Crunchy Bok Choy Salad Recipe

Although bok choy is often cooked and used in soups and stir-fries, it has a refreshing, crunchy texture when raw, making it an excellent base for a salad. It adds a satisfying crispness that contrasts well with other salad ingredients, and because it is packed with essential vitamins and minerals, you can increase the nutrient content of your meal. 

Wellness coach and recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe for crunchy bok choy salad and says, "Bok choy has a mild, slightly sweet, and cabbage-like flavor and is a great leafy green choice for salads because it is heartier and will hold up if made ahead and packed in a lunch. I like to serve it with sandwiches, veggie burgers, or a big pot of soup." We love that it uses simple ingredients and can be thrown together in just 10 minutes. 

Read on to learn how to make this crunchy bok choy salad the next time you're looking for a healthy side dish.

To make this recipe, you'll need quite a few items from the produce aisle. Pick up some baby bok choy, celery, red pepper, scallions, and shredded carrots. "I prefer using baby bok choy in this salad because it's a little more delicate in texture compared to full-size bok choy," Hahn shares. 

For the dressing, you'll need olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. "This simple combination of flavors makes a super flavorful dressing for this salad or any other Asian salad. You can easily swap out the honey for maple syrup if you want to make this salad vegan," Hahn remarks. Finally, pick up some toasted sesame seeds for the finishing touch.

In this first step, you'll want to get the veggies chopped and ready for the salad. To trim the bok choy, cut off the ends and then begin thinly slicing from the white end. Then, go ahead and thinly slice the celery, red pepper, and scallions.

For the dressing, you'll need a small bowl and a whisk. Add the olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper to the bowl and stir with the whisk to combine. "You can make the dressing ahead of time and just keep it in a sealed container in the fridge. If you have a couple of Asian salads planned for the week, double the recipe to save time," Hahn explains.

You're going to need a large bowl to accommodate all of the fresh components of this salad. Add the bok choy, celery, red pepper, and shredded carrots in the bowl. Add in the mixed dressing and toss to coat all of the veggies, then top with the toasted sesame seeds. Fresh crunchiness coming your way! 

Hahn tells us the salad is best eaten the same day as making it, but will be fine for leftovers the next day if kept in a sealed container in the fridge.