Stir-Fried Bok Choy
This Stir-Fried Bok Choy is an amazing quick-and-easy side dish flavored with soy sauce, sesame oil, Oyster sauce, and butter! And this tasty stir-fry can easily be gluten-free if you use gluten-free Oyster Sauce and Gluten-Free Soy Sauce.
PIN the Stir-Fried Bok Choy to make it later!
Stir-Fried Bok Choy is an Asian vegetable I’m guessing some of my readers might have never eaten. But it would be sad if you didn’t try this tasty Bok Choy side dish. When we made the recipe recently to take new photos, we inhaled it, and then spent about 5 minutes talking about how good it was!
The Bok Choy stir fry is extra flavorful with soy sauce, sesame oil, Oyster Sauce, and butter, and after we devoured it we wished there was more! This is an Asian side dish that’s quick, easy, delicious, and low in carbs.
And Bok Choy is readily available, even in regular American grocery stores. And if there’s an Asian grocer in your neighborhood, you’ll discover many more varieties of Bok Choy there that would be fun to try! I hope you try this recipe soon!
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What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)
- water
- soy sauce or Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link)
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- Oyster Sauce (affiliate link) or Gluten-Free Oyster Sauce (affiliate link)
- vegetable oil
- Bok Choy
- salt
- butter
- Sesame Seeds (affiliate link), optional but recommended
What is Bok Choy?
Bok Choy is a type of leafy green vegetable that’s also called Chinese Cabbage, Pak Choi, or Pok Choi. It’s used a lot in Chinese cooking and has a pleasant mild flavor that’s somewhat similar to cabbage.
See my tips for making a stir-fry recipe:
You may want to read my Tips for Stir-Fry Cooking before you make this, although seriously this recipe is about as easy as you could imagine.
Can you make this Bok Choy Stir Fry if you don’t have a wok?
I love using a wok for stir-fry cooking because the curved sides make it easy to keep stirring the food. But if you don’t have a wok you can definitely make this recipe in a large frying pan.
How to make Stir-Fried Bok Choy gluten-free:
You’ll want to use Gluten-Free Oyster Sauce (affiliate link) and Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if you need this recipe to be gluten-free.
How to make Stir-Fried Bok Choy vegetarian:
I didn’t tag this recipe vegetarian because of the oyster sauce, which does add a lot of flavor. But you can make this with Vegetarian Oyster Sauce if you prefer.
How low in carbs is the Bok Choy recipe?
This amazing Bok Choy side dish has only 2 net carbs per serving with 3 grams of protein!
How to make Stir-Fried Bok Choy:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Mix the water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and Oyster Sauce.
- Chop the bok choy into smallish pieces (and wash in salad spinner and spin dry if needed.)
- Heat the wok or frying pan until it’s very hot.
- Then add the peanut oil and let it heat about 30 seconds.
- Add the bok choy and stir-fry about 2 minutes.
- Then add the soy sauce mixture and the butter and cook about 1-2 minutes more.
- That’s it! Sprinkle the Stir-Fried Bok Choy with toasted sesame seeds and serve hot!
Make it a Low-Carb Asian Meal:
Serve Stir-Fried Bok Choy with any of these main dishes for a perfect meal:
- Baked Teriyaki Chicken (Sugar-Free)
- Asian Salmon and Green Beans Sheet Pan Meal
- Spicy Asian Chicken
- Grilled Ginger-Soy Pork Chops
- Slow Cooker Asian Chicken
Get More Low-Carb Stir-Fry Recipes:
Check out the category for Stir-Fry to see all the stir-fried recipes on this site.
Stir-Fried Bok Choy
This Stir-Fried Bok Choy that's flavored with soy sauce, sesame oil, Oyster Sauce, and butter was so tasty we couldn't stop talking about how good it was! And this is a low-carb side dish that's quick and easy to get on the table!
Ingredients
- 2 T water
- 2 tsp. soy sauce (see notes)
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 T oyster sauce (see notes)
- 1 T vegetable oil (see notes)
- 2 heads head Bok Choy, ends trimmed and cut crosswise into strips and washed if needed
- 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
- 1 T butter
- toasted sesame seeds for garnish, optional but recommended
Instructions
- Combine water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and oyster sauce and set aside.
- Heat wok or heavy frying pan until very hot, about 1-2 minutes, then add oil and heat about 30 seconds more.
- Add bok choy and salt and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
- Add soy sauce mixture and butter and stir fry 1-2 minutes more, until bok choy is still slightly crisp, but getting tender.
- Serve the Stir-Fried Bok Choy hot, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
Use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce and Gluten-Free Oyster Sauce if needed.
If you want a version that's vegetarian, use Vegetarian Oyster Sauce.
(Links are affiliate links.)
I used peanut oil for this recipe, but any oil with a high smoke point will work..
This recipe adapted slightly from The Gourmet Cookbook.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 119Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 8mgSodium 612mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 2gSugar 1gProtein 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Stir-Fried Bok Choy is great for low-carb diet plans, including Keto. (Oyster sauce has some carbs, but the amount per serving is very, very small.) I’d eat this for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, despite the small amount of butter, which isn’t recommended for South Beach.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Stir-Fry Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This stir-fry side dish recipe with Bok Choy was updated with new photos in 2017. It was last updated with more information in 2026.
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30 Comments on “Stir-Fried Bok Choy”
I love your column, and I love bok choy – and with the addition of butter I’m going to love it even more. Never thought to add that before. But really Kalyn, you need to be more specific about the amount of bok choy. The size of bok choy various wildly and it’s not helpful to just say two. When we buy it, it gets weighed so why not include a weight to help people from the very start? this would be especially helpful to people who’ve never cooked it. It also reduces in size when it’s cooked so people may not know to buy a little more than they think necessary, which wouldn’t be a an issue if you would provide a weight.
I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes! Not sure where you buy your Bok Choy but at my store it is definitely not weighed.
I’m guessing you can’t imagine the huge amount of work in making a recipe, photographing every step, editing the photos, and writing it up. I do try to offer specific amounts when I feel it will affect the results. I am not going to start trying to weigh every ingredient, and in this case I don’t think a bit more of less Bok Choy will really matter.
Also this recipe was first posted in 2017. I can’t possibly go back and recreate every recipe to add more information. Sorry if you are disappointed, but I am trying to do my best.
I don’t think the instructions are clear about cutting up and cooking the bok choy. I have cooked bok choy often, and the leafy green part is quite different from the white stem part. I cook the stem part first and add the leafy bits just at the end. Your pictures show green leaf and white stems, but the ingredients don’t specify.
It wasn’t a problem for me if the stem parts were slightly more crispy than the leafy green part, especially since the total cooking time is so short, but obviously you’re welcome to do it any way you’d like.
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Around how many cups of bok choy would you say? There are at least a half dozen different types at my grocery store. Thanks!
I’d say the two head of bok choy chopped up is about 4-6 cups of chopped greens. I don’t think you need an exact amount for this, but in the photos it looks to me like my 12 inch frying pan was quite full.
Thank you Kalyn..I love bok choy,and use it often in my stir fry's. I have not used butter w/it, only the soy,and oyster sauce which I have on hand for fried rice..Love that I'm seeing more of the less common veggie recipes from all parts of the world.
Hope you enjoy!
I'm a huge bok choy fan. It's a cabbage that doesn't taste like cabbage, and it's so good in a stir fry. Have you tried bok choy on the grill?
Lydia, I haven't grilled Bok Choy but it sounds like something I must try!
Thanks Cassy! I'm all about easy!
I haven't tried collards with soy sauce, but it sounds good to me. I think you'll need to cook the collard greens a bit longer to get them tender. Maybe cut in fairly thin strips to speed up the cooking as well. Love to hear how it turns out.
(And I MUST take a new photo for this post. Ugh.)
I found your recipes and blog when using yummly.com, and found that I love your recipes and they all pretty easy too! I was wondering though, would collard greens be good in this recipe as well? I have left overs and need to find a good way to use them 🙂
Terri, sounds good!
This was really tasty! I added some mushrooms to bulk it up a bit as I didn't have enough of the bok choi. I also added a small bit of fish sauce in addition to the oyster sauce and also added a Tbsp. of sesame oil…oh yummy!
Terri, lucky you to have home-grown bok choy! (And wow does this recipe ever need a new photo, but it is very tasty!)
I love bok choi (as it is spelled here in the UK) and will be making this tonight…can't wait to have dinner! I'm growing bok choi so will look forward to making this again with the fresh-from-the-garden variety!
Michele, thanks. Glad you liked it.
Super easy, quick and yummy!
Carmen, glad that substitution worked for you. Oyster sauce is relatively high in sugar, but 1 T called for in this recipe has 3 grams of sugar, which doesn't seem like much for several servings of vegetables.
Thanks for the recipe– I tried it tonight, but substituted 1/2 tsp Thai fish sauce for the oyster sauce. Did you know that oyster sauce is mostly corn syrup? I threw it out when we started SB. Anyway, a very tasty side dish with the fish sauce!
Mmmmm, with butter. Must try that.
I have to say that your photos are getting better and better Kalyn!
Sounds delicious – I adore bok choy!
This looks really yummy!
I’ve actually never made bok choy – this may be my first one to try.
Ahh, that looks delicious. I love greens fixed this way!
Hi CBJ, actually, they are different vegetables, it’s just that the name Bok Choy used to be used for what is now called Napa Cabbage.
I hate that yellow print too.
This sounds good. I thought Napa cabbage and bok choy were different veggies. You learn something new every day!