Easy Vegetable Chow Mein is a Chinese stir-fried noodle dish and a common Asian Takeout meal.
The homemade chow mein with fresh veggies and crispy noodles is a very popular and flavorful meal which you can easily recreate at home!
Chow mein is a very quick dish to prepare at home and it won’t take you more than 15 minutes of cooking time altogether.
There are countless Chow Mein versions in this world, this is my easy Vegetable Chow Mein take on this dish.
The healthy Chow Mein recipe will come handy when you don’t know what to cook.
And when you need something quick without much effort, while still enjoying premium flavors and real food!
This veg Chow Mein is completely Vegan.
What's Chow Mein?
Chow Mein are Chinese noodles, stir-fried in a deep frying pan over high heat.
The dish consists of Chinese egg noodles, a stir-fry sauce, and vegetables, meat, seafood or eggs.
Sometimes 2-3 proteins can be mixed in a chow mein but most of the time chow mein meals are specialized in one ingredient.
The most common Chow mein dishes out there are Vegetable Chow Mein, Chicken Chow Mein, Beef Chow Mein, Shrimp Chow Mein, and Pork Chow Mein.
The simple Chow Mein is prepared in a short time frame and the ingredients are cooked quickly.
The vegetable or protein is stir-fried first, then the semi-cooked noodles are added and the sauce is poured over everything.
Everything is then stir-fried without delay and served directly hot.
Chow Mein is a global dish and variations may exist in different regions across the globe.
The dish might be known in other languages (translated) simply as "fried noodles" which refers to the crispy chow mein noodles.
Vegetable Chow Mein VS Lo Mein
Chow mein and Lo mein are both Chinese style noodle dishes and they are almost the same except for the way they are prepared.
Vegetable Chow Mein is:
- Stir-fried on high heat
- Noodles are shortly cooked crisp and usually still al dente (to the bite)
- The noodles suck in partially the stir-fry sauce
Vegetable Low Mein on the other hand is:
- Stir cooked but wet and never dry
- The noodles are soft
- Noodles cook further in the sauce/gravy and take in the sauce flavors all the more
In the US, you will find low mein more commonly prepared and sold on the east coast, whereas chow mein dominates completely the west coast.
That is why sometimes a confusion may arise between chow mein and low mein.
The name ends up being interchangeably used between the two dishes in various establishments in the USA.
Crispy Chow Mein is also known as Hong Kong style.
Different places will also offer different variations of vegetable chow mein. My chow mein recipe is prepared with mixed vegetables.
Veg Chow Mein Ingredients - What's in Chow Mein
To prepare the veg chow mein I will give you some freedom! 🙂
I always end up using the same ingredients in my vegetable chow mein, which includes carrot, spring onion, Ginger, garlic and Cabbage.
This is because I like it that way the most and besides I always have these ingredients at home.
Vegetables
You can add the following ingredients as well if you want to add more flavor or veggies:
- Nappa Cabbage (aka Chinese Cabbage)
- Red Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Mung bean sprouts
- Celery root
- Mushroom
- Bok Choy
- Spinach
Chow Mein Sauce & Noodles
The Chow Mein Sauce is prepared by simply mixing together soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce and sugar.
Hence the sauce is a bit hot but sour and sweet.
If you don't want chili sauce, then substitute with ketchup.
This veg chow mein sauce is without fish or oyster sauce and
For Gluten-free, simply use gluten-free egg noodles.
How to make Vegetable Chow Mein?
You can prepare your own vegetable chow mein tonight.
Follow my steps and get the printable recipe card with more details, instructions, and ingredients further below.
Step 1
Prep everything first before you start cooking.
That means, cut your vegetables small and mix together the sauce ingredients for the stir fry.
Step 2
Heat up a pot with water and cook your Asian noodles al dente, as per package instructions.
Heat up your wok or large pan with the oil and add in your ginger and garlic to stir cook quickly.
Add in your vegetables and stir cook for a minute or two on high heat.
Step 3
Place your cooked noodles into the wok to the vegetables.
Pour the stir fry sauce and some water (I like to use the noodle water) over the noodles.
Stir cook your chow mein over high heat for 2-3 minutes, so that the ingredients get mixed up and the noodles get cooked further.
Serve directly hot and garnish with chopped green onion stalks.
What kitchen tools do I need to make this veg chow mein?
To make this easy chow mein recipe from scratch easily and successfully you will need to keep the following ready to cook the vegetable chow mein within 10 minutes.
- Stir Frying Pan - Stainless steel, cast iron or PFOA-free non-stick.
- Kitchen timer to not overcook your noodles because the Chinese chow mein noodles need to stay crispy to stir-fry them successfully.
- your vegetables cut small
- your sauce ingredients mixed
The Point of a chow mein stir fry is to work quickly to achieve the correct consistency and result.
You will stir-fry all the vegetables on a high heat within 3 minutes.
This is a quick-cooking process!
Keeping your ingredients ready is essential and working with the right tools will make your life easier.
A shallow Stir Frying Pan is required, as the heat is more concentrated in the center and you keep on stir-frying.
In that way, you achieve the most perfect cooking environment for your easy vegetable chow mein.
The vegetables in the Chow Mein should be still to the bite when the dish has been cooked.
This adds texture and a crunch to the dish.
The Vegetable chow mein will be fresh and more nutritious.
More Asian Noodle Meals
- Singapore Noodles with Egg noodles [modified version]
- Shrimp Chow Mein with fresh Shrimp
- Dragon Noodles by budgetbytes.com
Dear Reader, have you tried vegetable chow mein before?
Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with us in the comment section further below!
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Easy Vegetable Chow Mein Recipe
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
- 2 Teaspoon Chili Sauce
- ½ Teaspoon Sugar
For the Vegetable Chow Mein:
- 7 ounces Lo Mein Noodles ~1 packet
- 2 Tablespoons Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic *see Notes
- ⅜ cup Cabbage shredded
- ⅔ cup Carrot cut into matchsticks
- 2 Tablespoon Water
- 3 Green Onions
Instructions
- Prepare your veggies by cutting them small as mentioned in the ingredients.
- Prepare the Sauce. Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, and sugar together. Keep aside.
- Grab a pot and fill it with water to cook the noodles. Let it boil and then add all the noodles. Get a timer and time it at 2 ½ minutes (or prepare according to packet instructions). We need to cook the noodles half way or they will get mushy while stir frying.
- Place your wok or large pan over low fire and add the oil and stir fry your Ginger and Garlic shortly.
- Then add the shredded cabbage and carrot and stir-fry for high heat for 1-2 minutes so that the ingredients get slightly soft.
- Now add in the cooked noodles.
- Pour the previously prepared sauce and 2 Tablespoon of water, over the noodles. Stir fry and mix the whole content for 2 minutes on high heat or until all the ingredients are slightly soft (don't overcook!). The content should not stick to the wok.
- Finish by topping the noodles with the sliced green onion stalks and serve hot directly.
Notes
- Use fresh Ginger and Garlic chopped fine (⅔ garlic and ⅓ ginger ratio) or Ginger Garlic Paste (convenient and mixes in easily).
- You can try this recipe with more or other vegetables. See vegetable ingredient suggestion in the post, above this recipe card.
- You can also break in an egg right after stir frying the vegetables by making some space in the pan and pushing vegetables to the border. The egg is then cooked on high heat for a minute and then you just need to break the egg into pieces and you can continue to sitr cook and add the remaining ingredients.
Nutrition
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Literally printing and making this tonight! Looks amazing!
I've never made my own chow mein but now I'm excited to try. Your recipe looks amazing and I love all the flavors and ingredients you've used!! Thanks for sharing this!
nice ! easy and quick to made recipe! thanks for sharing! Helena its not necessary to wash the noodles after boiling so that they do not get sticky? and is it necessary to add salt while boiling noodles??
Hi,
We were taught so in school some 15 years ago to take the noodles through cold water after boiling so that they don't get sticky. I learned from some Italian friends back in Italy that most people don't do that there and then I decided to skip the "washing" after boiling. Instead I boil the noodles, strain them and add them directly to sauces or in this case I stir fry them quickly with the other content. That way I don't have sticky noodles and they are not soaking wet nor cold because after all I want warm noodles. You can add salt while boiling, however I skip that part too because I try to not add so much salt, especially when I work with other flavorful seasoning.
I prefer to fry vegetables separately, because Cabbages can burn if wok gets overheated. And also after boiling the noodles (not more than 4 mins), pour them into cold water for a minute. So, they don't get extra soft.
Hi Nadia, thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
The point of Chinese cooking is to stir fry very quickly by keeping the whole wok content moving all the time. It's necessary to work quickly so that the veggies get cooked but still stay crunchy. Since this recipe is derived from Chinese cuisine, the way of cooking it in India, especially in the road side stall, hasn't changed much. We used to learn in school that one would need to keep pasta or noodles under cold water so that it doesn't stick. I stopped doing that because once I finish cooking the content of the wok, which takes a few minutes only, the noodles have finished cooking as well. It's a quick and smooth process. 🙂
you can try this way next time:
1.after cooked the noodle ,place it into a pot which is filled with water(cold).
my english is poor ,i don't know how to express the benefit ,firstly using hot water ,then cold water...
in simple words,it can make the noodle have more elasticity。
2.after ade the oil ,before the vegetable,fried the onions firstly, it would be more rich in flavor
Hi Linda thanks for the cool tips. Can't wait to try them out. 🙂
Beautiful photography and scrumptious food!
Thank you! =)
My son and his friend spent almost a month in Vietnam and ate everything and everywhere. His friend only got sick once and that was from a sausage bought at a train station. I remember getting sick in Israel once. I think that this is the risk to take if we want to be adventurous! A friend told me she knew someone who was in Vietnam for work for something like a year and never at outside her hotel! The food of any country is an integral part of the culture... but you know all of that. Your post just brought all of these thoughts bubbling up 🙂
I love this Chow Mein, how tasty and how simple! Another recipe I have bookmarked!
Exactly, food of any country is an integral part of the culture and one shouldn't miss that just because of fear of getting sick. Thank you Jamie for your thoughts, they are oh so true. 🙂
This really brings back some happy memories. One of my favorite dishes to eat. Simple, healthy and so delicious!
This bowl of chow mein looks so good I can imagine why you have been tempted by it during your trip. I have already heard that in some countries street food is actually the best option to eat safest meals... and street food is also often the best I guess!
Good that you dared to eat that street food. Vegetable chow mein brings to me lots of memories of my childhood spent in Delhi, where a chowmein vendor used to come to our locality every evening. The aroma is irresistible. I loved the way you recreated this dish at home. Looks perfect!
Like I said before.. I want to dive in head first into that pot. 🙂 Looks amazing.
I haven't had Chow Mein in so many years but always loved it. I'd almost forgotten about it. Yours sounds so tasty and easy to make. This would make a perfect fall meal or even side dish. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I love this veggie stir-fried noodles! So simple yet so good!
I always have a spare packet of noodles in my pantry for dishes like this, it's wonderful to be able to whip up a quick stir fry with any leftover veggies in the crisper at short notice. Great recipe 🙂
I love all kinds of chow mein. I like the idea of just using vegetables as it makes it very light and delicious. 🙂