Easy Lo Mein
by Chungah
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This easy lo mein comes together in 15 min with the most flavorful sauce and all the vegetables! So much better and healthier than take-out!
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Why you’ll love this easy lo mein
- Quicker than delivery. Believe it or not, this homemade lo mein comes together faster than takeout or delivery. We’re talking 15 minutes, start to finish, perfect for those busy weeknights!
- Healthier than takeout. Making lo mein at home gives you full control over all the ingredients, allowing for lower sodium, controlled heart-healthy oils, more veggies, and better protein choices.
- Flexible recipe. You can customize this dish completely and clean out the fridge with all kinds of leftover vegetables and proteins, making this so economical and budget-friendly for the family.
- Leftovers taste even better. Similar to lasagna, the leftovers taste even better the next day, really allowing all the flavors to meld and marry into the noodles overnight.
What is lo mein?
This is a popular Chinese-American takeout dish typically made with soft egg noodles mixed with protein such as chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp and various vegetables in a savory soy sauce mixture.
How to make easy lo mein
- Make the sauce. Combine the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, and Sriracha.
- Cook the noodles. Add the egg noodles to a large pot of boiling water and cook according to package instructions.
- Cook the vegetables. While the noodles are cooking, sauté the garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper, and carrot in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Then stir in the snow peas and spinach until the spinach has wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the noodles and sauce. Stir in the cooked egg noodles and sauce, gently tossing until the noodles are evenly coated.
- Serve. Serve warm.
variations and substitutions
- Noodles: Yaki-Soba, dried egg noodles, spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine
- Protein: chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, or tofu
- Vegetables: broccoli, baby corn, baby bok choy, or cabbage
- Soy sauce: tamari or liquid aminos for a gluten-free substitute
What to serve with easy lo mein
- Vegetable Potstickers
- Easy Hot and Sour Soup
- Chinese Orange Chicken
- Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli
- PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Tools For This Recipe
Easy Lo Mein: Frequently Asked Questions
Lo mein noodles are boiled and soft, gently tossed in a savory, thicker sauce whereas chow mein noodles are stir-fried in a wok until crispy and crunchy with little to no sauce.
While fresh egg noodles are ideal for their bouncy, springy texture, Yaki-Soba, dried egg noodles, spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine can also be used in a pinch.
Always add the hard vegetables (ex. carrots) first as they need more time to cook through, adding in softer, leafy greens (ex. snow peas and spinach) at the very end to avoid overcooking them.
Yes! Lo mein is highly versatile. Add any leftover protein such as shredded rotisserie chicken.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Easy Lo Mein
Video
Ingredients
- 8 ounces lo mein egg noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1 carrot, julienned
- ½ cup snow peas
- 3 cups baby spinach
For the sauce
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce, or more, to taste
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper and carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in snow peas and spinach until the spinach has wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in egg noodles and sauce, and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Make ahead of time. Cut the vegetables one day in advance, stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Prep the ingredients beforehand. Have the sauce already mixed and vegetables cut and ready to go once you start cooking. This recipe comes together lightning fast!
- Coleslaw mix is the best time-saving hack. To cut down on prep time even further, use bagged coleslaw mix. It’s already pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, cooking very quickly in about 1-2 minutes.
- Hard vegetables get cooked first. Add dense, hard vegetables first (for example, carrots and bell peppers), then add soft, leafy vegetables last (for example, snow peas).
- Avoid overcrowding the pan. Cook the vegetables in batches if needed. An overcrowded pan will steam the veggies instead.
Did you make this recipe?
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This is so good. We live in a place with terrible Chinese food and this is exactly what I need in my life. I don’t know if we’re just too saucy or what but I do usually halve the noodles and double the sauce.
This was so easy to make and delicious! I did bake boneless skinless chicken thighs with ah-so sauce and cut them up in small pieces and added them to the lo mein.
well i have tried lo mein before but just wondering can we add shrimp ?????
This was a very good recipe. We don’t eat mushrooms and I didn’t have spinach, so I ended up substituting a pound of beef strips and 3 cups of broccoli (I tripled the sauce). I also added about a teaspoon of fresh ginger because my powdered ginger is getting old. The sriracha adds more heat than in the usual restaurant lo mein, so my husband really liked that. This seems like it would be a really versatile recipe — you could easily swap out meats or veggies depending on what you have on hand. I also love these Asian noodles (ordered from Amazon), but they stick together a lot more than Italian pasta, so adding oil after they’ve been drained is essential! Thanks for a great recipe, Chungah!
i think you can add shrimp if you like
This is very tasty and super easy! I made extra sauce and added fresh lime juice, rice vinegar and a splash of fish sauce! Will definitely be making this again!
It’s not about exact measurements, it’s about knowing what to add. This recipe gives you the ground to start from which you can build and vary. MANY THANKS.
I made it for a book club lunch for 11 people. Really 2 x the recipe would be plenty for lunch. I also used fresh noodles from an asian market which just required a quick dunk in hot water to loosen the strands of pasta and then drain and they were ready to use. I used 1/2 an onion instead of garlic- so i cooked the onion, mushrooms(I used shiitake and regular mushrooms),pepper and carrot 1 hour before everyone arrived. Put the water on to get hot and was able to enjoy the book review. Then I reheated the pan I pulled off the stove and turned up the water to boil and then added the peas and spinach- dropped the noodles in the water and loosened with a fork- stirring the other and then dumping the noodles in a colander. I put the noodles in a bowl put the mixture over the top and tossed. then I added the sauce to taste and had the rest of the sauce available for those that liked more. I double the amount of sauce- a big hit! Thx
yay good
I made this tonight and there wasn’t nearly enough sauce. All together it was ok, has the sauce been doubled it would have been much better.
Best lo mein recipe I have found yet!! I always double or triple the sauce, but it is amazing! New favorite for sure!
It was pretty good. The first time I had it I thought something was missing. The second time I added 2 teaspoons of orange juice and some orange zest and a little extra Siracha. I highly recommend doing that. All in all it was a great recipe
Excellent dish! My hubby said “that this is the best lo MEIN he ever had” and then he said “actually I think it’s now my favorite dish”. FYI I tripled the recipe sauce. Thanks for the recipe.
I VERY rarely leave review!!! BUT THIS STUFF WAS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! YES even better than my take out place and ALOT cheaper and healthier!!!
So easy, but the BEST Lo Mein. I double the complete recipe, added water chestnuts, a couple serranos and used chili garlic sauce instead of Sriracha. You can tell I like it spicy. Everything I’ve tried on your site has been deliciouso. Thanks
So good and easy!!! The only things I personally would change is doubling the sauce and adding twice as much if not a little more sriracha, but I like my food spicy! But even as it is, still a great recipe!
Most excellent (yes, I know – double superlatives.)! I substituted peas for snow peas, baby bellas for cremini mushrooms, and gochujang for sriracha. The flavors were excellent and we love lo mein. Will make again.
This was great, everyone had seconds or thirds!
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve been following it for years. I modify it depending on what I have on hand and it always comes out delicious. The sauce is really good. Best lo mein recipe and dish!
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Everyone loves this recipe in my house. It’s one of my 5 year old daughter’s favorite dishes and she is quite the picky eater. I did double the sauce recipe the second time I made it tonight. I didn’t use any sriracha unfortunately because my daughter wouldn’t eat it but next time I’ll just split her portion out so everyone else’s can have sriracha. I’ll also be using fresh lo mein noodles next time. I think that would be infinitely better! Thanks for a new family favorite.
it was easy to make and it was very good because me and my family made it and we tasted it and it was amazing now i know how to make it know
This was Ahh-mazing! Never thought I could make Vege Lo Mein as good as takeout, but this was even better. Wow! Thank you
Wok & Roll !