Easy Chicken Chow Mein Recipe

A delectable classic Chinese dish filled with chicken, carrots, cabbage, celery, onions, and crispy stir-fried noodles. Make this easy Chicken Chow Mein at home, and it will easily replace your favorite takeout!

Course main meal chicken

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword chicken chow mein recipe, how to make chicken chow mein, how to make chow mein with chicken, what is chicken chow mein

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 619kcal

Author Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Chow Mein Sauce
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoon hoisin sauce or oyster sauce
1 tablespoon grated ginger or ginger paste
1 tablespoon mirin or granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine optional
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Chow Mein
8 ounces chow mein noodles see notes
½ teaspoon sesame oil
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil
1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs cut into thin bite-size pieces
4 cups green cabbage finely shredded
2 carrots julienned
3 cloves garlic minced
4 green onions

Instructions

Boil Chinese noodles according to package instructions. Drain well and toss with sesame oil.
Whisk the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, mirin, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat until a drop of water added sizzles. Working in 2 batches, add the noodles and cook undisturbed for 1-2 minutes or until they get crispy. Flip and crisp the other side. Repeat with the second batch of noodles. Remove to a bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the same skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate.
Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to the same skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the cabbage and carrots. Cook until the vegetables are crisp-tender, which is about 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low and add the garlic and the green onions. Cook for about 30-60 seconds, stirring constantly, as there will be a lot of residual heat in the pan.
Turn the heat up to medium, adding the chicken and noodles back to the pan to warm. Whisk the sauce that you set aside. Add it to the skillet and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and everything is coated with sauce.
Serve as soon as possible while everything is at its best.

Video

Notes

Mirin is sweetened sake and is available at some high-end grocery stores. You can substitute 1 tablespoon of sherry with 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar for mirin. If you can not find the mirin and you do not want to purchase the sherry add 1/2 -1 tablespoon of brown sugar to sweeten the sauce.
Chinese noodles can be found in the Asian food section of your grocery store. Other noodles that work well are ramen, Yakisoba, and even thin spaghetti noodles.
Do not overboil the noodles, as you want them to have a little bit of firmness to them.
Chop your veggies fairly small and shred your cabbage thin to ensure a quicker cooking time.
Do not cube your chicken. Instead, cut it into bite-size slices that are longer and thinner. This will help cook it all the way through without drying it out.
Oyster sauce is traditionally used in chow mein sauce, but not everyone has access to it. Hoisin sauce is a tasty, albeit different, substitute.
When cooking the chicken and vegetables, use medium-high to high heat and an oil with a high smoking point, like vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.
Other vegetables to consider adding are bok choy, mushrooms, broccoli, snow peas, or bell peppers.
Other proteins that work well with this recipe are beef, pork, and shrimp.
If you like a lot of sauce like my family does, double the sauce ingredients.
Plan on serving this as soon as possible so the vegetables are still crisp-tender.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power.

Nutrition