FirstNom
Vegetable
Bok choy for babies
Bok choy is low in oxalates, which means its calcium and iron are genuinely available — and it cooks faster than almost any other green.
When can babies have bok choy?
From around 6 months, cooked soft and chopped. Baby bok choy is more tender and cooks faster than mature heads.
How do you serve bok choy to a baby?
The shape is what makes a food safe, and it changes as your baby’s grip and chewing change. Find your baby’s age band.
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6–8 months
Separate stems and leaves, cook both until soft — stems first, they take longer — and chop finely into rice, noodles or a sauce.
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9–11 months
Finely chopped cooked bok choy, or soft stem batons.
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12–18 months
Chopped cooked bok choy in stir-fries and noodle dishes. Watch the soy sauce salt.
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18–24 months
Family portions, cooked.
Prep tip
Stems and leaves cook at different rates. Add the chopped stems two minutes before the leaves and both come out right.
Storage
Keeps four days refrigerated. Wash thoroughly — grit collects at the base of the stems.
Is bok choy a choking hazard for babies?
The leaves are thin and can bunch into a wad; the stems are crisp and need cooking soft. Separate stems from leaves, cook both until soft, and chop finely for the first year.
Whatever you serve, stay within arm’s reach, keep your baby upright in a supportive seat, and never let them eat in a moving car, buggy or carrier. Gagging is loud and normal. Choking is silent.
Is bok choy a common allergen?
Bok choy is not one of the nine most common food allergens. Any food can trigger a reaction, though, so offer it on its own the first time and watch for hives, vomiting, swelling or a change in breathing over the next two hours.
Is bok choy healthy for babies?
Like kale, bok choy is low in oxalates, so the calcium it contains is well absorbed — one of the better plant calcium sources for a dairy-free family. It also carries high vitamin A, C and K, and it cooks in a fraction of the time kale needs.
| Vitamin A | Very high |
|---|---|
| Vitamin C | High |
| Calcium | Good source |
| Vitamin K | High |
| Folate | Good source |
| Iron per serving | ~0.4 mg |
Common questions about bok choy
Is bok choy better than spinach for calcium?
Yes, in terms of what is absorbed. Spinach has more calcium on paper but its oxalates bind most of it. Bok choy, kale and broccoli are the low-oxalate greens.
Baby bok choy or full-size?
Baby bok choy is more tender and quicker. Full-size works fine with a couple more minutes on the stems.
Reference material
Guidance on this page follows the sources listed below.
Foods parents look at next
Vegetable
Kale
A dark green with real iron and calcium — and much lower in oxalates than spinach.
Vegetable
Spinach
Iron and folate in a leaf — but the iron is harder to absorb than the packaging suggests.
Vegetable
Cabbage
Cheap, keeps forever, and cooks down to a texture a baby can handle.
Vegetable
Broccoli
The floret is a built-in handle — one of the easiest green vegetables for a 6-month-old to hold.