It’s hard to hate a simple stir fry and this bok choy stir fry is no exception. This quick recipe packed with veggies, pineapple and cashews makes a great side dish with all the flavors of a classic Chinese dish you love. Add tofu or any other protein to easily make it a meal.
Bok choy is one of my favorite vegetables in the produce section. Particularly, baby bok choy. Those bunches are just adorable with their cute little bottoms and there’s hardly a week that goes by without some being thrown into my cart.
If you’ve cooked bok choy before though, you know it’s a bit fickle. Left for too long in the pan and it turns into a watery mess. That’s why some of my favorite methods for enjoying this cruciferous green is either grilling bok choy or thinly slicing into a bok choy salad.
Besides those two approaches (and of course a good bowl of noodle soup/ramen), my other go-to preparation is a stir fry. Stir fries cook hot and fast and that’s the exact approach you want when dealing with bok choy. It allows the vegetable to cook just enough without releasing all the water into the dish.
This bok choy stir fry was inspired by the sweet and sour Chinese dishes from your favorite takeout place and includes bell peppers and pineapple chunks. The sweet and savory contrast with the buttery crunch from the cashews is everything you want from a good stir fry and the best part is that it’s ready in just 20 minutes start to finish.
It can be enjoyed as a side dish to some crispy tofu or air fryer garlic ginger shrimp with some white rice on the side or add your favorite protein right into the stir fry pan as it cooks (thinly sliced chicken would be perfect for this) for a one-skillet meal.
FEATURED COMMENT
Yum! I tried this dish last night and it was fabulous! We had some zucchini that needed to be used up and it got added to the bok choy, and I couldn’t find the cashews, so substituted toasted slivered almonds instead. This will be a new quick, go-to recipe for our house – thank you!
—Donna
Bok Choy Stir Fry Ingredients
Many stir fries or fried rice lean on frozen vegetables, but I like to use fresh for this recipe as much as possible.
- Baby bok choy — I prefer this to regular sized bok choy. It’s more tender and you get the perfect balance of more crispy textured stems and delicate leaves. Baby bok choy is also less bitter with a sweeter and nuttier flavor.
- Bell pepper — This can be any color but I love the contrast of the yellow bell pepper with the green bok choy.
- Pineapple — If there’s any shortcut to take, it’d be with this ingredient. You can use canned, drained pineapple chunks or preferably frozen and thawed instead of fresh if needed.
- Cashews — Use unsalted cashews either plain or roasted for a buttery crunch to finish the dish.
- Garlic — Freshly minced garlic cloves bring instant flavor to the stir fry ingredients as they cook.
- Sesame oil — Toasted sesame oil is a more flavorful cooking base than using other more neutral oils.
- Red pepper flakes — Just a pinch give a boost of spice to the stir fry.
- Sauce — The easy stir fry sauce includes soy sauce, vinegar, honey, orange juice and cornstarch. It thickens quickly in the pan and coats the bok choy and other ingredients with delicious flavor.
Step by Step Instructions
- Sauté the sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flakes in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant.
- Add the pineapple and bell pepper to the pan and cook until starting to soften — about 3 minutes.
- Add the bok choy to the skillet and toss to combine all the ingredients. Turn up the heat to high and cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- While the bok choy cooks, whisk together the sauce.
- Pour the sauce into the pan and toss to coat all the ingredients. Cook until thickened — about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cashews, turn off the heat and serve immediately.
My Pro Tips
How To Make The Best Bok Choy Stir Fry
A few tips go a long way in best final dish.
- Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. Stir fries comes together fast and you don’t want to overcook the vegetables while you’re digging through your pantry for ingredients.
- Use what you have! If you want to add other ingredients based on what’s in your fridge, that’s the beauty of stir fries. Mushrooms, broccoli or snow peas are some of my favorites.
- Make sure to wash the bok choy well before cooking. I slice off the bottoms then cut the baby bok choy into pieces and use a salad spinner to soak out the dirt between the stems. Bok choy typically holds a good amount of dirt where the stems meet the root of the plant so you’ll want to wash this off diligently.
- Take care not to burn the garlic. Stir fries are a fine balance between being hot enough but not “too” hot. Burnt garlic will overpower all the other flavors in the dish. This is why the heat should be medium when cooking the aromatics in the first step, then turned up to high once the bok choy and other ingredients are in the pan.
More Dishes Like This To Check Out
If you like bok choy, try tatsoi too. It’s a cousin of bok choy with round leaves, a gorgeous purple hue and a peppery bite.
Bok choy makes a great addition to this egg drop hot and sour soup mash up recipe. I like to add some rice noodles to the soup for an even heartier bowl.
Bok choy would also be a great addition to this ramen pork stir fry or this sweet and spicy mango shrimp for some added greenery.
Bok Choy Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 4 baby bok choy, washed and roughly chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup chopped pineapple
- 1/3 cup cashews
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or sub tamari/coconut aminos
- 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch, or sub tapioca/arrowroot starch
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium heat, sauté the garlic, sesame oil and red pepper flakes until fragrant – about a minute.
- Add the pineapple and yellow bell pepper and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the heat in the pan up to high and add the chopped bok choy. Toss to coat. Sauté for another 3-5 minutes until wilted and slightly softened.
- While bok choy cooks, combine soy sauce, vinegar, honey, orange juice and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Add the mixture to the bok choy in the last 2 minutes of cooking.
- Toss with cashews right before you take the pan off the heat and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Yum! I ran across your site while looking for new recipes for ingredients in the fridge. I tried this dish last night and it was fabulous! We had some zucchini that needed to be used up and it got added to the bok choy, and I couldn’t find the cashews, so substituted toasted slivered almonds instead. This will be a new quick, go-to recipe for our house – thank you!