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. 
So yummy and easy! I added siracha, some minced ginger and salt and pepper to make it a bit spicier 🙂
That sounds great, Megan! So glad you loved the recipe.
Has anyone tried adding egg? A lot of the lo mein and chow mein served at restaurants around me have egg in them. Just curious if they would be easy to add and taste good with this recipe?
Just curious, do you mean a fried egg or scrambled egg like in fried rice?
Used a 14oz bag of the shredded green and red cabbage with the carrots! Worked perfect! Yum.
Thanks for sharing, Emily! I’m glad to hear that.
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe, will definitely make this again!
You’re welcome, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this and it was better than any Chinese restaurant I’ve ordered from. I make this alot and it is a huge hit with my family and friends
That’s great to hear, Bonnie! Thank you for sharing.
This was a perfect dish to serve my husband and dad for Father’s Day! I made 1.5 of the sauce as was suggested in a review, and added broccoli and then bean sprouts at the end. My mom has asked me to send her the recipe!
I’m so glad it was enjoyed, Margaret!
Super duper receipe!🥰💐🌸❣
The dish came out great.! It’s one of my favorites now🥰
Thank you very much!!
So glad to hear that, Saira! Thank you for the feedback.
Another NK hit in our family. Love this for dinner but also perfect for the kids’ school lunch in a thermos. So tasty! We make this when we have a bunch of veggies sitting in the fridge, add em all!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Reema!
First of all, I love your recipes! So, for me this came out pretty good. I followed the recipe exactly. My two suggestions are to add the carrots a few minutes before the cabbage and to reduce the sauce a bit. Other than that though I really enjoyed it. Thanks Natasha!
Hi Megan, thank you for your suggestion and feedback. We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed our Chicken Chow Mein recipe!
My chow main, turned out very sticky and no one liked it! 🤔 What could I did wrong?
Hi Juanita, thank you for sharing your feedback. This is one of our more popular recipes and I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you make sure that you used the same proportion of sauce to noodles and chicken or the sauce can seem overpowering?
I am deadly allergic to fish. What would you suggest I replace the oyster sauce with. I would love to make this, but cannot use the oyster sauce.
Thank You
Muriel
Hi Muriel, the oyster sauce will give you the most authentic flavor, but most people would substitute oyster sauce with soy sauce (to taste) if the oyster sauce is left out. You can also mix equal parts of soy sauce and hoisin sauce to get that sweet and salty flavor you are looking for here. I hope this helps!
There is Vegetarian Substitute for Oyster Sauce. It is sold as Ayam Vegetarian Oyster Sauce 210ml https://ayam.com/
I hope you get a simluar brand if in USA.
Maybe I skipped something important, but the sauce made the dish more gooey than used as a seasoning. All I could taste was sesame and oyster sauce. It overpowered the veggies and chicken.
Hi Yinette, thank you for sharing your feedback. This is one of our more popular recipes and I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you make sure to use light sesame oil and not toasted? Also, make sure to use the same proportion of sauce to noodles and chicken or the sauce can seem overpowering.
I followed the recipe closely and was rewarded by Rave reviews from the family! The sauce really makes the dish, everyone said it needs to go into the rotation. Thanks for the recipe!
That’s awesome! I’m glad it was a hit and made it to the meal rotation!
Tasty but still salty. I even used low sodium soy sauce. Need to figure out how to make it without it being dally. Otherwise, it was very tasty.
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out the way you hoped. Did you possibly use regular soy sauce instead of low sodium?
Yep, very salty. I’m an experienced cook and followed the recipe exactly, low-sodium SS and everything. When I was making the sauce I was thinking “6 tablespoons of oyster sauce and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce on top of a half-cup of chicken broth spells s-a-l-t-y.” Next time I will take your suggestion and use half hoisin and half soy sauce. Nnd maybe cut back of the broth a bit nd throw a tablespoon two of OJ
Other than that a good, easy recipe.
Use a low salt powdered chicken stock – keep your teaspoons to the minimum. I used Vegetarian Oyster Sauce as well. Turned out really nice. Rest ingredients as pure recipe except I added frozen baby peas for a bit more greenness and background to flavour.
I will make this over and over. It was easy and super delicious. Absolutely excellent recipe.
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
AMAZING!!! I was craving noodles and this dish hit the spot! 10/10! And it was super easy!
So glad you loved it, Candace! Thank you for the feedback.
I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you!
This is an excellent recipe, quick and easy to prepare. This is going to be a staple from now on.
Only 1 thought though, the vegetarian option of tofu as a chicken sub, is good, but the oyster sauce isn’t vegetarian.
Hi Karen! Thank you for the feedback. I’m glad you loved this recipe. The oyster sauce will give you the most authentic flavor, but most people would substitute oyster sauce with soy sauce (to taste) if the oyster sauce is left out. You can also mix equal parts of soy sauce and hoisin sauce to get that sweet and salty flavor you are looking for here. I believe they make a vegan version of an oyster sauce as a substitute as well.
I made this last night and added sriracha and it was delicious!!
Thank you for sharing, Maria! I’m so glad you loved the recipe.
Hello Natasha, I haven’t made this recipe before, but I plan to, I just have trust issues when it comes to Corn starch, so do you have any substitutes for it?
Hi Taluja! I haven’t tested a substitute but I assume it would work to use something else like flour, arrowroot powder, potato starch, etc. to thicken the sauce. You can research online to see what a good substitute ratio would be.
Soo good!
I used 2 cups of coleslaw and fake soy sause and it was delicious. Something everyone in my family could enjoy.
Great to hear that your family enjoyed this a ot too!