Chicken Chow Mein
Serves 6
15 mins prep
10 mins cook
10 mins Additional Time
35 mins total
Chicken Chow Mein — 🍜🥢🙌🏻 Chewy chow mein noodles, crisp-tender veggies, and juicy chicken are stir-fried in a sesame-soy sauce! It’s a SIMPLE and FAST recipe that anyone can make. It's cheaper than ordering take out, your family will be impressed, and you'll love how EASY it is to prepare!
Recipe Flow Tips - While one thing is happening, make sure you are moving on to the next step, i.e. while the chicken marinates, mince the garlic. While the chicken cooks, make sure you're quickly chopping the cabbage and carrots, and so forth. The recipe moves fast once you get going so either prep everything in advance or work quickly/work ahead during any "downtime".
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Chow Mein Sauce
Chow Mein
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Chow Mein Sauce - To a small bowl, add the soy sauce, cornstarch, and whisk well to combine. Tips - I recommend lite or reduced sodium soy sauce so the dish doesn't become too salty. Liquid aminos or coconut aminos also work fine. You need to use the cornstarch or arrowroot because it helps thicken the sauce when exposed to heat. Don't skip it.
Then add all the remaining sauce ingredients, whisk to combine; set aside. Tip - Oyster sauce doesn't make the recipe taste fishy nor like oysters and is essential in this Chinese-inspired recipe. I don't recommend skipping it nor substituting with more soy sauce (it'll just taste more soy-like) and won't have the signature unami, lightly sweetened, ultra rich flavor that oyster sauce lends to the dish. Oyster sauce reminds me a bit like hoisin sauce which would be a better sub if you have it on hand instead.
Marinating - To a medium bowl, add the chicken pieces, add 2 tablespoons of the chow mein sauce over the top, stir to combine; set aside for 10 to 15 minutes while you prep/chop the other ingredients.
Noodles - While the chicken marinates, boil the chow mein noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside. TIp - Most noodles cook very quickly and make sure not to overcook them.
Chow Mein - While the noodles are cooking (or after if they cooked very fast), to a large, deep, high-sided skillet (of at least 10-12 inches or use wok if you have one, although a wok is not necessary), add the 1-2 tablespoons veg/canola/olive oil, add the chicken and marinating liquid from the bowl (just dump it all in), and cook over medium-high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir and flip frequently to ensure even cooking.
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute; stir constantly.
Add the cabbage, carrots, celery, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until cabbage wilts and softens. Tips - To save time, you can use 1 to 2 bags (it will depend on their size, they vary from brand to brand) of coleslaw mix with carrots. The cabbage is usually quite finely chopped so it will cook quicker and the quantity of carrots may be a bit skimpier than if you chop them yourself, but it's a time-saving option. Bagged cabbage with carrots will also cook a bit faster too, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the cooked noodles, the chow mein sauce, water, green onion segments, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute.
Garnish with additional green onions as desired and serve immediately. Extra chow mein will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. I don't recommend freezing this recipe.
Reheating - When reheating leftovers, you may want to drizzle a bit more soy sauce and/or oil over the chow mein since it is prone to drying out as it sits as well as when you reheat it. Or, simply set it out on the counter 30-45 minutes before you want to eat it and consume at room temp which is what we tend to do.