Chicken chow mein is probably already one of your favorite Chinese takeout dishes. This one-pan dinner is so satisfying with chicken, vegetables, classic chow mein noodles, and the best homemade chow mein sauce. Also, it’s way healthier than ordering takeout.
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Hi there! My name is Natalya and I run the blog Momsdish. If you already follow me, you know I can’t get enough of easy meals that require simple ingredients and minimal clean-up. I can’t wait to share this recipe for chicken chow mein with you because it hits all the marks!
Chicken Chow Mein
Chow mein is a traditional Chinese dish made with egg noodles and stir-fried veggies. We love adding a protein and our favorite is chicken, but you can try different meat or tofu. This dish is pan-fried so the noodles get a nice crisp to them and then tossed in a yummy sauce. Chow mein is perfect for those nights when you don’t want to dirty too many pans or make a big mess of the kitchen.
Chow mein gets its signature flavor from the thick, dark homemade sauce the noodles are tossed with. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and salty and makes putting down your chopsticks absolutely impossible.
Ingredients for Chow Mein:
- Chow Mein Noodles: Chow mein noodles are made with wheat and egg. They are very similar to Italian pasta noodles and have a wonderful bite to them. Most grocery stores carry dry chow mein noodles in the Asian aisle. But, if you are lucky, you will find pre-cooked chow mein noodles in the refrigerated section that can be thrown straight into your pan.
- Vegetables: Carrots, cabbage, green onions, and bean sprouts are the perfect combination of veggies to use for chow mein. However, they can easily be replaced with other veggies like bok choy, celery, broccoli, spinach, kale or baby corn. Feel free to get creative and use what you like or whatever you have hanging around in your fridge!
- Meats: Great quality chicken breasts are your best bet for slicing into chow mein-ready strips. If you like, feel free to swap chicken out for beef, shrimp or pork.
- Hot tip: Hosting vegetarians also? Use vegetable broth and set some of your noodles aside to toss them with cubes of baked tofu.
The BEST Chow Mein Sauce:
The homemade chow mein sauce is amazing in this recipe! Combine soy sauce, light sesame oil, oyster sauce, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and chicken broth to make the signature sweet and savory sauce that makes chow mein taste authentic.
How to Make Chow Mein:
- In a small mixing bowl, combine ingredients for chow mein sauce: oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken broth, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Cook noodles according to package instructions, set aside.
- Heat a large wok or pan. Add a bit of oil to the pan and cook chicken until it’s golden brown. Remove chicken and set aside.
- Add carrots, cabbage and pressed garlic and saute for a few minutes until veggies are slightly softened.
- Add chicken back to the pan, followed by cooked noodles and pour the sauce right on top. Cook for about 2 minutes, distributing all that saucy goodness around evenly.
- Add chopped green onions and remove from the heat. Serve hot!
We love recreating popular takeout recipes. Noodles are king in Chinese cooking! This Homemade Chow Mein Recipe is simple to make and oh-so-satisfying, these stir-fried noodles are sure to become a part of your weeknight dinner rotation.
More Quick Asian Recipes
- Chicken Stir Fry with Rice Noodles – Make this amazing dinner in just 30 minutes!
- Chicken Stir Fry– so much better than takeout.
- Beef Stir Fry Recipe with 3 Ingredient Sauce– So Easy- perfect weeknight dinner.
- Korean Stir-Fried Glass Noodles a.k.a Japchae– You will be going for seconds!
- Yakisoba Noodles Recipe– A Classic Yakisoba, made in one pan
Chicken Chow Mein with the Best Chow Mein Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless
- 3 tbsp oil
- 12 oz chow mein noodles, (uncooked noodles)
- 2 cups cabbage
- 1 large carrot, julienned
- 1/2 batch green onions
- 2 garlic cloves
Chow Mein Sauce
- 6 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tbsp light sesame oil, (not toasted)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine oyster sauce, granulated sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken broth and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Cook your noodles according to package instructions then drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
- Heat a large wok or pan with olive oil over medium-heat. Cut your chicken breasts into bite-sized strips and cook them in the oil until golden brown. Remove strips and set aside.
- Add carrots, cabbage and pressed garlic and saute for a few minutes until veggies are slightly softened and the cabbage is a bit translucent.
- Add chicken and noodles back into the pan. Pour sauce over the top and continue cooking all the ingredients together for another 2 minutes.
- Garnish your chow mein with chopped green onions and serve the noodles straight from the pan and piping hot!
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I loved this recipe… though I will add a little less sugar next time…
Sounds good, feel free to add some sugar next time according to your personal preference.
The best and easiest chow mein recipe. The sauce is delicious & everyone in the family loves it. Quick & tasty meal! Thank you for this recipe!
The sauce is delicious. I used celery instead of cabbage and added 1 lb of bean sprouts.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
The sauce is delish. Subbed lo mein noodles as the grocery didn’t have chow mein. So, so tasty!
Nice to know that the substitution that you used work well! Thank you for sharing, Allie.
Best chow mein I’ve made at home. Better than take out, not as greasy. I followed the direction exactly.
This got rave reviews from my family last night! We had this and your beef and broccoli and my husband said no more Chinese take away for us! We would put 6 stars if we could.
Is there a sub for oyster sauce? I am allergic to shellfish.
Hi Marcia, I haven’t tested this but from some quick research, I came across a suggestion to substitute oyster sauce with mixture of soy sauce combined with a little bit of sugar and hoisin sauce. I hope that helps.
Hi Marcia, I too have a shellfish allergy…I used the soy sauce and hoisin (no sugar though) and it was delish!
New to cooking so this might be a stupid question… also allergic to oyster sauce so when you sub oyster sauce, does that mean mixing 3T soy sauce with 3T hoisin sauce on top of the 3T soy sauce the recipe originally called for?
Hi Elle! That’s correct. It’s in addition to. I hope you love the recipe!
Chow mein, een van mijn favoriete gerecht, heerlijk. Heb het zeker al 10 keer gemaakt. Blijft lekker. Doe er ook wel eens cashewnoten overheen
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Instead of 1 tbsp. sugar I used Thai sweet chili sauce. great recipe. I didn’t have any cabbage so added some frozen veggies from freezer. the sauce is awesome!!! thanks
My family loooves this dish!!
We found this recipe and now I have to make it all the time. I have shared it with family and friends and they love it as well. Thank you for sharing your talent.
I’m so glad to hear that, Marta!
Thank you for your comment. I was apprehensive about making this sauce. The soy sauce/oyster sauce mix we get from our local Chinese Restaurant, that I won’t use it (too many cardiac issues). But I might try this one.
I hope you’ll love it!