Spicy Baby Potatoes with Chicken & Bok Choy
Halved baby potatoes, seared chicken strips marinated in soy sauce and Sriracha, and bok choy staged two ways — white stems first for crunch, green leaves last for color. One skillet, fifteen minutes, no oven.
The quiet win here is the bok choy. Two heads of it, wilted into the stir-fry. Most people assume calcium means dairy. A randomized study using isotope-labeled vegetables found that your body absorbs 52% of the calcium from bok choy, compared to 46% from milk at the same dose. The difference is statistically significant. The reason: bok choy belongs to the brassica family, which is naturally low in oxalate — the compound that traps calcium and blocks absorption. Spinach, by contrast, absorbs at just 5%.
445 calories, 28 grams of protein, 49 grams of carbs, and 8 grams of fiber. A complete plate that does more than it looks like on the surface.
Ingredients
- onion 0.5
- garlic 1 clove
- baby potatoes 0.5 pound
- chicken breast 3 ounces
- soy sauce 1 tablespoon
- Sriracha sauce 1 teaspoon
- lemon juice 1 squeeze
- baby bok choy 2 heads
- olive oil 1 tablespoon
Method
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Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic. Halve the larger baby potatoes if needed.
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Slice the chicken breast into strips. In a bowl, mix the chicken with the soy sauce, Sriracha, and lemon juice. Stir well and let it marinate while you prep the bok choy.
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Trim a small slice off the bottom of the bok choy and separate the leaves. Slice the bok choy into strips, keeping the green and white parts separate.
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Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the baby potatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.
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Add the marinated chicken, stir through the potatoes, and cook for 4 minutes. Stir in the white part of the bok choy and cook for 3 minutes, then add the green part and cook for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
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Serve the stir-fry on a plate.
Keep the white stems and green leaves of the bok choy separate and add them at different times. The white parts need three minutes to soften. The green leaves need just two — they wilt fast and turn bitter if overcooked. That staged addition is what keeps the texture interesting across the whole plate.
Not all greens are equal for calcium. Spinach has more calcium per serving than bok choy (115 mg vs. 79 mg in 85 grams), but your body absorbs ten times less of it — just 5.1% compared to 53.8% for bok choy. The difference is oxalate. Spinach is loaded with it; brassica vegetables like bok choy barely contain any. The calcium that reaches your bones depends on what the vegetable does after you eat it, not what the nutrition label says before.
Calcium absorption from bok choy vs. milk · DOIBehind this recipe
Is bok choy actually a good source of calcium?
Better than most people think. A randomized study using isotope-labeled vegetables found that your body absorbs 52% of the calcium in bok choy, compared to 46% from milk at the same dose. The reason is oxalate — the compound that traps calcium and prevents absorption. Bok choy belongs to the brassica family, which is naturally low in oxalate. At a typical serving size, you would need about 2.3 servings of bok choy to match the absorbed calcium from one glass of milk. Not as much calcium per serving as dairy, but gram for gram, your body uses more of what bok choy delivers.
Is 28 grams of protein enough for a dinner?
Research suggests it is. A crossover study found that spreading protein evenly across meals — around 30 grams per sitting — produced 25% higher muscle protein synthesis over 24 hours compared to loading most protein at dinner. This recipe's 28 grams lands right at that threshold. Three meals in that range through the day adds up to about 84 grams, evenly distributed.
Read the full evidence reviewWhy marinate the chicken in Sriracha and soy sauce?
Two reasons. First, soy sauce adds salt and umami that penetrate the chicken during even a short marination — the few minutes while you prep the bok choy are enough. Second, Sriracha brings heat that caramelizes slightly in the hot pan, giving the chicken a lightly charred edge. The lemon juice loosens the surface proteins so the marinade sticks better. Together they do more in five minutes than most marinades do in an hour.
Can I use regular potatoes instead of baby potatoes?
Yes, but cut them into small cubes — roughly the size of halved baby potatoes. The cooking time in step 4 assumes pieces that are bite-sized and roughly uniform. Larger chunks will not cook through in five minutes on the stovetop. Baby potatoes work well here because their skin is thin enough to eat, adding texture without peeling.
