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My sautéed bok choy recipe is seasoned with soy-garlic Asian flavors and cooks in just five minutes. It makes the perfect veggie side dish!
Love sauteed vegetables? Try my sauteed potatoes, sauteed brussels sprouts, sauteed spinach, and sauteed carrots next.
My family loves my bok choy stir fry, but when we want some simple greens to pair with dinner, sauteing the bok choy on its own is always a winner. It’s quick to cook, needs very few seasonings, and pairs well with almost anything.
What is bok choy?
Bok choy or pak choi is a kind of Chinese cabbage often used in Asian cuisine. It has dark green top leaves and a light, crunchy base. In supermarkets, you get two kinds of bok choy- the young baby bok choy or the mature one with large green leaves.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Incredible texture. My combination of seasonings gives the bok choy a sticky, caramelized exterior and a juicy, soft interior.
- Five-ingredient recipe. With minimal savory ingredients and bok choy, you’ll have one of the tastiest sides ever.
- Perfect side dish. You can pair this veggie with pretty much anything!
- Healthy. Bok choy is rich in vitamins C and K, minerals, and antioxidants and has few calories (source).
Ingredients needed
- Bok choy. Pick fresh, clean bok choy and cut each bunch in quarters. Retain their cores. I find more and more grocery stores stock it, but if all else fails, any Asian grocery store will have it.
- Garlic. Freshly minced please, not the dried kind.
- Sesame oil. Only a little is used because it’s quite the flavor powerhouse!
- Olive oil. I prefer using olive oil for skillet recipes, but any neutral oil like avocado, sunflower, or canola will work for this recipe.
- Soy sauce. To make the tasty, umami-flavored sauce for sautéing bok choy.
How to sauté bok choy
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Scrub, wash and clean the bok choy thoroughly. Using a sharp knife, chop each bunch into four quarters and set aside.
Step 2- Sweat aromatics. To a large non-stick skillet (or wok), add oil and sesame oil. Add minced garlic and cook it at medium heat to prevent it from burning.
Step 3- Cook. Stir fry bok choy with oil and garlic for a minute. Add soy sauce and water, cover it with a lid, and cook bok choy for roughly 3 minutes until softened.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Soak bok choy in water. To get rid of the dirt from the bok choy, soak it in water for 10-15 minutes. Rinse and pat dry clean bok choy before using.
- Don’t overcook bok choy. Overcooking will result in wilted, dull bok choy without any crunch. To avoid this unpleasant texture, remove it from the heat as soon as it softens (for me, I check around the 4-minute mark).
- No need to add salt. Because soy sauce contains lots of salt, you don’t need to add it again to season bok choy. Adjust the salt to your taste if you use a low-sodium soy sauce.
- Cut in even-sized pieces to ensure this dish cooks at the same time.
Variations
- Add a splash of acidity. Vinegar or lemon juice will add brightness to the dish. Finish the bok choy with just a teaspoon of choice of your acid and toss the bok choy before serving.
- Add in other veggies. Add mushrooms or broccoli to the mix with bok choy for a generous helping of veggies.
- Use baby bok choy. Baby bok choy has a sweeter taste and cooks faster. You can easily substitute regular bok choy with baby one in this recipe.
Storage instructions
To store. Leftover bok stores well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
To freeze. I highly recommend not freezing bok choy as it will ruin the texture of the tender leaves.
To reheat. Heat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds before eating.
Frequently asked questions
No, it is not. But you can substitute regular soy sauce with gluten-free soy sauce to make it gluten-free.
Yes, just like cabbage, you can enjoy it raw as a part of a salad or relish or as a soup topping.
First, cut bok choy along the length to make halves. Then, cut them again lengthwise into two halves. This way, you’ll have four quarters with long leaves still attached to the white stalks.
More vegetable sides
- Butter beans
- Great northern beans
- Microwave baked potato
- Chinese eggplant
- Or any of my vegetable side dish recipes
Sautéed Bok Choy
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound bok choy quartered
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- Add oil and sesame oil to a non-stick skillet and place over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute before adding the bok choy and cook for another minute. Add the soy sauce and a few spoons of water and cover the pan. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove the bok choy from the heat and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally updated August 2023, updated and republished November 2024
This fish looks really good. I would like to try it for the first time!
Perfect LOVED IT!