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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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. 
My go to recipe. Everyone loves it but I double the amount of sauce because it’s that good.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Ellen! I’m so glad you all loved it!
Can rice noodles be used in this recipe instead? Also, what kind of cabbage?
Hi Virgina! That should work but I would reference this recipe if you are using rice noodles for stir-fry.
Hi, I’m making this tonight. It sounds amazing and all the great reviews confirm that. Curious about the mention of bean sprouts and how you would use them. Robert on Feb 1 asked this same question but I didn’t see a reply. Hoping you can fill us in. Thanks so much! –Robert February 1, 2023
I am making this tomorrow for supper and wish to use bean sprouts. You mention them in the vegetables to use for the perfect chow mein. But i didn’t see it in the recipe on how to use them. I am wondering if they are added towards the end or if I stir-fry them with the rest of the vegetables.
Hi Carlita! It’s best to add them in toward the end. They cook very fast so you’ll need to watch them and bake them to your preference. I like them to still be a bit crunchy (2 mins or so).
Hello, love this – wondering if it can be successfully frozen?
Hi Amanda, I haven’t tried freezing this but you can make this ahead and reheat it. The noodles will absorb some of the moisture from the sauce, if they are dry, you can add more as needed.
Hi there,
First, thanks so much for a wonderful easy to follow and practical recipe site. Just wondering if I can use stock instead of broth for Chow Mein sauce please. Thanks so much. Karen.x
You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure. That will work too, I hope you’ll love it!
I used frozen chow mein veges that included 7 types—(saved a lot of work), cooked the noodles and chicken, and added your sauce~~~SO good~~and quick with the precut veges!!
Sounds great, I’m glad you loved it!
Hi Natasha,
I am just wondering if I am able to do this same recipe with beef mince?
Thank you Sarah
Hi Sarah, I’m sure that will work just fine too. Enjoy!
I have been cooking for close to 60 years. I have super sensitive taste buds, and I am a foodie. I can usually find a recipe or two or three on some of the more “well-known“ blogs, but I have to say that I’ve not had a bad thing yet from your site and it’s one of the first I go to. I can’t say I don’t tweak the recipes a little bit because we all do you have different tastes, and what we like. However, I didn’t have to do anything to this one. I love cabbage so I figured I’d try it. Well done! We will probably see this recipe at a few times every month, because it was that good. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Melody! That’s wonderful. So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for sharing.
I made this last week. It was DELICIOUS. I made the sauce exactly as written. I love cabbage, hubby doesn’t so I omitted that. I used sliced mushroom, celery and big white onion chunks. Next time I make it I want to use bean sprouts instead of noodle for lower carb. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for following the recipe as it is, we’re so glad that you enjoyed it! Sounds like a good plan too, I think bean sprouts will be great too.
I made this tonight my picky large family loved it. I used bok chow instead of cabbage but ill probably use cabbage next time and doubled the recipe. I should have trippled it. I also added garlic and red pepper flakes to the sauce since my family prefers spicy asian food. Otherwise I flowed and it turned out great! Thank you for a quick easy dinner everyone loved!!
I’m so glad it was a hit for the family. Thank you for the feedback.
do you shred or just chop the cabbage or does it really matter also could you shred the carrots
Hi Sheila, we chopped it – we have a photo of the cabbage in the recipe for reference. I hope that helps!
This recipe was so good and so easy to make! Definitely restaurant quality!
Hello Steve, thanks a lot for your good comments and feedback!
I found this recipe to be far too sweet, even though I used half the amount of sugar. In all honesty it didn’t taste like chow mein at all.
Hi Adrienne, I don’t recall many reports of it being too sweet. Did you make any substitutions to ingredients or quantities in the sauce?
I have made this chow mein many times. It has become a family favourite. I often add shrimp. So delicious and it is the best sauce! Thank you Natasha!
Hi Tina! That’s wonderful to hear. Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you love this recipe.
Just tried this recipe, and using chow mein noodles in a recipe for the first time. Delicious. Everyone loved it. Will definitely make again!!
So glad you loved it, Amanda! Thank you for sharing.
I followed the sauce directions exactly. I even measured. This is too much sesame oil, in my opinion. It’s also missing something…. I probably won’t make this again.
Hi Kara, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t hit the mark for you. This has been a very popular recipe on my site. Did you change or substitute anything in the sauce possibly or change the volume of noodles? I have found that adding too much noodles without increasing the sauce can make it seem a bit bland.
Hi, can this be made ahead and reheated when needed? I’m putting together a Chinese feast so don’t want to have to do all the cooking at the last minute
Hi Tori! Yes, you can make this ahead and reheat it. The noodles will absorb some of the moisture from the sauce, if they are dry, you can add more as needed.
Followed the recipe for the sauce to the t but found it didn’t taste like any core mein I’ve ever had, it was still tasty but not what I imagined it to taste like, I think there may have been to much Oyster sauce next time I may halve it to only 3 tbsp
Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I hope you liked our take on Chow mein!
Holy chalupas! This recipe was amazing. I used angel hair pasta but other than that followed the recipe. So good. So delicious. Thank you so much Natasha!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Beena!
I cannot find non toasted sesame oil anywhere. Is there a substitute? Thank you.
Hi Shannon! The sesame oil adds a nice authentic flavor profile, so you may miss that in the recipe with out it. You can use another oil, and possibly add some sesame seeds on top for a nice addition.
I am making this tomorrow for supper and wish to use bean sprouts. You mention them in the vegetables to use for the perfect chow mein. But i didn’t see it in the recipe on how to use them. I am wondering if they are added towards the end or if I stir-fry them with the rest of the vegetables.
Loved this recipe! Had to change a couple things. Used cooked spaghetti noodles, hot sesame oil (reduced to 3 tsp) and an Xtra Tbls of sugar, and added broccoli. My family loved it!
Hi Jeanne! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you’re family loved the recipe. 🙂