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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I followed this recipe for the first time tonight and it turned out absolutely delicious!! This has already become a once or twice a week dinner for us. It’s so good! Thank you!!!
I made this with carrots that were about to go bad, leftover meat from the night before, and an array of different kinds of pasta shapes. Because I didn’t have ginger on hand, I substituted it with grounded allspice! AMAZING! Hope this helps 😉
This dish will be added to regular rotation. I doubled the sauce (used some to marinate 2 chicken thighs). Family was delighted with this one. Thank you!
Delicious!! Will make again. Thanks
WOW, was this DE-licious!!! Made exactly per recipe except I added 2 sliced green onions and had a baggie of leftover roasted chicken that I sliced into slivers. Was hoping to have leftovers, but….nah – we ate it all! Also, used freshly grated ginger instead of the ground ginger. A big winner that I’ll definitely be makingany more times!
Where do I find Lo mein noodles? With dried pasta? Frozen?
I found an 8oz package of Lo Mein noodles in the Asia isle of our grocery store…
I made this last night and yes, damn delicious!! After reading all the reviews, I decided to not double the sauce, and I’m glad I didn’t. Might double it next time. I also used half the amount of noodles. My picky kids ate it but pushed aside the veggies…sigh. They did ask for seconds for the noodles only so that’s a good start. I also baked tofu and added it in for protein, but ended up eating half the cubes alone lol. This is going into our rotation!
This recipe is the quickest and best I have ever tasted. I make it every week and my family enjoys it.
Easy and so delicious
Delicious! I doubled the sauce and added diced chicken. Kids loved it so it was a win!
Absolutely outstanding recipe. Not too salty, garlicky. Just the perfect amount of seasoning. My family loved it and I will Absolutely be making it again
This was really good! Great flavor, balance, and very quick and easy to make.
Damn good! I did double the sauce and changed up the veggies. Used leftover al dente spaghetti, white mushrooms, onion, trader joes frozen pepper medley, and frozen vegetable mix. Green onions and sesame seeds on top. I will make this again. Thank you!
Easy recipe- added some things I had in fridge to use up (yellow zucchini cabbage & white mushrooms) but kept the recipe the same with whole wheat spaghetti noodles.
Added hoisin sauce at table because I like it.
So much better than store bought I’ll be making it again! Thank you & I’ve never written a recipe review before.
Made this and it was very similar to Panda Express noodles. I cooked mine extra long for a crispier texture.
Fresh ginger, minced and added to the garlic, for the win!
Absolutely loved this. I will definitely double the sauce next time. I didn’t have Sriracha sauce so I used hot sauce. I added a bit more soy sauce as well. Will definitely make again.
Delicious and easy! The only adjustments we made were to double the sauce’s volume and increase the sweetness and acidity by adding a bit extra sugar and lemon juice. Without a doubt, we would succeed again.
Very tasty! I didn’t have Sriracha, so I used hot sauce. Thanks to the folks who suggested doubling the sauce-I think I will do that next time.
This recipe turned out to be absolutely fantastic. I had some concerns about it being too dry, so I decided to double the sauce while still using the recommended amount in the recipe. The extra sauce was kept separately, allowing for a perfect balance in the dish.