also a delightful crunch. Unlike standard chili oil, which is really just oil infused with chilies for heat, chili crisp also gets ingredients like Sichuan peppercorns, shallots, garlic, sesame seeds, peanuts, and crunchy soybeans, making it much more complex. On top of that, the sauce is typically seasoned with salt, sugar, and MSG, allowing it to hit all of those delightful sweet, salty, and savory notes at once.

With a description like that, it shouldn't be hard to understand how chili crisp is the single ingredient you need to turn bland green beans into the kind of side dish that will have everyone at the table scrambling for seconds. Just grab a jar from the list of the best brands of chili crisp, and you're almost there.

There really isn't much in the world of food that isn't improved by chili crisp. You can use it to dip dumplings, mix it into chicken salad, or even drizzle it over vanilla ice cream. Essentially, however you choose to add it to your green beans, you are probably going to make them better. For the best results, though, we do have some suggestions.

Start with a recipe like these quick pan-fried Chinese green beans. You don't need to make the sauce, as chili crisp will serve that role, but the technique for the beans will deliver them nice and crisp to the serving dish. Then all you have to do is toss them with your desired quantity of chili crisp — just keep tasting until you reach the perfect level — and you're ready to eat. It doesn't get much simpler. If you have a hankering for something a bit more complex, however, the option is there. There are countless ways to add flavor to green beans, and many of them work nicely with this flavor profile as well. You can try, for example, adding some additional peanuts or crunchy soybeans to the mix, accentuating the "crisp" aspect of the dressing. You could also try roasting or air-frying the beans to show a different side of the vegetable. Or, to add the final missing layer of flavor, try adding a dash of complex tang with the unique Chinese black vinegar.

With green beans and chili crisp, you can make things as simple or as involved as you like. Just those two ingredients alone make a perfectly delicious dish, but they can also serve as the base from which you construct something elegant and elaborate.