This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
Ginger Garlic Noodle Soup with Bok Choy is a nutritious, comforting, and flu-fighting twenty-minute recipe made with a vegetarian broth, noodles, mushrooms, and baby bok choy. You can easily make this Bok Choy Soup your own by adding chicken, shrimp, spicy chilis, or other veggies.
One of the most popular recipes on my blog, this Bok Choy Soup remains a personal favorite thanks to its delicious simplicity.
I have made a lot of soup in my life. Creamy soups, brothy soups, vegetable soups, and meaty soups. I’ve made them all. However, if I had to pick one soup to eat for the rest of my life, it would be this Ginger Garlic Noodle Soup with Bok Choy. This Bok Choy Soup is that good.
Table of Contents
Some of you may be wondering…why?
Why This Is The Best
- The broth. The key to a delicious and memorable brothy soup is the broth. Unfortunately, achieving this wondrous broth often takes HOURS (learn how to make bone broth here!). The broth in this Bok Choy Soup? Twenty minutes, my friends. Thirty minutes tops.
- It tastes a lot like Phở. Ok, I know, this is basically the same as what I said above. But it deserves two points because it kinda blows my mind a little.
- It’s like chicken noodle soup…but better.
- This Bok Choy Soup will fight your flu. Now, I can’t claim that it will cure anything (I’m not a doctor), but things like ginger and garlic are there to help when you feel like crap.
- It’s completely customizable. In other words, you have the base, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go wild with it. This bok choy soup loves all the veggies and really loves shrimp.
Key Ingredients
- Shallots and green onions (white AND green parts)
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Low-sodium chicken broth (or veggie broth/water to keep it vegan)
- Soy sauce (or Tamari to keep it gluten-free)
- Bok Choy
- Mushrooms
- Rice noodles
- Star Anise
That’s the basic overall list of what you need to make this awesome soup. You’ll also need salt, pepper, and red chili flakes.
What is Star Anise?
This is one of the most frequent questions I get from readers planning to make this recipe. Every other ingredient is fairly easy to find, but whole star anise? What’s this? Star anise is the seed pod from the fruit of the Illicium verum plant. Shaped like a star, star anise has six to eight points, each containing a single seed.
This Ginger Garlic Noodle Soup with Bok Choy Recipe calls for 2 whole star anise. The star anise is not meant to be eaten. I repeat- you do not eat the whole star anise. Star anise provides wonderful flavor to soup, sauces, and marinades, but tastes horrible when eaten whole. Remove the seed pod after simmering the broth.
What does star anise taste like? Star anise is a mix of sweet, spicy (not the chili kind of spicy), and very similar to licorice. As someone who mostly hates licorice, I guarantee you won’t feel like you’re slurping a bowl of licorice (unless you forget to remove the star anise pods and bite into one).
No idea where to buy star anise? Most major supermarkets sell this must-have spice, but just in case,
If you are one of those people who absolutely HATE star anise, simply substitute with cinnamon sticks. The flavor won’t be quite the same, but it will still be delicious.
Difference Between Bok Choy and Baby Bok Choy
Since several of you have asked, I did a little research, and this is what I have found.
- Baby bok choy and Bok choy are basically the same thing.
- The difference is that baby bok choy is harvested earlier, producing smaller, more tender leaves.
- This means that baby bok choy is much sweeter than bok choy and is often served directly in soups (oh HAY!) or even in salads.
- Bok choy, on the other hand, is much heartier, perfect for longer cooking times as in stir-frys.
That said, this Ginger Garlic Noodle Soup with Bok Choy could technically handle either baby bok choy or bok choy. Just remember that bok choy will be slightly more bitter and less sweet.
Bok Choy Soup Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I freeze this soup? Yes and no. Yes, you may absolutely freeze the broth. However, I do not recommend freezing this soup with the vegetables or the noodles. Fortunately, the vegetables and noodles in this bok choy soup take only minutes to heat together.
- Do I pre-cook the noodles? No no no no nooooo. Rice noodles cook super fast. Add the noodles to the broth just a few minutes before you are ready to eat.
- Does this bok choy soup taste good leftover? Similar to freezing, this soup can be eaten leftover, but tastes best fresh – unless, of course, you make a big batch of broth and keep the vegetables and noodles separate.
What Readers Are Saying
“This was a-mazing. A lot of flavour and very little prep and cooking time. Makes you feel warm inside. Tasty, delicious and satisfying, yet light. This seriously picked me up!” -Emma
“This really was delicious. I used ramen noodles from a pack, I think any kind of noodles, even angel hair pasta would work well. I love bok choy but don’t usually buy it to fix just as a veggie. Now I have an excellent reason!” -Judith
“OMG! Thank you for this recipe, it is sooooo good! I couldn’t help myself and had a second bowl.” -Bonnie
If you love this bok choy soup, you may also enjoy homemade Chicken Soup, Kimchi Ramen Noodle Soup, or this fast and healthy 10-Minute Garlic Bok Choy Recipe.
For more bok choy recipes, check out:
More Soup Recipes
Ginger Garlic Noodle Soup with Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 shallots, diced
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped, green and white divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon ginger, fresh, minced
- 5.5 cups low sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth for vegan
- 2 whole star anise
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce, or Tamari for a Gluten Free option
- 10 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 6 oz rice noodles
- 1.5 heads bok choy, roughly chopped
- sesame seeds, for topping
- red pepper flakes, for topping
Instructions
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium-sized stockpot over medium heat.
- To the oil add the diced shallots and mix well. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, or until the shallots turn translucent and start to soften. Stir often.
- Chop the end off of each green onion- dividing the white part from the green part. Chop and set aside the green part for topping. Meanwhile, finely chop the white part of each green onion.
- Add the white part of the green onions, minced garlic, and ginger to the shallots and mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes or until garlic and ginger is fragrant.
- Carefully pour the chicken stock or water (or mix) into the pot and bring to a simmer. To the pot add the star anise and soy sauce. Cover and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid from the pot and carefully remove and discard each star anise from the soup.
- Add the sliced mushrooms, uncooked noodles, and bok choy to the pot and simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until noodles and bok choy are tender. Season to taste.
- Divide soup between bowls and garnish with sesame seeds, the green parts of green onions and red pepper flakes (if desired).
Video
Notes
- Not everyone loves the taste of star anise. However, I find that it plays a crucial role in the flavor of the broth. That said, if you hate it or don’t have any on hand, I have found cinnamon sticks to be a good substitute.
- Need a little protein? Don’t be shy about adding some chopped chicken or shrimp to the soup approximately 5 minutes before serving (assuming the chicken has been previously cooked).
- For a lower sodium diet, you can substitute low sodium soy sauce, and/or substitute unsalted chicken broth.
- Garnish with Cilantro optional.
Explore More with AI
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I haven’t tried this soup yet but I wondered what kind of rice noodles you use for this soup. I’ve never used rice noodles in my 40 years of cooking and there seems to be several different kinds of rice noodles. Thank you!
These Thai Kitchen Stir Fry Rice Noodles work great 🙂
I’ve now made this recipe about 7 times and we love it. When my hubby sees that I’ve bought baby bok choy he is ecstatic.
We have experimented with adding shrimp, shredded chicken, more garlic and found we love it all.
The only recommendation I would suggest is to cook noodles separately so you can place the noodles in individual bowls then fill bowl with broth contents. This way you can save leftover broth contents and not have mushy noodles.
Thanks for the ecstatic review and rating, Alison 😀
Super tasty! I added a lemongrass bundle, sesame oil, some shrimps, and sm soft boiled eggies, and it was immaculate
You Rock !!! It’s a keeper a the base, broth is magic you can actually add anything!!! This helps keep me eating as I have a problem with getting enough calories . Awesome Sauce 🌱
Just harvested my first successful crop of book choy here in MN in early Nov and this was the perfect way to use it! Absolutely delicious following your recipe exactly. I used Zoup bone broth boullion which is delicious and GF. The star anise gave such a good “pho-ish” flavor for those who love pho. Next time I think I will use more broth and more bok choy and a bit more garlic and ginger since I love those flavors. Excellent recipe thank you so much!
Great soup with lots of flavor.Perfect for light evening meal with rice noodle or not.Good for diet without noodles.
Amazing hearty, umami soup! Tastes so much better than the time and effort put in! I added a softly boiled egg as protein for a vegetarian and it was delicious.
This soup is magical!!! Being gluten free, I am hesitant to eat out at asian food restaurants. And now I know what to do with Bok Choy.
Thanks for this delicious recipe!
This was soooo good! Made this tonight for the family and they loved it so much, many compliments! Didn’t have whole anise, used anise seed with a loose tea bag that I floated during the simmer. Added shrimp at the end. So very yum and will make again for sure!
Can Anise Extract be substituted for the seed pod? If so how much? Thanks!
While I have not tried this substitution, 1 teaspoon of anise extract for 1 teaspoon of star anise looks to be the normal ratio.
Thank you! I’m going to try this tonight.
Thank you so much, Jessica, for the assistance in the anise substitution with extract. Of course, not knowing how the pod would taste, this was an outstanding addition that I would have hated to miss! My husband absolutely loved this soup. We made it together and had a great time. Thanks for such a great recipe. We’re adding it to our regular choy repertoire. We grow a couple of choy varieties and are always looking for great recipes! This is #1 for us. I’m off to check out your other bok choy recipes! 🙂
Can I add chopped fennel instead of star anise?
Star anise has a very unique flavor, and I have not tried this substitute, so I am not sure how it will go in this recipe. If you try it, let me know how it goes 🙂