Chicken Lo Mein

Meals that seem like take out are my very favorite. This Chicken Lo Mein will rival any of your local take out restaurants. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you will love it more. The sauce that goes with this recipe makes it over the top delicious.

This is a quick spin on our Beef Lo Mein that cuts out the marinating time. Both recipes are delicious and will become regulars in your dinner rotation.

What is Lo Mein

Lo Mein is a noodle dish that originates from China, but has been very Americanized. The Americanized version is a combination of stir fried noodles, meat, and vegetables. That is the take on lo mein we are doing here.

How to Make Chicken Lo Mein

This is a brief overview of how to make this easy and delicious take out spin off. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

1. Cook the lo mein noodles. We are going to stir the cooked noodles into the dish at the very end, but it is a good idea to boil them while you are making the rest of the dish.
2. Make the sauce. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce, chili paste, and cornstarch. Set it aside.
3. Cook the chicken and vegetables. Start by sautéing the chicken in some sesame oil. You can cook it for just a few minutes, no need to cook it all the way through, it will finish cooking with the vegetables.
4. Combine everything. Add the sauce and noodles to the skillet with the cooked chicken and vegetables. Allow the sauce to thicken a little and then serve and enjoy.

Traditionally, Lo Mein is made with egg noodles. In the United States you can find a variety of noodles that are labeled “Lo Mein” and are made with wheat. These noodles are easy to find in the international aisle of the grocery store.

In our Beef Lo Mein, we use a wider noodle. Either that or the type of lo mein noodles you see pictured here will work. You can also replace lo mein noodles with any kind of noodle your family loves, even just typical spaghetti. It will work in this recipe and you will love it.

Lo Mein Sauce

The sauce for this recipe comes together with just a few ingredients, but it is is the thing that will put this recipe over the top for you.

• Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce: It is very important that you use reduced sodium soy sauce. The regular will make the dish too salty. If you can’t find it, you can replace some of the regular soy sauce with water.
• Brown Sugar: We used light brown sugar, but dark would work too. It adds just the most subtle sweetness to the sauce while balancing the other flavors.
• Chili Sauce: This is the brand of chili sauce we use. In the recipe we call for 1 to 2 tablespoons. This sauce does add heat, so if you are sensitive to that, use only 1 tablespoon.
• Oyster Sauce: This sauce is made from literally cooking oysters. So if you have a shellfish allergy, you will want to swap it with Hoisin sauce. It will change the flavor, but you will still enjoy it. Otherwise there are vegetarian oyster sauces on the market.
• Corn Starch: This will help the sauce thicken after just a minute or two over the heat.

Substitutions and Variations

• Use a different noodle. As mentioned above, if you can’t find lo mein noodles, any long noodle will work in this recipe. Soba noodles, though Japanese, would be really delicious here.
• Swap Oyster Sauce with Hoisin Sauce. As mentioned above if you are allergic to shellfish or have an aversion to oyster sauce you can use hoisin sauce as a replacement. Use the same amount as is called for of the oyster sauce.
• Use different vegetables. If you aren’t in love with the veggies we call for here, you can use others. In the end you want to use about 6 cups of vegetables. So, for example, if you take out the mushrooms, replace it with more of something else. You can also really speed things up by using a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables.

Reheating Leftovers

Left over Lo Mein Chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for three to four days. You can reheat it in the microwave, covered, for about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once in the middle.

If you are reheating a large amount, consider making more of the sauce and adding it to a skillet with the leftovers. It’s a great way to reheat a lot without losing any moisture or flavor.

Other Great Take Out Recipes

• Shrimp Fried Rice
• Orange Chicken
• Butter Chicken
• Vegetable Curry

If you make this Chicken Lo Mein recipe or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!