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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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
- 4 Tbsp oyster sauce, or added to taste*
- 3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp light sesame oil, (not toasted)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp corn starch
- 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
*Oyster sauce can vary in salt content and if you use regular soy sauce rather than reduced, you will want to adjust the oyster sauce to taste.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
I tried the recipe with a few changes.I brought shredded cabbage and precut carrots.I added onion and more green onion than it said. Using pkgs off 2 noodles I would suggest using double shredded cabbage and 2 containers of carrots precut.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! It’s the best stir fry we’ve ever made ourselves at home. So pleased I found this recipe, it will definitely be a meal we make regularly. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for your awesome review, Shelley!
This was absolutely delicious and quick and simple to make!
I will definitely be making this again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Silvana!
This was delicious! I’ll definitely be making this again. I did add fresh mushrooms.
We’re glad you enjoyed this recipe, Mary!
This recipe is FANTASTIC! Was super quick to prepare and the whole family loved it! My mom said it reminded her of the food she ate while in Asia. Didn’t find it too salty personally. Will definitely be making this regularly. Thanks Natasha!
You’re welcome, thank you for sharing your comments with us!
This is so very good! I have made it twice and honestly could eat it 3 or 4 days in a row.
Delicious!
So glad you loved it, Beth!
just made this recipe and it was a hit!!! although icouldn’t find chow mein noodles so i used angel hair it was still veryyummy
I’m glad to hear that, Terry! Thank you for sharing.
What can I say… It’s just yumm… So simple dish in so little time. My whole family loved it and it will be on our menu list,😋
That’s wonderful, Ginta! Glad you found a new one to add to the menu. 🙂
Very good recipe! I’ve made it a couple of times and I enjoy that the sauce is light but flavorful. I varied the vegetables this time based on what I had – this is a perfect recipe to do that – use whatever you like or have on hand. Can’t wait to enjoy the leftovers! Thanks for a really good recipe!
You are very welcome! I’m happy to hear that you have already made this recipe a couple of times and have always loved it!
This isn’t the Chow Main we eastern people know. This has to say West Coast Chow Main.
The East Coast Chow Main is totally different. On the east coast, this recipe is LO-MAIN.
Thank you for sharing that with me, William! I hope you like our version and try it out soon!
Hi Natasha, thanks for the recipe, and it was delicious. It’s one of my favourite of what you make. Spatchcock chicken is another one. I love all of your recipes. Thanks again. 💕
I’m so glad to hear that, Marjorie! 🙂
Anxious to try this tonight – I have all the ingredients except noodles – would Ramen noodles work? Im sure it wont cost me
$12 – $18
Thank you for sharing.
Hi, I haven’t tried this with ramen noodles but we did it in our Beef and broccoli Ramen Stir fry and it was delicious. You might refer to that recipe to get a sense of how we prepared the noodles.
Very yummy!! A bit salty, I’ll cut down on soy sauce next time I make it. I didn’t have green onions so I made it without.
Hi Isabelle, feel free to make some minor changes to the seasoning according to your preference. Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Natalya. I can’t wait to try this but can you leave out the oyster sauce without ruining the recipe?
Hi Noni, The oyster sauce will give you the most authentic flavor but most people would substitute oyster sauce with soy sauce, so I would suggest adding soy sauce to taste. It will taste better if you mix equal parts of soy sauce and hoisin sauce to get that sweet and salty flavor you are looking for here.
The sauce is too salty for me, even after reducing the soy by a tablespoon
Hi Karen, you can also try using low-sodium or sodium-free chicken broth to help with the additional saltiness.
Loved this recipe! Wished I could have given it 4 and a half star, but I couldn’t. I love how easy and quick the recipe is…. I have made a lot of Asian noodles but most are really time consuming and have a lot of ingredients that I don’t have on hand. The only thing I did was add lime juice…. I felt, for me it needed some acid. Thank you thank you😊😊
Hi Janet! Thank you for the wonderful feedback! So glad you loved this recipe.
Made this for supper this evening. It’s so good! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Jean!
This is pretty dang good!!! I’m half Thai and I’m very picky about my Asian dishes. This will be a definite rotation in my dinner planning. I used dried chowmein noodles from China. They are a medium size and I loved the density of the noodle. Thank you for the recipe!!!
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback, Maryann! I’m so happy this was a hit!
Hands down, this is the BEST meal I have ever made!
THE BEST!
Hats off to you Natasha.
That’s great, Beth! So glad you loved this. Thank you for your feedback.
This is such a good recipe, it was quick to make easy, I served it with the cicken fried rice your recipe and egg rolls, my whole family loved it and my daughter who took two years of culinary in college asked me for the recipe. there will be many more repeats of last nights dinner, thanks Natasha!
That’s so great! That’s just awesome, Maria!
In order to make vegetarian, in addition your directions, you will also either need to omit the oyster sauce or use a replacement (vegetarian friendly oyster sauce can be found at Asian Markets).