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! I’ve been wanting to try this for a while and finally got around to it. I’m so glad I did because it’s amazing. It tastes just as good as it does in the restaurants. It’s definitely going to be a dish we have often because it’s so quick, easy and affordable. Thanks for sharing!
This is really good! I lost the recipe and had to search to find this because I knew how good it was and didn’t want anything else.
This was really, really good! I needed something easy and fast; I am not feeling well. Got tired of what hubby was warming up, lol, and needed something that could be pulled together fast.
I made these adjustments: I defrosted some Costco Asian vegetables overnight in fridge and then stir fried them. We used whole wheat noodles, which is what we always use. The noodle taste was really gooood with the sauce. Hubby gave it a 10 rating, but said the sauce really made it. I mixed in toasted sliced almonds just before serving. Thanks for a great go-to recipe!!! Judy
My family loved this dish!! Vegan approved, kid approved (1-12 yrs old). We made it for my husband’s Birthday dinner. Definitely going to be a go to dish for us. Kids helped make it and all. We have fun with this one and it was simple. Husband loved it! Thanks! I have pictures I can tag you on instagram
We used rice noodles instead!
AMAZING recipe!! I made this a few nights ago and it was just delicious, my boyfriend and I ate it all up with nothing left. I also doubled the sauce ingredients, and it came out perfectly with just that right amount of flavour! I added shrimp as well and it was super tasty. The sugar mixed into the sauce really gives a nice subtle sweetness to the more sour soy sauce. Love your recipes!
Really, really tasty! Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you for this recipe! I have made it (or similar, by varying veggies/meat/noodles)….and we love it.
I have made it many many times, I meant to say.
These look really good.
Ok this was delicious! It was just like takeout but less greasy. Adding to my rotation for sure!
For all those asking about veggies, frozen etc. use whatever you have. That’s the point of stir fry! You can use whatever! 🙂
I didn’t use ANY of the veggies in the recipe, but used leftover onions,green peppers and some random mixed bag of frozen veggies.
I make a lot of Asian dishes and almost always double the sauce amount regardless of what the recipe says, and glad I did this time as well. The amount of sauce in the recipewouldn’t have been enough for 8oz of pasta IMO, but like I said I cook a lot and can gauge if the sauce will be sufficient.
But great great recipe!!!
I cannot eat any flour….can I use rice noodles instead…if so, any special kind to look for..
your recipes are the best
Rice noodles is a great substitute!
This is so easy, fast, and delicious! I really hope my picky kids like it!
I’d love to make this for a party, we are expecting 25-30 people and are planning on separating into smaller portions in to-go containers. Is there any recommendation for making a large batch and any way that can be made ahead of time? (i.e.: make sauce and cook veggies and add noodles later, assemble and reheat, etc.) Thanks! Love your page and look forward to getting your cookbook!
Yes, you can prep/cook ahead of time and reheat as needed. Hope that helps!
made this for dinner tonight and it was AWESOME. i have to echo others though in that there was not near enough sauce for our family. triple the sauce probably would have been good. i wish i would have doubled the entire recipe though so i had some more for lunch wahhhh. we used carrots, red peppers, and peas. would have been good with some broccoli or snow peas also, plus the greens (which we didn’t have any of). also used vermicelli noodles instead because thats what we had on hand.
definitely making this again.
Just had a huge bowl…so tasty!!! I need to double this recipe so I can take some to work. As usual, thank you!!!
I love this recipe! It’s perfect for a non meat eater like myself and a non cooking person 🙂 It’s easy and so tasty. I’ve added broccoli and tofu for some protein. Eggplant wasn’t bad either ! Yum!!
I made this for dinner last night. Doubled the recipe and threw some broccoli in there too. So delicious!! My boyfriend and I had to fight for the leftovers! Thank you for this!! 🙂
Wow these are delicious!
Thank your for such a fantastic simple dish, I used gf spaghetti, a soy sauce substitute, and left out the peppers because of allergies, but everything else I did as your recipe suggested and it was really great, thank you for a great Asian dish, yummmy 🙂
This recipe is SO good! A keeper for sure! I used less noodles only because I love my veggies but otherwise I did everything exactly as the recipe stated. This one will move from “recipes to try” to “pinned it and did it”
THANKS!!!
Thank you! The sauce was fabulous!
Thank you so much for an easy flavorful recipe. Made it exactly like recipe stated. I’m still impressed I was actually able to make lomein taste better than our favorite takeout. Will never need to overpay again!!!