Easy 30-minute vegetarian Chow Mein, better than takeout, brimming with a loads of veggies and coated in an irresistibly delicious sauce.
If you’re not a vegetarian and want to add meat to your Chow Mein, then try this Beef Chow Mein or Chicken Chow Mein instead.
What Is Chow Mein?
Chow Mein is a popular Chinese dish that consists of stir-fried noodles with vegetables, meat (such as chicken, beef, shrimp, or pork), and a savory sauce. The term means “stir-fried noodles” in Chinese.
This vegetarian version is packed with veggies and makes for the perfect “clear out the fridge” kind of meal! While I’m not vegetarian, I love packing meals full of veggies, like these Thai Chicken Wraps, and this is one of my favorites. It’s also one of the best ways I know to get my kids to eat veggies — add them to noodles and a sauce and they’ll eat every last bite.
Ingredients
- Veggies (cabbage, carrots, celery, red pepper, mushrooms, green onions): Add a nice crunch and nutrition.
- Fresh ginger and garlic: Bring spicy flavor and make the dish smell amazing.
- Vegetable oil: Use to sauté the ingredients in your Chow Mein.
- Noodles: Main part, absorb flavors and makes the dish filling.
- Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce.
- Soy sauce and Oyster Sauce: Add saltiness and a delicious flavor.
- Veggie stock or broth: Makes the sauce savory.
- Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and balances out the salt.
- Sesame oil: Gives a nutty taste to the sauce.
- Freshly cracked pepper and optional toasted sesame seeds: For seasoning and garnish.
What’s the difference between this dish and chop suey? One of the big distinctions is that chow mein is served with some type of noodle, whereas chop suey is served with rice. Quick Tip
How To Make Chow Mein
- Prep the Vegetables: Thinly slice or chop all the vegetables.
- Prepare the Sauce: Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
- Cook the Noodles: Follow the package directions to prepare the noodles.
- Stir-Fry the Vegetables: With everything prepped, it’s time to cook! Begin with the onions, garlic, and ginger. Then, cook the vegetables before adding the noodles and sauce.
- Toss, Garnish, and Enjoy!: Combine everything well, garnish Chow Mein as desired, and serve.
Adding Protein And Different Veggies
If you’re looking to add more protein while keeping this Chow Mein vegetarian, consider adding some tofu. I highly recommend this guide for cooking tofu.
If you’re not vegetarian, feel free to include cooked chicken, beef, or shrimp. Alternatively, you could serve this dish as a side dish alongside Grilled Chicken or Grilled Steak.
Vegetable Variations:
This vegetarian Chow Mein is highly customizable. You can use various veggies, just keep the amount similar and slice them thin for quick cooking. Options include bean sprouts, green bell pepper, snow or sugar snap peas, yellow onion, red cabbage, broccoli, water chestnuts, and zucchini or yellow squash.
More Delicious Vegetarian Recipes
- Healthy Tacos
- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito Bowls
- Southwest Quinoa Salad
- Vegetarian Enchiladas
- Baked Gnocchi & Vegetables
Vegetarian Chow Mein
Equipment
- Large pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3/4 cup julienned carrots
- 3/4 cup thinly sliced celery
- 1-1/2 cups thinly sliced red pepper
- 1-1/2 cups thinly sliced baby bella mushrooms
- 1/4 cup green onions
- 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1-1/2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce or regular oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup vegetable stock or vegetable broth
- 1 (6-ounce) package chow mein noodles
- Toasted sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Finely shred the cabbage, coarsely mince the ginger and garlic. Peel the carrot and then julienne into very thin pieces. Very thinly slice the celery, red pepper, and mushrooms. Thinly slice the green onions to separate the white root from the green. You should get about 1/4 cup thinly sliced white roots. Reserve the greens for later.
- Add the cornstarch and soy sauce to a small bowl and whisk with a fork until completely smooth. Stir in the oyster sauce, stock, brown sugar, sesame oil, and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Reserve for later.
- Follow package directions to prepare the chow mein noodles. Rinse in cold water and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan over high heat. Add the white parts of the onion and cook for about a minute, then add the garlic and ginger. Be careful not to let them burn; cook for only about 20 seconds. Next, add the red pepper, carrots, and celery. Stir-fry while stirring almost constantly for 2–3 minutes.
- Add in the shredded cabbage and mushrooms. Stir constantly until veggies are tender and cabbage is wilted, about another 2–3 minutes. Stir in the cooked noodles and the sauce mixture. Toss with tongs for 1 minute. Add in reserved green onions and toasted sesame seeds, if desired. Enjoy immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m not understanding where all the sugar is from? I only see a small amount of brown sugar in the recipe, yet the nutrition info says there’s 23gr of sugar per serving???
The noodles have sugar in them as well!
Just tried this recipe today and it tasted amazing. I appreciate recipes that also come along with a video, it really helps. Thank you for this! I tried other peoples recipes but this one ended up being my favorite. Will continue to refer back to this 😊
I am thrilled to hear this! Thanks Michelle!
Wow this dish is delicious!! First time trying it and will definitely make again!!! Thanks for sharing such great recipes!
So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
This recipe was delicious! Even with incorrect proportions of veggies, subbing flour for cornstarch, and no oyster sauce, it was incredible. I made a way smaller portion than the recipe calls for but used the same amount of sauce and could not stop eating! The sauce is like magic.
I’m so happy you were able to make it work and you loved it! Thanks so much RJ! 🙂
I love making this for supper. I have made it about 10 times so far. Fresh, delicious, easy and nutritious. It’s a winner!
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks so much Ellen! 🙂
this was great! Made the recipe completely vegan and just used amino acids in place of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Made it a little salty, but was quickly looked past for it was absolutely delicious! Threw some baked sesame tofu in it at the end and even the babies ate it up!
Will be saving this for future cooking and find me a good vegan “oyster” sauce recipe.
The tofu addition sounds amazing! Glad you enjoyed this chow mein; thanks for the review!
Hello,
I am a tidy bit miffed that the recipe was tagged as vegetarian, but uses several meat ingredients: beef and oyster sauce. It might be delicious, but it’s a waste of time for me. Please use honest tags.
It doesn’t have any beef and it calls for vegetarian oyster sauce; it is vegetarian!
Okay first of all, WOW! I’ve been a vegan for almost 4 years now and every time I drive past Panda Express my mouth still waters for the chow mein. I happened to come across some chuka soba noodles from Sprouts and did a quick google search for vegan chow mein at the store and came across this recipe. This recipe was simple enough and had many ingredients I already owned. I came home and made it and YUM! Both me and my non-vegan husband were floored. Such a simple recipe but seriously this recipe is a home run. This definitely does it for me, it tastes just like chinese takeout. I omitted the sugar, and subbed teriyaki for oyster sauce and it was fabulous. Thank you for this delicious recipe!!
This comment made my day!! So thrilled it was a home run and you both enjoyed it 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and review Rachel!
Saw this on Buzzfeed yesterday and had to try it. Oh man am I glad I did. This was one of the easiest and tastiest recipes I’ve had in a long time! Now I can’t wait to try out all of your other recipes. Thank you!
SO good to hear! Thanks so much for your comment and review Krystle! So glad you liked it and hope you enjoy the next recipe you try 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Love this veggie packed chow mein!