This chicken lo mein recipe yields juicy chicken, crisp peppers, tender napa cabbage, and thick, chewy noodles tossed in a rich savory brown sauce that is extra fragrant. Make your favorite Chinese takeout dish without a wok and it will taste just as great as the restaurant version!
Chicken lo mein is one of those comfort foods like pizza and burgers, that you might find yourself craving on any occasion. No matter whether it’s a busy Monday night, or when you’ve just come home after a trip, or are feeling cozy and want to stay in and watch TV, you might want to reach for that small box of Chinese takeout that is loaded with flavorful noodles and tender chicken. I’m not surprised that many people associate chicken lo mein with Chinese takeout. It’s definitely one of the iconic dishes of Chinese cooking.
Here is the fun part – you can make chicken lo mein at home, one that is not only practical and easy enough for a home cook, but my recipe will also help you make it as tasty as the restaurant version.
Let’s jump into the details!
Chicken lo mein ingredients
What type of noodles to use
The biggest difference between chicken chow mein and chicken lo mein is the type of noodles used. Chicken chow mein uses thin chow mein noodles that create a crunchy crispy texture once fried in oil. Lo mein uses thick egg noodles that yield a chewy texture once cooked.
The best noodles for chicken lo mein are fresh lo mein noodles. You can find them at Chinese markets or large Asian markets such as H Mart. They are usually stored in the refrigerated or freezer section. You can also find them at online Asian grocery stores such as Umamicart.
Alternatively, I’ve found that udon noodles and thicker dried wheat noodles also work in this dish. However, I highly recommend sourcing fresh lo mein noodles if you want to replicate the restaurant experience. Unlike dried noodles, fresh lo mein noodles yield the satisfying chewy texture that is the highlight of the dish.
How to create the most tender and flavorful chicken
Always always marinate your chicken before cooking. It only takes a minute to prepare and 10 minutes to marinate. But it makes a big difference. Your chicken will end up juicy and more tender and bursting with flavor. The cornstarch not only tenderizes the chicken, but it also protects it from overcooking in the hot pan. It’s an important practice in Chinese cooking that I never skip.
What vegetables to use
I love adding tons of vegetables to my chicken lo mein, as they give the dish a delightful texture and make your meal more balanced. In this recipe I used napa cabbage, carrot and pepper. You can also replace them with other vegetables you might have on hand.
The rule of thumb is to choose vegetables that have different textures and colors.
Here are some alternative vegetables to use in chicken lo mein:
- Cabbage, baby bok choy, spinach, Chinese broccoli (to replace napa cabbage)
- Bamboo shoot, water chestnuts, hot peppers (to replace green pepper)
- Onion, zucchini, mushrooms, bean sprouts (to replace carrot)
Note, the cooking time of the different veggies varies. As a rule of thumb, hard vegetables such as carrots, water chestnuts and carrots take longer to cook (3 to 4 minutes). Spinach and bean sprouts take the shortest time to cook, as little as 1 minute.
If you’re not sure about the proper order to add the veggies, cook them individually until almost done, then add them back into the pan later on. This way, your veggies will always cook perfectly and maintain their vibrant colors.
Mise en place
Once you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
- Chopped veggies: cabbage, pepper, carrot, green onion
- Mixed sauce
- Marinated chicken
- Chopped aromatics: ginger and garlic
- Cooked noodles
How to make restaurant-style chicken lo mein
Cooking chicken lo mein is super easy once you have prepared the ingredients.
- Pan fry the chicken until just cooked and slightly browned
- Gently saute the aromatics
- Cook the napa cabbage and carrots until al dente
- Add the noodles and sauce, toss together
- Add the green onion and pepper
- Add back the chicken, toss everything together
PS: I like to have very crunchy peppers, so I add them at the very end. If you prefer a more tender texture, you can add the pepper and green onion before adding the noodles and give it a quick 30-second stir fry.
Why you don’t need a wok
I expanded on this topic in my post Wok vs. Stir Fry Pan and you can find more information there. But, long story short, you can make a delicious chicken lo mein without a wok as long as you use a lot of aromatics (fresh ginger and garlic), a great lo mein sauce, the correct type of noodles, and a pan that’s hot enough. You can achieve all of these by following my recipe below with a large nonstick skillet or a carbon steel pan. In fact, if you have an electric stove or induction stove at home, a skillet will heat up better than a wok because it has a larger contact area with your stove. I toss my noodles using a pair of tongs to prevent the ingredients from flying out of the pan.
What NOT to do
The biggest mistake when making lo mein is to crowd the pan with too many ingredients. When you do this, the pan will take a long time to heat up, so all your food will be steamed instead of seared. The dish will end up watery, soggy, and generally lacking in flavor.
The recipe below fills up a large 12.5” (32 cm) frying pan. If you want to tweak the recipe, make sure not to use too many ingredients that crow the pan.
Afterthoughts
OK, this might be a lot of information to take in. But trust me, if you simply follow my recipe and try this dish once, you’ll be impressed at the results – the flavorful chewy noodles, tender chicken, crisp veggies, and rich sauce that is bursting with flavor.
I love homemade chicken lo mein even more than the restaurant version because I like to load it up with a lot of vegetables and I can choose higher quality ingredients. I hope you like this one and happy cooking!
More Chinese takeout dishes
- Beef Chow Fun
- Pork Chop Suey
- Cashew Chicken (腰果鸡丁)
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Egg Drop Soup
- Beef and Broccoli
Chicken Lo Mein (Restaurant Style Without A Wok)
Ingredients
- 10 oz (280 g) lo mein noodles (or 6 oz / 170 g dried noodles)
Marinade
- 8 oz (225 g) boneless skinless chicken thigh , cut into 1/4-inch (5-mm) slices (or breast)
- 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (or soy sauce) (*Footnote 1)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Stir fry
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 4 cups chopped napa cabbage (*Footnote 2)
- 1 carrot , julienned (yield about 1 cup once cut)
- 4 green onions , cut into 2” (5 cm) long pieces
- 1 bell pepper , cut to thin strips (or sweet pepper)
Instructions
- If using dried noodles, boil the noodles according to package instructions minus 1 minute, until al dente. If using fresh lo mein noodles, boil for 1 minute total, until al dente. Rinse with tap water, drain, and set aside.
- Combine the chicken and all the marinade ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well and let marinate for 10 minutes.
- Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Spread the chicken in the pan. Cook for 30 to 45 seconds without touching, until the bottom turns slightly golden. Flip to cook the other side for 30 to 45 seconds, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is just cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Pour in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the ginger, garlic and green onion. Add carrot and napa cabbage. Cook and stir until the veggies just start to turn soft, 1 minute or so. (*Footnote 3)
- Add the noodles and pour in the sauce. Toss a few times to mix everything.
- Add the pepper and green onion. Toss to mix everything together well, until the sauce is absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes. Return the cooked chicken to the pan and toss again to mix well. Transfer everything to serving plates and serve hot as a main dish.
Notes
- Dark soy sauce has a caramel taste and a thicker texture than soy sauce. It gives the dish a light sweet taste and adds a beautiful brown color to the sauce. You can use soy sauce as a replacement, but I highly recommend using dark soy sauce if you cook this dish often.
- To cut the napa cabbage, I like to slice the white part into small bite-size pieces (and into thin, even strips if the white part is extra thick), and chop the leafy part into large bite-sized pieces. So the whites and greens cook at the same speed. The greens will also shrink a lot, so I like to keep the pieces larger so they have a nice texture once cooked.
- I like to undercook my peppers and keep them extra crisp. If you prefer a tender texture, add them after you cook the napa cabbage and carrot. Give it a quick 30-second stir before adding the noodles.
This was superb. I have tried to make lo mein before but never understood why it was bland. Marinating the chicken and cooking the vegetables separately was a game changer. The sauce was very flavorful, this will be my go to recipe for chicken lo mein.
I love lo mein and really wanted to be successful at creating this dish. I was so afraid of messing it up! This is an excellent recipe with wonderful tips.
I followed the recipe, only adjusting the veggies a bit according to what I had on hand. When I tell you that I enjoyed my dish more than my nearby restaurant, I say it with astonishment and pride.! Thank you so very much!
I made fried rice which was equally as good! I will forward a picture if I can upload it!
Maggie, this was delicious! I have been trying to find the recipe closest to restaurant style for a few months now and have tried many different variants. This hit the nail on the head! Perfect amount of sauce and following your instructions led to well cooked veggies that were just soft enough but still crisp like I like them. I will be using this as my base for lo mein from here on, thank you for sharing!
Best Chinese food I have had in 30+ years. Felt like the wIzard of Oz cooking but it came out sooo very flavorful.. got a “10” from my husband and I give this 20 stars. Best I ever had. Maggie, I love your recipe. Thank you..our Chinese restaurant here is not good at all. I make my own orange chicken and baked sweet and sour chicken..but I welcome your recipes with open arms and a hungry stomach. I originally came from Westport, CT, and left to live in NYC, NY, so I KNOW really good food and you made my life so much nicer. Am not that into southern cooking, at least not great food in this area.
I wrote a long review but when I posted it it did not take. This was the best Chinese chicken lo mein I have ever had..in over 3p+ years!! 10 stars!! Thank you Maggie. I like to make Chinese foodo as restaurants here are not good. This is the Chinese food I grew up with. I will welcome any of your recipes. This was sooo flavorful..the sauce PERFECT. Thank you so very much. I signed up for newsletter/recipes. Husband gave it a “10”+!!! Worth the work. I made sauce 2 days ahead and it was perfect.
Like all the recipes from this blog I had tried bfore , It was so good.
Very, very good! There are so many lo mein recipes out there that it’s a bit mind boggling, but I knew yours would be good! Made this into beef/ asparagus lo mein but followed rest of recipe exactly. Thank you!
Great recipe!
Very tasty and sauce is better than our restaurants:) Be sure to use non-stick pan that is recommended. I thought my stainless steel All Clad would be fine until I added the chicken:( Lots of great sounding recipes I’ll be wanting to try to impress my son in China and his Chinese wife!
Another great recipe. My wife accidently bought 10 packages of Ka-Me lo mein noodles on line so I needed a recipe to make with them and this one turned out great. It’s a keeper and will go into my recipe binder.
My Zoom cooking group (located in Arizona and England) made the chicken lo mein and the vegetarians made – wait for it… vegetarian lo mein. 5 stars from all and we are trying to decide on another recipe for next week. I have been following you and making your recipes for over 6 months. Easy to understand and follow plus I now have all the base ingredients. Thanks for helping me to beat every restaurant in town! Chicken Udon soup is on my list for tomorrow.
My Zoom cooking group (located in Arizona and England) made the chicken lo mein and the vegetarians made – wait for it… vegetarian lo mein. 5 stars from all and we are trying to decide on another recipe for next week. I have been following you and making your recipes for over 6 months. Easy to understand and follow plus I now have all the base ingredients. Thanks for helping me to beat every restaurant in town!
Loved it when had for dinner last night
I am gluten free and I have not had Lo Mein in 8 years. this was amazing and just what I was looking for. The recipe was so quick and easy. My whole family enjoyed it, even my super picky 10 year old. I am so excited to try more of your amazing recipes.
Best lo mein recipe ever! My husband who doesn’t even like Chinese gobbled it right up. Highly recommended!
hello, i would love to try this lo mein, what can I substitute the wine with? chicken stock or grape juice, what do you think ?
You can use chicken stock to replace the wine.
I used apple juice instead of wine and it tasted so good! Also, if you don’t have oster sauce; I used hoisin sauce. 🙂
We loved this recipe, and will definitely make it again. Had an issue with sauce absorption, was just a little too saucy, but we didn’t mind one bit. Thank you forthw lovely recipe!
I’ve got fresh noodles – how much should I use in place of the dried chow mein noodles for this recipe? Thanks!
I would use 10 lb (280 g) fresh chow mein noodles to replace the dried. Happy cooking!
Thanks so much for the quick reply! I made this at the weekend with my boyfriend and it was delicious!
I made it with beef and extra veggies. So good.
Finally found my go to for lo mein! Thanks for sharing another keeper.