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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I love this recipe and I’m trying it out tonight! I want to add shrimp. Please let me know how and when to add shrimp. Thanks!
Audrey, you can prepare the shrimp to your liking and add it in at the very end with the noodles and soy sauce mixture.
I am super excited about the sauce recipe. 🙂 We have always just used a bottled sauce this will save time and energy.
I made this Lo mein tonight with a beautiful array of veggies it was Amazing! A definate winner I will use this recipe a lot 🙂 Thanks so much the sauce it perfectly light, and not too sweet. We used extra siracha it was nice and spicy.
OMG THIS WAS SOOOOOO GOOD.
MADE IT TONIGHT FOR DINNER AND NOW CAN NOT MOVE.
IT WAS LIGHT AND NOT GREASY THE VEGGIES WHERE TENDERER AN THE SAUCE RIGHT ON. I WONDER HOW WOULD THE SAUCE TASTE OVER SOME VEGGIES AND SALMON????
Loved this recipe but i’d like to note that using spaghetti noodles may require doubling (or tripling) the sauce. It’s like they just suck it all up. Chow mein noodles work great too! ^.^ this goes into my permanent recipe book!
I made this for dinner last night, with a few changes. I used different veggies (onion, bell pepper, carrot, baby bok choy, green onions, water chestnuts and snow peas… I will probably add bean sprouts next time, too) I used brown sugar in the sauce instead of regular sugar and left out the sriracha. I am used to saucy lo mein so I will probably double it next time. I could not find any noodles that said “lo mein noodles” but the “canton noodles” looked the same so I bought those. I boiled them for 5 minutes and it was perfect! I love lo mein and crave it all the time. Now I can make a much more healthy version at home with all the stuff I like in it. Thank you for this recipe 🙂
You have ruined another take out dish for me…
Thank you so much!
I’m making this tonight, again…for the second time this week. Can’t get enough.
Please keep them coming, love your stuff! 🙂
I tried this recipe for the first time and i was shocked how good it came out…i used fettuccine noodles because i couldnt find the lomein noodles I also chose not to use the red pepper. But it was still delicious and my family loved so i made sure i bought extra ingredients so I can cook this again..I dont have to go to the restaurant for lomein again!!!
Hey! This looks super easy and I wana try it so bad. I am from India and I have no idea where I can find Sriracha sauce. Any other sauce I can replace this with?
Because it is such a small amount, it may be best to omit it in its entirety.
Have never attempted Chinese food before – always looked too complicated. This was so easy and quick. I could not find lo mein noodles, so I used buccatelli (thick spaghetti with a thin hole down through the middle). My husband and I could not believe how delicious this dish was. He always says “Another Pinterest meal, huh?” Tonight he said “I hope you’re going to make this one again.” Don’t always hear that!! Thanks for a great dinner.
Just made this tonight. WOW! So good!
The only difference is that I used frozen broccoli and frozen peas & carrots (it’s what I hand on hand). Came out perfect. My husband loves it too. I’ll be adding this to our menu repertoire.
I love your quick and easy lo mein sauce recipe. I have a wheat sensitivity so made a gluten free shrimp lo mein last night using rice noodles. Your sauce was perfect in the dish. I referenced your site in my blog http://www.hungryhappyhealthy.net
I’ll be coming back for more delicious recipes!
My chinese take-out has just lost a 20 year customer!
I’ve been looking for a lo mein sauce recipe for a long time. This one is SPOT ON.
You live up to your name of damndelicious!
I made this last night for dinner. It was absolutely delicious and an absolute hit…no leftovers!!! This is a great recipe and thanks for sharing. I’m looking forward to trying some of your other recipes.
looks delicious! What brand of lo mein noodles do you use? I happen to live in a city with lots of Asian grocery stores so I want to make this as close to your recipe as possible! 🙂
Nicole, I used Wel Pac Lo Mein Egg Noodles but any brand of lo mein noodles should work just fine.
While this tastes nothing like the lo mein I get at the restaurant it is, nevertheless, delicious! I would say it tastes more like the Thai noodle dish at Noodles & Co.
This meal was absolutely delicious! I didn’t change a thing. A definite keeper in my my house!
I am going to make this today but have a question. I will be using fresh mushrooms, but need to use a frozen Asian veggie mix. I also want to add some thinly sliced beef. What order should those be added to skillet so as not to over or under good anything?
Michelle, you can add the beef first and set it aside while everything else is cooking and add it back at the very end – that way it is not overcooked. The Asian veggie mix can be added along with the mushrooms.
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a bit hit. Thanks for sharing. I added broccoli, carrots and onion to the vegetable mixture and I garnished it before serving with chopped cucumber and cilantro 🙂 Delish 🙂
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for this recipe!! I’m a terrible cook and even I pulled this off ;). The second time I made it I doubled the sauce–wasn’t quite enough for me the first time. I also omitted the sriracha because I’m a baby when it comes to spice.
This is a new staple in my kitchen, previously known only to toast and boiled water 🙂 Thank you!