Skip the takeout and make this healthy, high-protein, Chicken Lo Mein at home in just 30 minutes! Packed with protein, fresh veggies, and a flavorful sauce, this simple dinner is a family favorite.
Chicken Lo Mein
If you love takeout but want a healthier, homemade version, this Chicken Lo Mein is about to become your new favorite weeknight meal! Inspired by this Veggie Lo Mein, it’s packed with protein (39 grams), colorful vegetables, and a savory stir-fry sauce that coats the noodles perfectly. Plus, it comes together in less than half an hour—faster than delivery! For more noodle stir fry recipes try these Peanut Noodles with Chicken or this Soba Noodle Veggie Stir Fry for one!
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Lo Mein Recipe
I love lo mien, but I don’t order it often because it’s usually not balanced with enough protein and veggies, so I set out to create a high-protein dish full of veggies (use whatever veggies you like here). I tested it out on Tommy, and he loved it!
- Quick & Easy: Ready in less time than it would take to order and wait for delivery.
- Better for You: Less oil and packed with protein and fresh ingredients.
- Customizable: Swap the chicken for tofu, shrimp, or beef, and use any veggies you have on hand.
- Dietary Restrictions: Weight Watchers-friendly, gluten-free (if using GF noodles), dairy-free, vegetarian (if substituting tofu or seitan), high-protein
If you make this healthy chicken lo mein recipe, I would love to see it. Tag me in your photos or videos on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook! And be sure to join the Skinnytaste Community to see what everyone’s cooking!
What You’ll Need
This easy chicken lo mein is a delicious weeknight dinner the whole family will love! See the recipe card for the exact measurements.
- Noodles: Authentic lo mein, which translates to “tossed noodles” in Cantonese, is made with egg noodles, but spaghetti or soba noodles would also work.
- Chicken Breast: Lean, boneless, skinless chicken breasts add extra protein while keeping the fat low.
- Chicken Marinade: To tenderize the chicken, toss it in a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch, and salt.
- Avocado Oil has a high smoke point, making it ideal for stir fries cooked on high heat.
- Toasted Sesame Oil gives the vegetables a flavor boost.
- Aromatics: Sliced green onions and minced garlic for more flavor
- Vegetables: Bell pepper (I like using a red and yellow one for extra color) and broccoli
- Chicken Lo Mein Sauce: Reduced-sodium tamari (or soy sauce), fresh ginger, honey (or maple syrup), toasted sesame oil, sriracha
How to Make Chicken Lo Mein
Velveting is a cooking technique common in Chinese cuisine that tenderizes chicken. To do this, coat the chicken in an egg white and cornstarch mixture and then blanch it. The printable instructions are below.
- Marinate Chicken: Slice the chicken breasts and marinate them in a bowl with egg whites, cornstarch, and salt for 15 to 20 minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients.
- Make the Lo Mein Sauce: Whisk the 5 sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Boil the noodles in salted water until they’re just shy of al dente. (They’ll finish cooking when we stir fry them.)
- Blanch the chicken in boiling water for 10 seconds, then drain.
- Cook the Chicken: Heat avocado oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken slices and cook them for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove them.
- Add the Veggies: Pour in the sesame oil and saute the green onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the bell peppers and broccoli and cook for a few minutes.
- Finishing Touches: Add the chicken, noodles, and sauce to the skillet and toss with the vegetables. Taste and season with more salt if needed, then garnish with green onions.
Pro Tips
- Have everything prepped before cooking: Lo mein cooks quickly, so having all your ingredients ready makes the process seamless.
- No chicken? Try it with pork, shrimp, or beef for variety.
- High Protein and Vegetarian: Swap chicken for seitan or tofu.
- More veggies? Mushrooms, baby corn, or bok choy work great!
- Need to reduce the carbs? Try my Chicken Zoodle “Lo Mein” with zucchini noodles.
- Want it spicier? Add extra sriracha or chili flakes.
- Want it milder? Omit the sriracha.
Serving Suggestions
Pair your chicken lo mein with homemade wonton soup or homemade egg rolls for the ultimate takeout experience at home.
Storage
- Refrigerate chicken lo mein for 4 days.
- Freeze it for 3 months in airtight containers.
- Reheat it in the microwave. If frozen, thaw it in the fridge the day before or microwave the frozen dish for longer.
More Stir Fry Recipes You’ll Love
See more chicken breast recipes here, plus these five delicious stir-fry recipes to inspire your next meal!
Chicken Lo Mein
Equipment
- large deep skillet or wok
Ingredients
- 8 ounces lo mein egg noodles, spaghetti, soba noodles or gluten-free noodles
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, thin sliced
- 1 large egg white, or 3 tablespoons whisked
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil, divided
- ½ tablespoon avocado oil
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (i like using red and yellow)
- 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
Stir Fry Sauce:
- ⅓ cup reduced-sodium tamari, reduced-sodium soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon honey, or pure maple syrup (or sugar-free)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sriracha, or to taste, plus more for serving if desired
Instructions
- Cut chicken breast, against the grain, at a diagonal to form ⅛-inch slices. Add into a medium bowl with egg whites, starch, and salt. Stir to combine and distribute. Place in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
- While you wait for the chicken, whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Prep the remaining ingredients.
- Fill a medium pot of water and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken slices to the pot and stir gently. Blanch for about 10 seconds, then drain immediately.
- Meanwhile fill a large pot with water and salt and bring to a boil. Cook the noodles until just shy of al dente and drain. You want the noodles to be a little under-cooked.
- Heat a wok or large deep skillet over medium-high heat and add ½ tablespoon of the avocado oil. Add velveted chicken breast slices and cook for 1 to 2 minutes each side until cooked and golden around edges. Remove and set aside.
- Add remaining ½ tablespoon of sesame oil, ½ cup green onions and garlic, sauté over medium for 30 seconds, until fragrant, stirring often. Add bell peppers and broccoli and cook 2 to 3 minutes more.
- Add the noodles, chicken and sauce to the skillet and toss with the vegetables. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Divide the lo mein into four bowls and garnish with green onions.
Yum 🤗🤗
I gave 4 stars because it was a time consuming recipe for me. I was having a hard time managing all the steps. Next time will do all the steps separately. A very tasty recipe though!
Excellent. All of your dishes are!
This was absolutely delicious. My only modification was to omit the egg white due to an allergy. I let the chicken marinate with just the cornstarch. I will for sure make this again. My whole family loved it.
This was fine. It tasted good but took forever. I feel like I could have just skipped the entire egg/corn starch soak and 10 second boil and it would have been just fine. I used thighs and they were perfectly tender.
The recipe is very good but I took a star off because there is a much simpler process to tenderize chicken breast. Sprinkle baking soda (about 2 tsp should do it for 1 lb chicken) over chicken that has been cut up and after mixing thoroughly together let it sit in fridge for 20-30 minutes. Rinse chicken thoroughly and pat dry. No need to blanch them. Just stir fry as directed but of course a little longer as they are raw.
This is ABSOLUTELY not a 15 minute prep time. Mincing 6 cloves of garlic alone is 15 minutes. That doesn’t even consider the ginger (which takes ages).
Mini food processor will speed up the process
Absolutely fantastic!
Thanks!
This is delicious and is one of those recipes that you can customize for your own taste.
We are not fond of bell peppers so did thin sliced carrots instead also added mushrooms and cauliflower. It was fabulous
Yes, this had a lot of steps (dishes). But it was so incredibly delicious!!! Will definitely be making this again.
This was pretty simple and absolutely delicious!! Definitely a make again. Thanks!
Great recipe, of course I made a few little tweaks, like adding chopped cabbage. And I add minced garlic to the sauce. Delicious, I have made it twice now!
I made this tonight and followed every measurement and step. It was so flavorful and perfect! My husband had 2 servings to my surprise!
Absolutely delicious! I have also made this with shrimp instead of chicken, just for a change in protein. Also, I have no choice in the matter here- I HAVE to add water chestnuts to it, as hubby is addicted to them, and just about every Asian recipe has to include them, haha! Keep the great recipes, coming, Gina! Thank you (also, making this up ahead of time to take camping next weekend- woohoo!)
this is my favorite meal to make!!!!
Amazing! My whole family loved this, we will definitely keep making it, thanks!
I really like the meal, it taste better than at the restaurant! Next time I’m adding shredded carrots.This recipe takes at least an hour and a bunch of dishes, but I thought it was worth it.
Delicious! Big hit with the family!
My kids loved it!!
Awesome! I love kid approval 🙂
Fabulous. Even better than a Chinese restaurant.
Taste was very good but labor intensive even if I’m retired. Added mushrooms and extra sriracha.
I very seldom rate ST recipes less than a 5, but this one was just okay for me. Honestly, I think it was the effort vs taste imbalance for me. I don’t mind a lot of dishes and steps, but I feel like there are so many other recipes with better flavor.
Sooo good!
Delicious. Also husband approved!
Perfect!
Very tasty. Great flavors. Highly recommend
Wow, first time making Chicken Lo Mein and this recipe did not disappoint. I had to google what “blanching” is. I learned something new! Delicious recipe! I used egg noodles and Tamari for the Fry Sauce. I think I’ll stick to those ingredients as this recipe came out perfect. Thank you for sharing the recipe <3
Glad you enjoyed it!
Overall, this meal was good. The main reason for the three stars — this took forever to make. Admittedly, I’ve always been a little slower with the prep work, so I was anticipating ~45 minutes to make this. Ended up taking an hour and a half, start to finish (not including clean up, of course!). Even my husband said at one point, “This seems like a ton of work.” In the end, the actual meal was good. I would definitely recommend using the reduced sodium soy sauce. I only had enough reduced sodium soy sauce for about half of the 1/3 cup and used regular soy sauce for the remainder, and I found myself chugging water during the meal because of how salty it tasted (I did not add salt at any other point in the recipe except to the water for the noodles).
Absolutely delicious! Will definitely make again, prep time is definitely longer than written in recipe. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
I agree, prep time was longer but well worth it.
Delicious
My family is in heaven
I’m so glad! 🙂
this was delicious! I had never blanched chicken, but I did , cooked it in wok, Seared longer than 2 minutes to get a nice color on the chicken. The flavors were great, Served with edamame.
This was so delicious! We didn’t have any leftovers- my 9 year old daughter gave me a thumbs up. Sadly this took me a lot longer than 30 mins to make and the clean up seemed like forever! Ha ha. BUT well worth it- the flavors were incredible!!!!
Excellent! Added mushrooms otherwise as written. Yum!
Loved it and will definitely make again.
I made this for dinner tonight – DELICIOUS!!! I used chicken thighs that I had and I added sliced mushrooms and grated carrots – yum. Thanks Gina for another wonderful recipe!!!
Made this for dinner with my teenage grandsons. We all loved it! Will definitely be making this again. Thank you.
This was really tasty and we like it. However, it took a bit longer than anticipated, not exactly a quick 30 min after a work day meal in my opinion. The only reason I probably won’t make it again is due to the clean-up. So many pots, strainers, and dishes. Delicious but a weekend meal only and when the dishwasher is almost empty 😊
Easy to make, can change the veggies up and added vegetable broth and cooked fine oriental noodles in the pan with the vegetables.
My husband and I LOVE this recipe!!! Easy to follow, quick and delicious!!! Great as leftovers too. Definitely use fresh ginger. We used dried and it was not as great. We skipped blanching the chicken and just pan fried the chicken in a stainless steel. Turned out great! Awesome recipe!
I am so thrilled to hear!!
Absolutely delicious my husband gives it a 10! Very flavorful
What modifications would I need to make to the recipe using shrimp? I wanna make it this week.
Just saute them and add at the end. No need to boil or season.
Made this tonight and thanks to Gina’s step by step directions it turned out fabulous!
So glad to hear!
The flavor level is perfect! Really loved this and putting it in regular rotation. Used chicken thighs and skipped the tenderizing process. Added mushrooms in before onions / garlic. Big winner!
absolutely delicious, even my finicky husband loved it. I will certainly make this again. Thanks for the recipe.
The family of picky eaters all enjoyed this! Easy to keep components separate and serve with no sauce for the pickiest. I did use a different method for velveting, as we are short on eggs. The overall time was spot on for me, but I am very experienced in the kitchen. Use the marinating time wisely to prep remaining ingredients and boil the water.
LOVED it! Took a bit but much better than take out. Thank you@
This definitely took longer than 30 minutes, but it could probably be shortened by using precut or frozen vegetables. I might try that next time because it was delicious!
Fabulous dinner!
Thank you!
Wow this was fantastic. So full of flavor and a balance of chicken, veggie and noodles.
This was delicious but it took me well over an hour to make and I don’t feel like a wasted any time! Also my chicken was too wet when it hit the pan so it didn’t brown but it still tasted great. Topped with extra sriracha and momofuku chili crisp!
Awesome – will be making this again for sure.
This was delicious! I will definitely make it again.
I made this recipe yesterday as written and it was absolutely delicious. My husband liked it as well and he is fussy. The seasonings were right on. I will certainly be making this again. Thanks Gina.
Great!!
This was an excellent Recipe. We made it exactly as written, except we added 16 ounces of sliced mushrooms and only used half the Sriracha.
Great!
This recipe took me about an hour. I didn’t blanch the chicken. I just stir fried it for 5ish minutes. The grocery store I went to only had soba noodles and they worked out fine. Overall very tasty.
I fixed this tonight using rice noodles instead of lo mein to be gluten free. It was very good. I used a different method to velvet the chicken was my only real variance. Thanks for another great recipe!
Delicious! My family loved it. And yes, you blanch the chicken. I cooked the vegetables a bit longer because my family prefers them cooked a little more.
Can I use frozen vegetables (broccoli and peppers)? I’m looking forward to trying this.
Sure
I’ve not made this yet but I’ve never heard of velveting the chicken with egg whites. I have a method for adding baking soda to the chicken for 20 minutes then rinsing a little, then cooking. How does the egg white work chemically?
Both work! Give it a try!
Very yummy, but don’t try to double the recipe unless you have an industrial size kitchen. Also, this takes way longer than 30 minutes.
It is ‘blanch the chicken’, that is correct. I’m sure you could skip it if you really wanted to. Not sure if you’d need to rinse the starch mixture off or not.
This looks SOOO good. I ordered NPG soy sauce and it’s only 200 mg of sodium per serving which is the lowest I’ve ever seen. This will be my first meal trying it next week, can’t wait!
Hi Gina, is the second half of the sesame oil used in the stir fry sauce? Because it says 1 tablespoon for the sauce. But 1 tablespoon divided in the main ingredient list. Or am I missing something?
1 tablespoon sesame oil in the sauce. 1/2 tablespoon used in stir fry.
Do you blanch chicken in water?
yes
Good
Do you blanch the broccoli or the chicken? The recipe says chicken. That doesn’t seem right.
The chicken. This is a standard method in Asian cooking.
Pretty sure that should say broccoli
blancing the chicken is part of the “velveting” process, common for stir fry.
. This looks great, but I’m not sure about the directions…They are very long and in step 6 it refers to the “rest of the sesame oil”… I was never able to find where the first part of the sesame oil was used.
Its in the sauce, listed as a separate ingredient
I just bought a wok so I could make this properly. I like the lo mein noodles a little charred. Really looking forward to it. Thanks Gina!
Loved it! Just because I had it on hand I added some bean sprouts and some chopped Brussel sprouts. Really loved it!
Is something missing on the ingredients list after “one egg white or three tablespoons?”
or 3 tbsp egg whites
Got it! One egg white or three tablespoons of egg whites.
Do you have to blanch the chicken?
My question also? Why blanch chicken?
it’s part of the “velveting” process, common for stir fry chicken to help keep it tender. This is one way, there are others. I’m doing water, potato starch, soy sauce and oil. I just can’t waste an egg for it when there’s other ways.
As mentioned in the post above, its called velveting and it makes the chicken extra tender.