Ditch the takeout menu and make your own Chinese chicken lo mein at home! Made with juicy chicken, crunchy veggies and a fragrant ginger-soy sauce, you will love this 15-minute dinner recipe.
We love eating Asian food of all kinds from Vietnamese pho to Japanese ginger salad dressing to Korean beef BBQ. While we love getting Chinese takeout or delivery, I prefer cooking it at home so that I can control the quality of ingredients and boost nutrition.
When we do order out, my youngest loves getting the noodle dishes so I decided to create one of his favorite Chinese takeout dishes at home: chicken lo mein.
To start, simply heat oil in a hot pan or wok then stir around a little ginger, garlic, and chile paste until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic – you can never go back from burned garlic. Want to keep the dish mild? Skip the chili paste. Want to make it spicy? Double or triple the amount. The world is your oyster.
Next, slice up whatever veggies you have on hand or are in season. We had bell peppers and snow peas on hand but you can use anything from asparagus to green beans to broccoli. Only have frozen? That’s fine. This dish is easy peasy.
Once you’ve browned the chicken, toss in the veggies and saute until crisp-tender.
When sauteeing the veggies, chicken, and noodles, you’ll drizzle in soy sauce, hoisin, and sesame oil. Since sesame oil is super fragrant, a little goes a long way. Right before serving, I suggest topping with minced scallions if you have them on hand. Cilantro is great too!
Once you realize how easy it is to make homemade Chinese food at home, you’ll never look back. A few other favorite Chinese recipes I suggest you try at home include the following:
Frequently asked questions:
What is Lo Mein?
Lo mein is a Chinese dish traditionally with egg noodles. It often contains vegetables and some type of meat or seafood, usually beef, chicken, pork, shrimp or wontons. It can also be eaten with just vegetables. Traditionally this is a dry variation of noodle soup.
What if I can’t find Chinese egg noodles?
No problem at all – you can use linguine or rice noodles. Even spaghetti would be great!
Your chop sticks are waiting.
Chicken Lo Mein
Ingredients
- 8 ounces linguine or Chinese egg noodles (cooked according to package instructions)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (or oil of choice)
- 3 tablespoons ginger (minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek chili paste (more or less to taste)
- 1 pound chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1 red bell pepper (seeded and sliced)
- 2 cups snow peas
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Nakano Natural Rice Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon hoisin (or brown sugar)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- scallions (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Cook the linguine or Chinese egg noodles according to package instructions; set aside.
- Pre-heat a large wok or deep skillet over high heat and add the oil. Saute ginger, garlic and chile paste until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Toss in chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute until chicken is golden brown, about 5-7 minutes; remove chicken from pan and set aside.
- In the same hot pan, add peppers and snow peas plus a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Return chicken to pan along with cooked pasta.
- Drizzle in soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin and sesame oil. Saute until pasta, chicken and veggies are evenly coated, about 2-3 minutes. Serve with scallions on top.
Nutrition
Want more healthy recipes? Head over to Pinterest!