4 Ingredient Bok Choy Stir Fry Recipe (2024)

Quick and easy bok choy stir-fry with just 4 ingredients. You can use dwarf or mature bok choy to make this Asian side dish.

Ingredients

• Bok Choy — Use any fresh bok choy variety to make this. You might have to cut larger bok choy leaves into two. I used Shanghai bok choy in my pictures and video, which seems to be the most commonly available bok choy in Western countries.
• Oil — If you have only regular vegetable oil, canola, or sunflower oil at home, use that. If you want more Asian flavors, get a high smoking point sesame oil or a peanut oil. Cold-pressed oils are better quality oils.
• Ginger + Garlic — I like to add some ginger and garlic paste because it's effortless, accelerates the cooking process and the paste mixes in seamlessly. On the other hand, freshly grated ginger and garlic are way more flavorful and preferred if you want real flavors.
• Soy Sauce — Chinese soy sauce or Japanese Kikkoman soy sauce. You can also try this recipe with mushroom soy sauce.

Tip: Instead of the soy sauce, you can use my universal 3 ingredient stir-fry sauce.

🍲 How to clean fresh Bok Choy?

Bok choy stalks need to be separated from each other because mud and dirt can get trapped in between (just like leeks).

Washing and cutting the bulb in half without separating the leaves isn't a good idea because mud and impurities get trapped between the leaves.

I separate the stalks first and remove damaged or yellow leaves (if any) and then I rinse off each leave with clean running water.

Then pat dry leaves to get rid of the water. This is important because the leaves should not be placed wet into the pan when the oil is hot, or else your oil will jump up.

I like to trim off the small “root” pieces (hanging from where the stalks were attached to each other) with the help of scissors or a knife.

Once clean, you can cook your bok choy leaves now!

🔪 How to cook it?

This has been the easiest and fastest way so far to prepare fresh bok choy, and it's totally vegan, plant-based.

You will only need one skillet, 4 ingredients and 10 minutes of your time.

Step 1

Heat up a wok or deep pan with oil.

Add ginger and garlic when hot and place bok choy leaves into your hot pan.

Cook on one side for a minute over high heat.

Step 2

Turn your bok choy leaves in the pan to cook on the other side.

Pour soy sauce over the bok choy and keep on stir cooking over high heat for a minute or so.

Your stir cooked bok choy is done when the green leaves have reduced in size and the stem is still crunchy but softer.

Serve up hot as it or with a garnish, such as red chili pepper crushed or powder, sesame seeds or chopped green onion stalks.

Flavor variations

To garnish, you can sprinkle red pepper flakes (as seen in the picture) or sesame seed or sesame oil over the cooked bok choy.

Another idea is to sprinkle some oyster sauce, hoisin sauce or teriyaki sauce over the cooking bok choy when you add the soy sauce.

Furthermore, you have the option of adding some honey to the dish during the cooking process if you want to add some sweetness to your dish.

Another secret tip is using tamarind paste. It's sour, and a small quantity can take your bok choy experience to a whole new level!

You can also add a protein of your choice, such as chicken, beef, duck, pork, tofu, shrimp, fish, squid, eggs.

To achieve that, follow my chicken and cabbage recipe but use bok choy instead of the napa cabbage.

Or you can stir in cooked leftover meats or rotisserie meats at the end of the cooking process. This is a great idea if you have meat leftovers.

Serving Ideas

Serve this quick and easy bok choy side dish with Asian main course meals as a side dish.

• noodle bowls such as chow mein, yakisoba, ramen, udon, soba, pad thai.
• fried rice, plain rice bowl or a Buddha bowl. I love this stir-fried bok choy with salmon furikake and Japanese cooked rice. So good!
• kimchi
• baked or fried tofu
• Asian curry (with rice)
• stir cooked shrimp, chicken, or beef
• baked or pan-fried salmon
• omelette
• a fried egg (my personal favorite)

Storing

You can keep leftovers of your stir-fried bok choy in an airtight container in your fridge.

That way, you can add it to your weekly meal prepping plan for your lunch. I do this all the time!

Reheat it in a skillet over the stove top, in a microwave or in the oven.

I wouldn't recommend freezing this dish. Instead, prepare it from scratch in a few minutes to make the most of your bok choy.

More Bok Choy Recipe Ideas

• Bok Choy Soup
• Baked Tofu with vegetables
• Spicy Baby Bok Choy Salad