Tender bok choy blanched and dressed in a savoury garlicky soy sauce with a hint of sesame. This quick and easy Chinese Garlic Bok Choy is ready in 10 minutes with simple ingredients. Great as a healthy vegetable side dish for the family!
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Garlic Bok Choy features bok choy leaves blanched and topped off with a thick brown sauce made of garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, sugar, water and cornstarch. It's absolutely delicious!
This is a very popular Chinese vegetable dish that is served at many Chinese restaurants or for takeout for good reason!
The bok choy is packed with flavor thanks to the garlic sauce, making it a delicious way to add more fibre to your diet!
If you like a spicy version of this dish, try my Spicy Garlic Bok Choy instead. This version here is not spicy, making it more suitable for kids and those who can't tolerate spice.
Why you'll love this recipe:
- packed with umami flavor!
- easily made with minimal ingredients in little time!
- made in one-pan for easy cleanup.
- great for large families and picky eaters.
- a fantastic way to add fibre to your diet.
- better and cheaper than takeout!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Regular Bok Choy: or substitute with baby bok choy and slice into halves. Or substitute with yu choy sum or gai lan. Bok choy is available at most Asian grocery stores.
Garlic Sauce
- Garlic Cloves
- Oyster Sauce: or substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce. If you're gluten-free, substitute with a gluten free oyster sauce.
- Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you're gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Shaoxing Wine: a Chinese rice cooking wine available at Asian grocers. Or substitute with dry sherry wine, dry white wine or chicken broth.
- Sesame Oil
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch or tapioca starch to thicken the sauce.
- White Granulated Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar.
- Water: room temperature or cold.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
Expert Tips
- Rinse bok choy very well with cold running water, especially in between the leaves to remove hidden dirt or insects.
- Only blanch greens until vibrant green for at most 30-45 seconds or until it turns vibrant green. You don't want to over cook them or they will turn soggy.
- Add neutral oil to boiling water. This is optional but by adding 1 teaspoon of oil into the water, it’ll help make your greens shiny and vibrant. I use any neutral tasting oil, like avocado or vegetable oil.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make garlic bok choy:
- Slice bok choy into halves. Wash in-between the leaves of your bok choy to remove hidden dirt, until water runs clear.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above and set aside.
- Fill a large pan or wok with enough water and bring to boil on high heat. Then blanch the bok choy until the leaves turn vibrant green, about 30-45 seconds. Strain immediately.
- Transfer the bok choy to a large serving plate.
- In a dry pan on medium heat, pour in the sauce and simmer to thicken.
- Pour the thickened sauce over the greens and enjoy!
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing this dish as the leaves may turn mushy.
Pairing Suggestions
Garlic bok choy serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, or fried rice
- chow mein, lo mein, plain noodles, soup noodles
- protein dishes like Sweet Chili Chicken, Szechuan Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Bang Bang Shrimp, Shrimp Omelet, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Garlic bok choy can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat until hot.
📖 Recipe
Easy 10-min. Chinese Garlic Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 1.50 lb Bok Choy or baby bok choy
Sauce
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce or vegetarian stir fry sauce
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine or Dry Sherry Wine / sake / dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch or potato starch / tapioca starch
- ½ teaspoon white granulated sugar or cane sugar
- ½ cup water cold
Instructions
- Slice bok choy into halves. Wash in-between the leaves of your bok choy to remove hidden dirt, until water runs clear.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients as listed above and set aside.
- Fill a large pan or wok with enough water and bring to boil on high heat. Then blanch the bok choy until the leaves turn vibrant green, about 30-45 seconds. Strain immediately.
- Transfer the bok choy to a large serving plate.
- In a dry pan on medium heat, pour in the sauce and simmer to thicken.
- Pour the thickened sauce over the greens and enjoy!
Annara
Delicious. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for leaving such a kind review! Have a lovely day too, Annara!
Darrell Henri
First time cooking Bok Choy and it was delicious. Family wanted more….
Thank you….
Darrell
Christie Lai
I'm very happy to read this and so happy you and your family enjoyed my recipe! Thank you so much for making it!
Corazon Dunn
It is really delicious! I finally cooked bokchoy in a different way! I always just put in in soups. This time I can enjoy it without the soup. Thank you for sharing!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for leaving this positive review! Happy you enjoyed it this way 🙂
Lee
Christie, your recipe is spot on. I prepared it along with steamed pot stickers and it was perfect. I used fresh baby bok choy from our farmers market and my steamed pot stickers. Your sauce is exactly what I have been searching for and it was incredible. I made sure all of the water was drained off the finished bok then added the finished pot stickers on top. I ladled the sauce on top of it and it was, not only beautiful, but absolutely delicious!! No restaurant could be this!! Thanks so much.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing your positive experience, Lee! So happy to hear that it was better than the restaurant and glad it worked well with your delicious sounding meal 🙂 Have a great day!
Dianne
Delicious! It was easily adapted for a vegan main dish: I sauteed sliced cremini mushrooms and diced red onion, then tofu (pressed and cubed) and set them aside, before following your directions. Before adding the incredible sauce to the drained bok choy, I put the other ingredients in the pan. With brown rice, this was both easy and filling. We're definitely going to have this delicious meal often!
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for leaving your kind review, Dianne! Glad it all worked out with those additions and it all sounds so good!
Dan T
Excellent
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for the kind review, Dan!
Yudon
Totally enjoyed this recipe! I added slightly more garlic, sugar and substituted corn flour with potato flour (ran out of the former). Reminds me of what you get when you order at restaurants. Easy to prep too, the most 'tedious' part for me was washing the veg and chopping the garlic. Thanks Christie!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Yudon! Happy you enjoyed it and glad it was like what you ordered at the restaurant.
Khanh
love, love, love this simple and delicious recipe! Making it again tonight for dinner. thank you!
christieathome
Amazing! Thanks for making it and I hope you enjoy it again!
Yudon
Very impressed! Turned my bok choy into an exciting and delicious side dish. Thanks for the recipe!
christieathome
Thanks so much Yudon! Glad you enjoyed it!
Jen
My new favourite vegetable side dish. Will be making again and again!!
christieathome
Thanks for making my recipe! Glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
Linda
I need to make this again! It was so good and easy.
Kim Lange
Looks so simple and deliciously healthy! YUM!
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
Bok choy is something I don't make nearly enough because I love it!!! Can't wait to try this quick version!
Sherri
OHHHEMMMMGEEEEEEE! I am literally obsessed with bok choy and buy tons of it every week at our farmers market. I usually stir fry it or add it ramen but THIS just takes it to a whole new level. The flavor profile is amazing! Can't wait to try! 🙂
christieathome
Thanks so much Sherri! One of my favourite ways to cook it! Glad I could share it with you!
Cambrea gordon
Christie's recipe for Bok Choy is absolutely the best I have ever had. This was the first time I had ever made bok choy that wasn't super bitter and it was SO easy! The flavor of it is delicious and it went really well with her sweet and sour chicken recipe!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my Bok Choy Cam! Happy to hear you enjoyed it and it was easy to make! It's one of my favourite veggie recipes.