Easy Homemade Chicken Chow Mein

Easy Homemade Chicken Chow Mein makes fantastic midweek family dinner that is both delicious & healthy. Ready in under 30 minutes, who needs a takeaway!

Do you often find yourself reaching for that takeaway menu at the end of the working week as you are simply too tired and fed up to cook anything yourself?  Well, it's fine if you want a treat once in a while but if you are looking after your pennies than this simple homemade version of takeaway classic chicken chow mein is for you! It's quick, it's really easy, much healthier than takeaway plus you can use any veg you like or go with my suggestion in the recipe below.

This easy recipe is one of my midweek & Friday night favourites and I hope it becomes your too!

Leftover roast or fresh chicken for chow mein?

To make this simple stir-fry recipe even quicker and easier I like to use leftover roast chicken. However, if you don't have any on the go it's really as simple to use fresh chicken breast or skinned and deboned chicken thighs!

If you're using fresh chicken breast or chicken thighs simply cut the meat up into small chunks and season with some salt and pepper. When using fresh chicken as opposed to leftover roast I like to cook it in the hot wok/frying pan first as it usually releases quite a bit of water which you don't really want in your stir fry. Simply pan fry it in one tablespoon of hot oil for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Take it out onto a plate and then proceed as per recipe below adding your cooked chicken chunks for the last couple of minutes together with noodles and the sauce.

Equipment

Believe it or not but I still (to this day) don't own a proper wok even though I cook all sort of stir-fries pretty regularly. My favourite wok substitute is my large (28cm) carbon non-stick pre-seasoned frying pan* which I got some time ago at a really good price in Aldi and which I use all the time.

For this chicken chow mein you can use any large frying pan you've got (I'm stressing LARGE here as nobody likes food escaping the pan) or indeed a wok* if you own one!

Tips & possible substitutes when making this Easy Chicken Chow Mein!

This easy stir-fry is super adaptable so feel free to use any veg you like or happen to have in the fridge. Broccoli, peppers and carrots would be my standard choice but I also like to use green beans, thinly sliced cabbage or tenderstem broccoli.

As far as your protein goes, you could easily replace the chicken with tofu cubes or go veggies only.

I'm not a huge fan of "straight to wok" cooked noodles and much prefer cooking my own which is not only cheaper but almost as quick. However, you could use them here if you wanted to. As they tend to be quite sticky I would recommend putting them in the colander over the sink and pouring a little of freshly boiled water over them to loosen the up and then quickly running them under the cold tap and popping in the large bowl with a tablespoon or so of sesame oil.

How to make Easy Homemade Chicken Chow Mein

Prepare all your ingredients & stir-fry sauce.

• Start with preparing all your ingredients which you need to have handy as once you start cooking things are happening quickly.
• Prepare your stir fry sauce by mixing hoisin sauce in a small bowl together with soy sauce and sesame oil.

Cook your noodles

• Cook egg noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to your package instructions. Drain and run under cold tap to stop cooking process. Put it aside in a large bowl with a tablespoon of sesame oil which will prevent noodles from sticking and keep them nice and shiny.

Stir frying

• Heat tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add broccoli florets, carrots and bell pepper and stir fry on high heat until slightly softened but still slightly crunchy about 5 minutes.
• Add half of the sliced green onions, garlic and ginger and stir fry another couple of minutes.

• Add leftover roast chicken and mix it well with the veggies allowing it to heat through for a couple of minutes.
• Add noodles and your stir fry sauce to the pan or wok and mix well. Fry for a couple of minutes stiring and mixing all the veggies through and heating the noodles up.

• Serve immediately sprinkled with saved spring onions.

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5 from 5 votes

Easy Homemade Chicken Chow Mein

Easy Homemade Chicken Chow Mein makes fantastic midweek family dinner that is both delicious & healthy. Ready in under 30 minutes, who needs a takeaway!

Course Dinner, Midweek Dinner

Cuisine British, Chinese

Keyword 30-minute meal, chicken chow mein, chicken stir fry, fakeaway, takeaway

Equipment

• Wok*
• Large Carbon Non-Stick Frying Pan 28cm (Oven Safe)*
• Large Glass Bowl*
• Colander*

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 548kcal

Author Jo Allison

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

• 250 g medium egg noodles (uncooked) or you could use "straight to wok noodles" - see notes below
• ½ large head of broccoli cut into small florets
• 1 yellow or red pepper deseeded and thinly sliced according with your preference
• 1 carrot peeled and cut into small matchsticks
• 3 garlic cloves minced or finely chopped
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger peeled and grated
• 2 large spring onions finely sliced and divided
• 250-300 g leftover roast chicken or fresh chicken breast/thighs see notes below
• 1 Tbsp rapeseed /olive oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil for the noodles

Sauce

• 3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tbsp sesame oil

Instructions

• Start with preparing all your ingredients which you need to have handy as once you start cooking things are happening quickly.
• Prepare your stir fry sauce by mixing hoisin sauce in a small bowl together with soy sauce and sesame oil.
• Cook egg noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to your package instructions. Drain and run under cold tap to stop cooking process. Put it aside in a large bowl with a tablespoon of sesame oil which will prevent noodles from sticking and keep them nice and shiny.
• Heat tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add your broccoli florets, carrots and bell pepper and stir fry on high heat until slightly softened but still slightly crunchy about 5 minutes.
• Add half of the sliced green onions, garlic and ginger and stir fry another couple of minutes.
• Add leftover roast chicken and mix it well with the veggies allowing it to heat through for a couple of minutes.
• Add noodles and your stir fry sauce to the pan or wok and mix well. Fry for a couple of minutes stiring and mixing all the veggies through and heating the noodles up.
• Serve immediately sprinkled with saved spring onions.

Notes

• Nutritional information is approximate, per serving and should be treated as a guideline only.
• If you’re using either fresh chicken breast or chicken thighs simply cut the meat up into small chunks and season with some salt and pepper. When using fresh chicken as opposed to leftover roast I like to cook it in the hot wok/frying pan first as it usually releases quite a bit of water. Simply pan fry it in one tablespoon of hot oil for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Take it out onto a plate and then proceed as per recipe below adding your cooked chicken chunks for the last couple of minutes together with noodles and the sauce. 
• I'm not a huge fan of "straight to wok" cooked noodles and much prefer cooking my own which is not only cheaper but almost as quick. However, you could use them here if you wanted to. As they tend to be quite sticky I would recommend putting them in the colander over the sink and pouring a little of freshly boiled water over them to loosen the up and then quickly running them under the cold tap and popping in the large bowl with a tablespoon or so of sesame oil.
• Feel free to substitute the veggies for anything you like. Green beans, tenderstem broccoli or thinly sliced cabbage work particularly well. 
• Store leftovers in the fridge and eat within 1 day (hot or cold). 
• Not suitable for freezing.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Easy Homemade Chicken Chow Mein

Amount Per Serving

Calories 548 Calories from Fat 198

% Daily Value*

Fat 22g34%

Saturated Fat 4g20%

Cholesterol 100mg33%

Sodium 795mg33%

Potassium 706mg20%

Carbohydrates 60g20%

Fiber 6g24%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 29g58%

Vitamin A 4077IU82%

Vitamin C 109mg132%

Calcium 82mg8%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this recipe?Tag me @Joskitchenlarder or use hashtag #joskitchenlarder!

Other 30-minute recipes you might enjoy:

30-minute Vegetable Egg Fried Rice

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Easy Chickpeas & Carrot Falafel Burgers

Roasted Tomato & Basil Pasta

Carbonara Sauce Recipe

Easy Veggie Lentil & Bean Chilli (Vegan)

Cheat's Jerk Chicken with Rice & Peas (Beans)

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