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Yardlong Beans substitute

Best substitute

Green beans (string beans)

Same weight, cut to the same length

Best for pad prik king and other stir-fries

Different texture

Green beans are the obvious swap and work at the same weight; cut them to the same length but give them two to three minutes less in the pan, and expect a snappier, sweeter, juicier bite instead of the chewy density of long beans. Thin haricots verts are the closest on appearance, and asparagus or Chinese broccoli stems hold up better in a hard stir-fry.

Other yardlong beans substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Yardlong Beans with ratios

  1. 2Haricots verts (thin French beans)

    Different texture

    Same weight

    The slim, elegant version of the green bean.

    What changes
    Best for
    dishes where the beans are visible, quick stir-fries, curries where you want them tender

    Closest visually when cut into lengths, since the diameter is about right. They are also the most delicate thing on this list: 90 seconds in a hot wok is genuinely enough, and if you stir-fry them for the full time a long bean recipe gives, they will collapse into something soft and stringy. Add them last and take the pan off the heat early.

  2. 3Runner beans or flat Romano beans, sliced into long strips

    Close match

    Same weight

    Broad, flat beans cut lengthwise into strips.

    What changes
    Best for
    stir-fries, curries with a longer simmer, the closest chew of any bean

    The best texture match among the beans, because they are dense and chewy in the same way long beans are rather than crisp and watery. They are broader and slightly tougher, so slice them lengthwise into long strips and give them the full cooking time the recipe asks for, or even a minute more. Older runner beans can be stringy, so strip the edges if they feel fibrous.

  3. 4Chinese broccoli (gai lan) stems or broccolini

    Different taste

    Same weight, stems cut into 5 cm lengths

    Sturdy brassica stems that behave like long beans in a wok.

    What changes
    Best for
    hard-fried stir-fries, pad prik king, garlic and oyster sauce style dishes

    These survive high heat and blister and char the way long beans do, which is the quality most substitutes lose. The flavour change is real and obvious: they are distinctly bitter where long beans are mildly beany, so add a small pinch of sugar to the sauce to balance it. Split thick stems lengthwise so they cook at the same rate as the leaves.

  4. 5Asparagus, cut into 5 cm lengths

    Taste and texture differ

    Same weight

    Thin spears cut to bean length.

    What changes
    Best for
    stir-fries, red curry, added at the end, spring cooking

    The right shape and a satisfying fibrous chew, and it looks good on the plate. The flavour is clearly grassy and sweet rather than beany, and it cooks in about three minutes, after which it turns olive-green and floppy, so it belongs at the very end of a curry rather than the start. Use thin spears; thick ones need peeling.

  5. 6Frozen cut green beans

    Different texture

    Same weight, added frozen

    The bag in the freezer, which is fine in a curry and poor in a stir-fry.

    What changes
    Best for
    red curry and jungle curry, soups, when there is nothing fresh in the house

    Worth being honest about: frozen beans have already been blanched, so their cell walls are broken and they will never crisp, blister or snap again. In a simmering curry, where they only need to be hot and tender, they are perfectly good. In a hard stir-fry they release water, steam rather than fry, and go limp. Add them frozen in the last two minutes and do not expect any bite.

What is Yardlong Beans?

Yardlong Beans is Yardlong beans, also sold as long beans, snake beans, Chinese long beans or tua fak yao in Thai, are pencil-thin pods up to half a metre long that are related to cowpeas rather than to common green beans, with a denser, chewier, drier-tasting pod that stands up to hard frying and to being bruised in a mortar.

Cooking tips

  • Long beans want more heat than green beans, not less. Get the pan or wok properly hot and let them blister and freckle in the oil before the sauce goes in. That char is a large part of why a dish like pad prik king tastes the way it does, and it is the first thing lost with a softer swap.
  • They do not need blanching. Long beans go from raw to done in three or four minutes of hard frying, and green bean swaps need less than that, so add the swap after the aromatics rather than at the same time.
  • Cut to suit the job: 5 cm lengths for stir-fries, 2 to 3 cm for red curry so they sit on a spoon, and 4 to 5 cm pieces gently bruised in the mortar for som tam.
  • Check them raw before you cook. Older, thicker long beans can be tough and pithy. Bend one: it should snap cleanly rather than fold. If they bend, cook them in a curry rather than a stir-fry, where the toughness will show.
  • Long beans keep four or five days loose in a bag in the fridge, and they go rubbery well before they look bad. Trim only the stem end; the thin tail end is edible and traditionally left on.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use green beans instead of yardlong beans?

Yes, and it is the standard swap. Use the same weight, cut them to the same length, and cook them two to three minutes less. The bite will be snappier, juicier and sweeter rather than dense and chewy, and they will not blister and char in a wok the way long beans do. Add them slightly later in the cooking than the recipe says.

Can I just leave the long beans out?

Yes, in most curries and stir-fries. They are a vegetable rather than a seasoning, so nothing collapses without them. Add more of another vegetable so you have not just made a bowl of sauce and protein. In som tam they are part of the classic mix alongside the tomato and peanuts, but the salad is still very good without them.

Are yardlong beans the same as green beans?

No, they are different plants. Yardlong beans are a cowpea relative, which is why they taste drier and slightly more beany and have a denser, chewier pod, and why they can take hard frying without going limp. Green beans are more tender, juicier and sweeter. They swap for each other easily as long as you adjust the cooking time.

Do I need to trim or blanch long beans?

Trim the stem end and that is it; the thin tail end is edible and is usually left on. Do not blanch them. They cook through in three or four minutes of frying and blanching first will make them limp and stop them blistering, which is the whole reason for using them in a stir-fry.

Can I eat yardlong beans raw?

Yes, and in Thailand they often are, lightly bruised in som tam or served raw alongside nam prik chili dips. Raw they are firmer and less sweet than green beans. Do not swap raw green beans in for that use: common green beans are better cooked, so blanch them for 30 seconds and cool them in cold water before adding them to a raw salad.

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