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
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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. 
Of all your Asian recipes, this has been our favorite one. I substituted chicken thighs for chicken breast, and used regular spaghetti. It was out of this world!! My husband was wondering if this could be made in bulk for quick freezer meals (lol …it was THAT good)
This is absolutely delicious! When we make a recipe for the first time we follow the directions as they are written. The only thing I would change is to cut the noodles in half, use 6oz. instead of 12oz. and if you like a lot of sauce, double it.
Thank you for the feedback, Lisa!
Very good. Easy to make. Kids and husband loved it. Even my one picky kid! Topped with Asian chili crisp.
This was a great recipe! Our Monday night potluck/Bible study group chose “bring a favorite dish from your childhood -so my first thought was Chicken Chow Mein -which as a youngster meant La Choy out of the can. So I knew I could fix something better-and this was the first recipe I found! It was easy to make and I even made it gluten free! Everyone loved it! It’s now a regular dish for us!
On the ingredients list you have garlic but you don’t use it on the recipe
Hi Maria! See step 4 in the recipe card.
Great recipe!Super easy to make. Saved the recipe for my “easy weekday meals”.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Angela!
First time making this and boy it was perfectly delicious. Will only making this as per my husband’s request
I look forward to trying this recipe.
Pretty good but too sweet. I would reduce sugar to 1 teaspoon vs 1 tablespoon. Also my noodles were a little slimy but maybe the brand. Otherwise very good.
Chicken Chow Mein is like a harmonious symphony in a wok—each ingredient playing its part to create a delectable melody of flavors and textures. From the tender chicken to the crisp vegetables and perfectly sauced noodles, it’s a dish that brings comfort and satisfaction with every bite.
Amazing recipe. I wonder if you can use beef broth instead of chicken?
Hi Jacquelin, yes that would work fine. I hope you love the recipe!
This was so good and my children loved it so much they wanted to take left overs for school lunch that next day. Super easy to make. Saved the recipe for my “easy weekday meals”.
That’s lovely to hear! I’m happy to hear that your kids love love this recipe a lot!
I love this recipe. I have now made it a half dozen times and even cooked it last night for my fiancee and family while visiting here in the Philippines. They had never tried Chicken Chow Mein before and loved it.
I’m so happy you loved it, Norm! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I am on a restricted diet can’t wait to make but I need the cup measurement of one serving. Thanks so much I love and save all your recipes thank you Marie
Hi Marie, I didn’t measure this recipe in cups but I would estimate maybe 1 cup in a serving? Sorry I can’t give you a more exact measurement.
It is definitely a good sauce, just a little too sweet for my taste, but that’s ME. I prefer my meals savory and my deserts sweet. All in all, this is a great recipe with plenty of room to improvise.
Thanks for your feedback, Jeremy!
Check the chicken broth ingredient….. Might consider removing it so that people are not making a soup
The ingredients list is correct. The chicken broth is needed to make the sauce so that you don’t end up with very dry chow Mein and it’s only 1/2 a cup. The cornstarch will thicken the sauce to create the correct consistency.
The very best Chicken chow mein I have EVER had!!! Exceptional. I have probably made it over 20 times and everyone asks for the recipe. I always nearly double the sauce as I tend to make a little more noodles and chicken than in the recipe just so we can have some the next day!!!
That’s wonderful, Sarah! Thank you for the feedback.
This was outstanding. The sauce was incredibly good. I thought 6 tbsp of oyster sauce would be too much, but it was not. Only negative comment was cooking the chicken. It was never going to brown in all that oil. So I transferred it from the wok to a skillet without the oil. It browned nicely in just a couple of minutes.
Can i make this without oyster sauce? Ir what can i use instead of that?
Hi Sara! I haven’t tried this, but I’m reading that by mixing soy sauce and hoisin sauce at a 1:1 ratio, the result will be close enough to oyster sauce to get you by. I hope this helps.
Made the recipe for my family before I rushed out to attend a meeting. I got home and it was practically all gone. I doubled the recipe and it was perfect. Will definitely make again and this recipe was super easy . Thenak you
Thanks for sharing, Darlene! Great to hear that it was a huge hit!