Simply sautéed pak choi is the healthy side dish your table has been missing. Enjoy these nutrient-dense vegetables flavored with garlic and ginger and prepared using a simple sautéing method. In just 15 minutes, this easy pak choi recipe is ready to serve alongside your main course.
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Why we love this sautéed bok choy recipe
Bok choy is a delicious variety of Chinese cabbage that is very common in Asian cuisine, but unfortunately underutilized in the United States. This easy bok choy recipe shows how accessible and delicious it is as a sautéed side dish.
Bok choy is also a great low-calorie, fresh and crunchy green vegetable to add to stir-fries like our 15-Minute Roast Pork with Ginger or soups like our Bok Coy Soup. Sauteed pak choi, or pac choi as it’s sometimes called, is perhaps the easiest way to enjoy it.
Recipe Highlights
- Only takes 15 minutes
- budget friendly
- Like other leafy greens, it is low in carbohydrates and calories and high in vitamin K
- Made with simple kitchen clips
Main ingredients for this recipe
- Bok choy: While we love baby pak choi served whole, we prefer chopped mature pak choi for sautéing. Chop and wash in a salad spinner and spin dry before cooking.
- Avocado Oil: Or use another neutral cooking oil like sesame oil.
- Dry Sherry: Can be bought at the liquor store. Avoid cooking sherry, which often contains sodium and tastes slightly different. Alternatively, you can use 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock plus 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar.
- Sesame seeds: Option, used for garnish. Adds decoration and subtle nutty flavor.
Step-by-step instructions for this bok choy recipe
Step 1: Boil garlic and ginger
Heat your oil in a large skillet (not non-stick) over high heat and add the garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and beginning to brown. This should take about 30 seconds.
Step 2: Add bok choy
Stir in the chopped veggies and stalks all at once—the pan will be full, so don’t worry. Add dry sherry and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Let the pak choy cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes so that it softens and collapses.
Step 3: Cook and serve
Remove the lid and sprinkle the pak choi with salt. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the bok choy is crisp, tender, and light green. This should take about 2 to 3 minutes. Finally, stir in the spring onions and remove from the heat, then serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.
FAQs and expert tips
Halve the head of the bok choy in half. Remove the core with a triangular cut. Then chop it crosswise into bite-sized pieces for sautéing. Place in the basket of a salad spinner and submerge in cold tap water. Swish to remove dirt or debris. Drain and spin dry.
We think this recipe is best made fresh, but if there are leftovers you can save them for up to two days. Transfer to a resealable container and store in the fridge.
Heat leftovers in a skillet over high heat until just warmed through. Keep covered for quick reheating and stir frequently. Do not overcook or the bok choy will become mushy.
This can be prepared up to three days in advance. Chop the garlic and ginger and store in a small airtight container. Chop and wash the bok choy. Store in a resealable bag or container with a snap-seal.
What goes well with this bok choy side dish?
Variations to try
- Finally add toasted sesame oil.
- Add red pepper flakes along with the ginger.
- In the last minute of cooking, toss with a little oyster sauce or hoisin sauce for extra flavor.
- Add chopped cooked chicken or shrimp for a little protein.
- Mushrooms go great with this vegetable! At the same time as the pak choi, add 1 cup sliced mushrooms and cook.
More sautéed vegetable recipes to try
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Have fun cooking! ~Kati
description
Simply sautéed pak choi is the healthy side dish your table has been missing. Enjoy these nutrient-dense vegetables flavored with garlic and ginger and prepared using a simple sautéing method. In just 15 minutes, this easy pak choi recipe is ready to serve alongside your main course.
- 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil like avocado
- 2 Garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped ginger root
- 8 cups Minced bok choy, cut into bite-sized pieces (approx 1 Lb)
- 3 tablespoons dry sherry (or 3 tablespoons vegetable broth plush 1 teaspoon rice vinegar)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 Green onions or scallions, chopped
- Sesame seeds, black or white, (optional)
- Heat oil in a large frying pan (not non-stick) over high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and just beginning to brown, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in bok choy (pan is full). Add dry sherry and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes for the bok choy to soften and collapse.
- Remove the lid and sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the bok choy is crispy, tender, and light green, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the spring onions and remove from the stove. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds, if desired.
Remarks
Note on the ingredients
While we love baby pak choi served whole, we prefer chopped mature pak choi for sautéing.
Prepare yourself
This can be prepared up to three days in advance. Chop the garlic and ginger and store in a small airtight container. Chop and wash the bok choy. Store in a resealable bag or container with a snap-seal.
How to chop and clean bok choy
Halve the head of the bok choy in half. Remove the core with a triangular cut. Then chop it crosswise into bite-sized pieces for sautéing. Place in the basket of a salad spinner and submerge in cold tap water. Swish to remove dirt or debris. Drain and spin dry.
- Preparation time: 5 minutes
- Active time: 15 minutes
- Cooking time: 10 mins
- Category: Side dishes
- Method: stovetop
- Kitchen: Asian
nutrition
- Serving size: 1 skimpy cup
- Calories: 109 calories
- Sugar: 2 g
- Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
Keywords: Sauteed Bok Choy, Sauteed Pak Choi, Bok Choy Side Dish, Easy Bok Choy Recipe, Easy Bok Choy Recipe
About the author
Katie Webster
Katie Webster studied art and photography at Skidmore College and is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute. She has been a professional recipe developer since 2001, when she started working in the test kitchen for EatingWell magazine. Her recipes have been featured in numerous magazines including Shape, Fitness, Parents and several Edible Communities publications. Her cookbook Maple {Quirk Books} was published in 2015. In 2009 she started Healthy Seasonal Recipes. She lives in Vermont with her husband, two teenage daughters and two yellow lab dogs. In her free time, she can be found at the gym, cooking, stacking firewood, making maple syrup, and tending to her overgrown perennial garden.