Throw together a restaurant-quality side dish with 7 ingredients in under 15 minutes – without breaking a sweat! This Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce is the perfect low-effort side dish for last-minute weeknight dinners or family gatherings!
🎥 Watch How to Make Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce
This garlic bok choy recipe is a lifesaver when you have no time to cook. In just 15 minutes, you’ll have restaurant-quality bok choy hitting the family dinner table ready to be enjoyed!
This Chinese bok choy with garlic sauce recipe is a popular Chinese Dish and one of the quickest vegetarian dishes you can whip up! Don’t be fooled by the simple ingredients and steps. It’s perfect for a busy weeknight or a quick side to bolster your meal when entertaining guests!
In just 10 minutes, you’ll have restaurant-quality vegetables to pair with your favorite entree! Serve it up on the side of SUPER juicy & tender Char Siu Pork or Char Siu Chicken, yummm! It’s one of the easiest dishes to serve with fried rice.
🥘 Ingredients
- Bok Choy: My local Asian market (Ranch 99) always have them in stock. There are two common types of bok choy – white stem or green stem. I typically go for the green stem variety but either will do! If you want even faster cooking times, grab baby bok choy because the stems are more tender.
- Chili Oil: I always have my easy homemade Sichuan chili oil on hand that’s full of garlicky spicy goodness, but you can also opt for store-bought.
🔪 How to Cook Bok Choy
The reason this side dish recipe works well in a pinch is because it only has two parts:
- Blanch bok choy
- Make sauce
Can any recipe get any easier??
Step 1: In a pot, bring water to a boil. Add the bok choy and blanch them by boiling for a few minutes until they’re tender but still slightly crunch.
Step 2: Drain & quickly rinse or submerge in cold water to stop the cooking process. This helps keep your bok choy from overcooking & keeps them vibrantly green!
Pat them dry and transfer the bok choy to a serving plate. Set aside.
Step 3: Pour out the water from the pot, heat on medium, & add a little oil. Saute the shallots & garlic for a few seconds, or until soft and fragrant.
Stir in the oyster sauce, chili oil, and low-sodium soy sauce. Cook for a few seconds until it starts to bubble, then remove immediately.
Step 4: Drizzle the garlic oyster sauce over the blanched bok choy & garnish with toasted sesame seeds if you feel fancy. Enjoy!
👩🏽🍳 Critical Tips For Perfectly Blanched Vegetables
This Chinese bok choy side dish is so simple, any beginner can make it! You just need to follow a couple of tricks for crisp and flavorful veggies.
Keep in mind, blanched vegetables should be tender but still crunchy. Don’t overcook vegetables, they’re already dead – no need to overdo it!
- Keep a Close Eye: Cook the bok choy in boiling water for a couple of minutes max! It doesn’t take long for the vegetables to become tender, so don’t take your eyes off them. As soon as they begin to soften, remove them immediately.
- How You’ll Know It’s Done: It should have vibrantly green leaves, not a dark green which would mean it’s overcooked. The texture should be fork tender with still a bit of crunch.
- How to Keep Them Crunchy & Vibrant: Immediately after they’re cooked, drain them, and either run or submerge them in cold water. This will immediately stop the cooking process so they don’t turn soggy or dark green over time.
- Avoid a Watered Down Sauce: After draining the bok choy, give them a quick pat down with a paper towl to soak up any excess water. This will prevent your delicious garlicky sauce from becoming watered down.
💭 Recipe FAQs
🥗 What to Serve with Bok Choy
Bok choy doesn’t have a strong overpowering flavor, which makes it an easy side dish to any protein like juicy Chinese Braised Pork Belly, crispy Honey Walnut Shrimp , or a quick Chinese Steamed Fish. My Tofu Eggplant Stir-Fry and Chinese Green Bean Stir-Fry are perfect for a vegetarian-friendly meal!
Need more inspo? No worries!
Let’s get cooking!
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Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce
Watch How to Make It!
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/4 cup vegetarian mushroom "oyster" sauce or oyster sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons chili oil homemade or store-bought, adjust to your spicy level
- 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound bok choy* cut in half length-wise
- 2 shallots finely diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds optional for garnish
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the sauce ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
- Bring a large wok or pot of water to a boil. Blanch bok choy by cooking them in the boiling water for a few minutes, or until tender yet still crunchy. Then, drain and rinse or submerge the bok choy in cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Drain, pat dry, then transfer bok choy to a serving plate. Set aside.
- Pour out the water from the wok or pot then heat on medium. Add about a tablespoon of oil then saute the shallots and garlic for a few seconds, or until soft and fragrant.
- Pour in the sauce mixture, stir, and cook for a few more seconds, or until it starts to bubble. Turn off heat then remove.
- Serve the sauce on the side of the bok choy and garnish with sesame seeds, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Bok Choy: There are two common types of bok choy – white steam or green steams. I typically go for the green stem variety but either will do! Cooking times will vary depending on its size, so watch them closely since they don’t take long to become tender.
- Oyster Sauce: It’s sweet, salty, and adds umami flavor to the dipping sauce. You can easily find it at your local Asian market.
- Chili Oil: I make my own spicy garlicky chili oil that’s super easy to make, however, you could also use store-bought.
Nutrition
Exact calculations may vary. For the most accurate nutritional information, use your preferred nutrition calculator, actual ingredients, and quantities used for the recipe. Please consult with your physician or registered dietitian if more precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
