Chow Mein Recipe with Spaghetti Noodles

On the dinner table in 15 minutes, this easy Cantonese Chow Mein recipe with spaghetti noodles & vegetables is a family favorite! The noodles are coated in a deliciously savoury sauce, and ever so moreish- healthier and better than takeout! No corn starch or wok needed- I use a large skillet!

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 📖 Variations & Substitutes
• 🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
• 🥡 How to Store
• 🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
• 15 Min Chow Mein Recipe with Spaghetti
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

You only need a few simple ingredients which you can get from major mainstream grocery stores:

• pasta noodles: I used linguini (for both lo mein and chow mein) as it's the most similar to Chinese egg noodles, and easier to find. However, spaghetti works too and is even quicker to cook up.(Click here to find out how pasta and noodles are similar/ different.) (Also, egg noodles can sometimes have a weird aftertaste if too much alkaline water is used!)
  • To make it easy to cook at home, we're going to sauté the pasta, but it won't be as crispy as stir-frying at high heat. (Most people don't have the stir-frying skills to get the noodles so crispy to be honest.)
  • I use dried instead of fresh noodles as it better resembles the crispy noodles texture of classic chow mein. (Fresh noodles works better for lo mein.)
• red onion, ginger, garlic: you can use a shallot or yellow onions instead of red onion (which is sweeter.) Don't use ginger powder or garlic powder.
• Vegetables: I used bok choy. You can substitute with the same amount of:
  • Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
  • green beans
  • baby corn (for more of a crunch)
  • bell peppers
  • snap peas
  • snow peas
  • Napa cabbage
  • mung bean sprouts
  • but it will change the cooking time. (Don't use veggies that give out a lot of water, unless you want to spend more time stir frying.)

For the homemade chow mein sauce:

• light soy sauce (regular soy sauce): this adds saltiness to the stir-fried noodles, as will the pasta cooking water we will add. I only added 4 Tablespoons of pasta water- if you end up using more, or if you salt your pasta water more than normal, start with less soy sauce (to prevent it from getting too salty) and add to taste. (You don't need chicken broth because chow mein is quite a dry dish, as compared to lo mein noodles.)
• oyster sauce: if vegetarian, use vegetarian oyster sauce.
• dark soy sauce: I first made this Chinese noodle dish without the dark soy- it was good but not as good as with the dark soy, so don't leave this out!
• shaoxing wine: you can substitute with dry sherry or sake but not mirin (unless you don't mind it sweeter)
• white sugar: if you use mirin instead of sake, you may want to omit this. I have not tested with brown sugar or maple syrup.
• sesame oil

Note: these ingredients for this vegetable chow mein are available in many mainstream supermarkets not but, if not, you can get them from any Asian grocery store or Asian market.

Garnish the cooked noodles with a little bit of sliced green onions or lightly toasted sesame seeds.

📖 Variations & Substitutes

You could also add protein like leftover BBQ pork or chicken thighs (to make chicken chow mein) to your homemade chow mein recipe, but you would need more of the savory sauce to coat the extra ingredient. (I recommend using dark meat, not chicken breast, if you do so, as the latter dries out fast.)

🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions

🥡 How to Store

Store extra stir-fry noodles in an airtight container in the fridge quickly- don't leave pasta at room temperature for too long as bacteria will breed.

Note: The noodles didn't taste as great when I reheated by stir frying. The texture was good, but the taste was blander and too dry. I will test to see what needs to be added to make them as good as new, and update accordingly.

🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes

Enjoyed this easy Chinese Chow Mein Noodles Recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this Asian Spaghetti dish, please consider supporting it by buying me a bottle of soy sauce! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you and have a great day!

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