Name: Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Vegetables
Ingredients: 3 baby bok choy, halved; 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced; 2 carrots, peeled and sliced; 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced; 1/4 cup orange juice; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 tablespoons rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or arrowroot powder); 2 tablespoons sesame oil; Water; Kosher salt; Sesame seeds, for garnish

This baby bok choy stir fry makes this green veggie taste irresistible! Pair it with a quick, punchy sauce to make it sing.

Got a bunch of baby bok choy? Here’s a way to make this cabbage-like vegetable sing: this Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry! This tasty veggie is a type of Chinese cabbage, with a satisfying crunch and a peppery kick. Cook it in a hot pan with mushrooms, garlic and a punchy sauce, and you’ll be amazed at the amount of flavor from this humble veggie. Serve this quick stir fry as a side dish or pair it with noodles and a protein to make a complete meal. Here’s how it’s done!

Ingredients in bok choy stir fry

Bok choy is a type of Chinese cabbage with long white stems that form dark green leaves. There are two ways you can find bok choy at the store. Standard bok choy, is large and looks like a head of cabbage, and baby bok choy is a mini version with a milder flavor that you can eat whole. Sauté it up in a stir fry and you can eat it with a knife and fork. It has a beautiful shape and a mild, lightly peppery flavor.

This bok choy stir fry is a mix of a few vegetables and a quick stir fry sauce that brings a big, savory umami to this crunchy vegetable. Here’s what you’ll need:

Baby bok choy: make sure to buy the baby variety
Shiitake mushrooms
Carrots
Garlic
Orange juice
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Cornstarch
Sesame oil
Water and salt

How to prep the baby bok choy (and a few tips for eating)

Baby bok choy is quick to prepare because you can eat it whole, so there’s not much chopping involved. You can stir fry it whole in this recipe, or you can chop it up if you prefer: which makes it easier to eat. Here’s what to know:

To serve whole, the bok choy in half and remove outer leaves. Wash and dry the baby bok choy, then slice it in half and remove any loose outer layers. When you eat it in the final dish, simply use a knife and fork to remove bites of the leaves and stems.
Or, stir fry it chopped. You can chop the leaves off of the tough stem and roughly chop them, which makes it easier to eat. It tastes just as good!

For the stir fry sauce and slurry

This baby bok choy stir fry uses a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. You’ll simply mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 ½ tablespoons water, then add it after you add the sauce ingredients. It helps to create a glossy, thickened sauce that coats everything luxuriously. Here are a few things to note:

Have the sauce ingredients prepped in advance. The cooking process goes quickly, so you’ll want to have everything mixed in small bowls.
Make sure the heat isn’t too high. If the heat is too high when you add the sauce ingredients, can cause the liquid to evaporate too quickly and the sauce will be less thick. Make sure to reduce the heat to medium.

Ways to serve this baby bok choy stir fry

This baby bok choy stir fry is versatile as a side dish, but you can add a protein or noodles and call it a main dish! Either way, you’ll want to make sure you’re serving with a protein to make a complete meal. Here are a few serving suggestions:

Serve with noodles like Quick Soba Noodles
Add rice
Add tofu or tempeh like Baked Tofu or Pan Fried Tofu
Add shrimp like Sauteed Shrimp
Add chicken

Another way to cook baby bok choy? Try Grilled Bok Choy.

More stir fry recipes

Love a good stir fry? Here are a few other great ways to cook vegetables:

This baby bok choy stir fry recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.