If you are looking for an easy, healthy, and amazing side dish to add to your side dish cuisine repertoire, you have to try my delicious air fryer bok choy recipe.
Ready in less than 10 minutes, this crispy bok choy recipe is served with a flavorful sauce that will take your dinner tonight up a notch.
The larger bok choy leaves and crunchy stalks give this cruciferous vegetable its characteristics.
All of the amazing health benefits and how simple this recipe is to make will have bok choy a part of your regular meal rotation before long.
Table of Contents
Recipe Video
Why This Recipe Works
The first reason that this baby bok choy recipe is so great is because of how quick and easy it is. The prep time is cut in half because you can make the sauce while the baby bok choy in the air fryer cooks.
This recipe is also an excellent way to make your body smile. I love bok choy because it is so nutrient, antioxidant, and mineral dense. It's packed with vitamin c, vitamin a, and fiber, helping to promote overall good health.
Bok choy is also an excellent way to get the most from your grocery bill. Being a relatively inexpensive vegetable and so versatile, baby bok choy can be added to plenty of dishes to create a healthy meal giving you so much of what your body needs.
Ingredients
Bok Choy:
For this recipe, I recommend using baby bok choy as it fits into your air fryer basket much easier than the larger bok choy varieties. You can even use pak choy, which is a similar vegetable, sometimes called Chinese cabbage.
Vinegar:
For this, and most other Asian-inspired recipes, rice or white vinegar work pretty interchangeably, making a subtle difference in the taste.
Sesame Oil:
I love sesame oil because it has a really strong and unique flavor that impacts the dish greatly. You can absolutely substitute sesame oil with avocado oil, olive oil, or even coconut oil if you want to add that flavor to the mix.
Honey:
Making the sauce for this baby bok choy recipe requires a bit of sweetness. You can choose to use honey, or you can make it vegan by substituting brown sugar or maple syrup.
Red Chili Peppers:
To give this great side dish a bit of heat, add some red chili flakes or chop up fresh red chilies to add to the sauce.
Soy Sauce:
I typically cook with a low-sodium soy sauce, but regular soy sauce also works with this air fryer baby bok choy recipe.
Seasonings:
In addition to the red pepper flakes, the garlic powder and black pepper are the only other seasonings in this baby bok choy recipe. You can choose to flavor your bok choy however you like. You can add miso paste, lemon juice, onion powder, minced garlic, or anything else you want.
How to Make Air Fryer Bok Choy
Step One: Before making bok choy, prepare by cleaning, cutting, and drying the bok choy leaves. Then place in the air fryer basket and coat with olive oil cooking spray.
Step Two: Season the bok choy with sesame oil, garlic powder, and black pepper. Place in the air fryer and cook for 6 minutes at 300F until air fried. No need to preheat air fryer.
Step Three: In the meantime, mix soy sauce, vinegar, chili peppers, honey, and remaining sesame oil to make the sauce.
Step Four: Once cooked, remove air-fried bok choy from the air fryer, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and drizzle with sauce.
Step Five: Serve hot and enjoy!
Tips
- In order to keep your bok choy crispy and not soggy, make sure that once you have cleaned the green leaves with cold water, make sure the leaves are good and dry before you even place the bok choy in the air fryer.
- When making anything with leafy green veggies, I like to massage the leaves with sea salt before adding any other seasonings. This brings out the flavor in the vegetable more, and the salt can absorb any excess moisture while they air fry, ensuring a nice and crispy outcome.
What to Serve With Air Fryer Bok Choy
My air fryer baby bok choy recipe is such a quick and tasty side that you will find yourself making it often, just as I do. Bok choy is a very versatile vegetable that can be used in many other ways and served with a variety of different main dishes.
If you are focusing on a heart-healthy or low-calorie diet, bok choy will serve well alongside other healthy dishes like Instant Pot Halibut or this Instant Pot Fish Stew.
Additionally, you can serve bok choy with my delicious Instant Pot honey sesame chicken, or keep it vegan and simply place the bok choy on a bed of coconut rice.
FAQs
How long can air fryer bok choy leftovers be stored?
This air fryer bok choy recipe is best to serve hot and fresh. If you do happen to have any leftovers, they can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 days. The baby bok choy leftovers can be reheated in the air fryer or microwave and eaten with any leftover sauce there may be or served as part of another dish.
Can I use any other vegetables in this recipe?
You can absolutely air fry any other vegetable you like. The sauce in this air fryer baby bok choy recipe would taste especially good with air fryer crispy green beans or air fryer Ling Ling potstickers.
How else can I use bok choy?
There are many different dishes that you can cook with baby bok choy. You can add extra bok choy to stir-fry, pho, or as a ramen side dish. The leaves can even be eaten raw in salads or on sandwiches.
You can also make bok choy in the Instant Pot.
Is bok choy healthy?
Bok choy is incredibly healthy food and makes a delicious side dish alongside any main you want.
There are vast amounts of nutrition information available on boy choy and the many health benefits to gain from this versatile vegetable. It's packed with cancer-fighting compounds like vitamins c, e, beta-carotene, and folate.
Additionally, baby bok choy is an excellent source of unsaturated fat like polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fat, which promote good blood and heart health.
Other Air Fryer Recipes
If you enjoyed how easy and delicious my air fry bok choy recipe was, you might enjoy some of my other favorite air fryer recipes, such as:
Air Fryer Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Bok Choy
- 3 tablespoons Sesame Oil Reserve 1 tablespoon for sauce.
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Peppers
- ½ cup Soy Sauce
- ½ cup Vinegar Rice or White vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Honey Can be substituted with Maple Syrup
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Clean and cut the bok choy.
- Place bok choy in the air fryer basket and spray with cooking spray.
- Season bok choy with 2 tablespoon sesame oil, garlic powder, and black pepper. Air fry for 6 minutes at 300F.
- In the meantime, mix soy sauce, honey, vinegar, chili peppers, and the remaining sesame oil to make the sauce.
- Remove cooked bok choy from the air fryer. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- In order to keep your bok choy crispy and not soggy, ensure that once you have cleaned the green leaves with cold water, make sure the leaves are good and dry before you even place the bok choy in the air fryer.
- When making anything with leafy green veggies, I like to massage the leaves with sea salt before adding any other seasonings. This brings out the flavor in the vegetable more, and the salt can absorb any excess moisture while they air fry, ensuring a nice and crispy outcome.
Wonderful recipe, love the sweet and savory sauce!
Phenomenal
Thank you Michelle 🙂
I wish the recipe card mentioned massaging with salt, using baby bok choy, and drying after cleaning.
Terrific !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!