This faux lo mein dish is made with zoodles (zucchini noodles) in place of noodles and the results are DELISH (and bonus under 300 calories)! Each bowl is loaded with chicken and vegetables in a savory sauce. If you want to make this meatless, tofu would also be great in this dish. Start to finish this takes about 20 minutes to make… quicker than waiting for your take-out to get delivered!
To make the zoodles you can use a vegetable spiralizer such as the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer or a mandolin fitted with a julienne blade although the spiralizer is so much easier and safer.
Since zucchini releases a lot of water as it cooks, I use it to my advantage and purposely leave the sauce a little thick. Once the noodles cook and release their liquid (I only cook them 2 minutes TOPS) the liquid from the zucchini thins the sauce and it comes out perfect.
Chicken Zoodle "Lo Mein" For Two
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth*
- 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce, use tamari for gluten free*
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce*
- 1/2 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
For the zoodles:
- 2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed
- 8 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into thin short strips
- kosher salt, to taste
- 2 tsp grapeseed or canola oil, divided
- 3/4 cup sliced bok choy
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms such as shiitake
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 3 scallions, sliced into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
- 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- *check labels for gluten-free
Instructions
- For the sauce – in a medium bowl, combine the chicken broth, soy sauce,oyster sauce, rice wine and 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk in the
- cornstarch until smooth.
- Using a spiralizer fitted with a shredder blade, or a mandolin fitted with a julienne blade, cut the zucchini into long spaghetti-like strips. If using a spiralizer, use kitchen scissors to cut the strands into pieces that are about 8 inches long so they’re easier to eat.
- Season chicken with salt.
- Heat a large nonstick wok over high heat. When very hot, add 1 tsp of the oil and the chicken. Cook until browned on both sides and opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Add the remaining oil, bok choy, mushroom, carrots, scallions, ginger and garlic. Cook until crisp tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Set aside with the chicken.
- Pour the sauce mixture into the wok and cook, stirring, until thickened and bubbling, 1 to 1-1/2 minutes.
- Add the zucchini noodles to the sauce, mixing so the zucchini is covered in sauce, and cook until the zucchini is tender, 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken and vegetables to combine, then divide between two serving bowls.
Last Step:
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This was my first Skinneytaste recipe several years ago and it’s still one of our favorites. I am trying to stay on top of the zuchhini crop! Just made it for dinner and hope there are 2 more zuchhini so I can make it again tomorrow!!
Really enjoyed this meal. Definitely something to make again.
This was so good! I cooked the zoodles separately to avoid risking it being too soupy. Doubled the chicken and doubled the sauce and it was heaven 🙂 THANK YOU GINA I LOVE YOU SM
Thanks Celina!
It was soooo good and didn’t take long at all! I mixed in rice noodles to keep us full and it was perfection! I added half a bag of premixed stir fry veggies (carrots, snap peas, broccoli) from the grocery store to get some more veggie servings in for the day. I’ll definitely be adding this to my go-to recipes.
I added too much water so it was a little soupy
Could I used frozen zucchini spirals from green giant ?
Sure
I don’t understand how this is 3 points per serving. It looks like 3 points for both servings. Correct?
It is 3 points per serving
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Do you know how long the cooked zoodles will keep before getting soggy? Wanting to use this as a meal prep for lunches.
One of our favorite so far! Low calorie, 2 points on WW, and INCREDIBLE. Better than take out, we think!
Is there any way to reduce the carbs? 28g still seems like a lot for a meal made with zoodles.
When it saids to cook 2 minutes it is so important to follow the directions or you will have a pot of mush! You basically are just heating the zucchini. Best thing no hot pot of boiling water to cook pasta, this would be great for campers!
Might get the Grandkids to help make some noodles this afternoon. Have a green and yellow zucchini to use so it should be very colorful and they can have a before taste to see really no taste just healthy! Making a meatloaf in the bundt pan for a nest and we will fill it with noodles to serve! A little sauce and cheese on the crown of the meatloaf for garnish. I have a back up of plain burgers and shell pasta but the deal is they must try everything! I usually can get them excited enough to give it a try and they don’t know there is a back up choice.
HI HI… I made this last night, doubling the recipe. The only sub I made was with the scallions… replacing them with a little diced onion. Unfortunately, once the veggies were cooked till crisp-tender as the recipe suggested, and placed in another bowl while waiting on the zoodles… the all started to sweat. I ended up with nearly 2.5 cups of additional liquid. After adding the zoodles and the sauce…. well nearly everything was soggy. Hubby said the flavor was ‘meh’.
I poured all the juice away – and now I have a container full of very soggy veggies and dry over cooked chicken.
Do you have any suggestions?? – the idea of the dish is wonderful – but my execution was apparently pretty bad!!!
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Thanks for a great recipe! Saw this and had to get the spiralazer and it was a breeze. Only thing is, at the bottom of my pan I had more water than expected. Did I overcook the zoodles a tad too much?
We made this tonight.
– Used hoisin instead of oyster sauce
– Used rice wine vinegar
This was really good but not as flavorful as I expected it would be at first. After cooking we added some more soy sauce and some siracha to our bowls.
I think next time we make this we are going to marinate the chicken in some extra sauce first to bring more flavor.
Overall though this was really good and did not take much time to prepare!
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I have made this 2x. It’s excellent. My husband had it with me tonight. Has no idea how healthy it was. And I’m not going to tell him! Ha ha! He had seconds and liked it.
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This was sooo delicious. The sauce was so much that I ended up using chop stick and a spoon. It was almost like ramen soup. I loved it!
This is fantastic! So delicious with very generous portions. I would definitely let the sauce thicken because the zoodles do release a lot of water.
Made this tonight – yum! Doubled it so I could have leftovers. It is so easy and delicious. I added Sirarcha because . . . Well why not!
This looks like a wonderful recipe, and I’m eager to try it. I’m monitoring my sugar intake right now, and one thing that puzzles me here is the supposed sugar content…10 g per serving? That seems high for the ingredients listed, and I don’t know where this is coming from. The carrots are probably the most sugary thing in this, but that wouldn’t push it up so high. Anyone?
I used sliced savoy cabbage for noodles, as my zucchini turned out to be rotten. It worked very well, and the only tool needed was a knife. It wasn’t zoodles, but I will use savoy again as a noodle sub. The sauce was great.
Can you use eggs in this?
I thought this was incredibly bland, and I followed the recipe exactly. Normally I love SkinnyTaste recipes! Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
Great zoodle recipe! The flavors are great and it was easy to put together. Thanks!
Seriously Amazing!!!!
Made this tonight for dinner and doubled the recipe – Served my husband and my portion over the zoodles and the rest of the family had theirs over cantonese noodles – I didn’t miss the noodles at all!.
The only change I made was to uses sesame oil instead of vegetable oil + up’d the ginger because I love ginger 🙂
Another bonus, made this after work and it was ready in about 1hr (that includes all the prep/chop/cook time <3
Great Recipe!!!
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Omg! This is so good! I just wish they gave the nutritional info. But again OMG! So good!
It’s at the bottom of the recipe!
Is rice wine the same as rice wine vinegar?
No, use mirin rice wine
Made this for dinner tonight. It was absolutely fantastic. My husband had three servings.
I guess I should add that my husband was able to have three helpings because I tripled the recipe. We also had leftovers the next night.
Would it be okay if I don’t add the oyster sauce? I’m not a fan.
I couldn’t find any GF oyster sauce so I just doubled the amount of soy sauce (actually used liquid aminos) and it tastes fine. I also couldn’t find mirin so I subbed sherry.
love your recipes..but need to print,,,,how do I do that?????
This was so very good! At my first bite, I cringed a bit, wondering how I would eat the whole thing. But then I remembered I had put less oyster sauce than the recipe called for. I added another tsp of oyster sauce and that did the trick! The rest of my (gigantic) 260 cal (subbed tofu instead of chicken) was delicious. It was close enough to noodles that my tastebuds were fooled.
For those without a spiralizer, I have a ridged veggie peeler (dirt cheap!) that made great zoodles! (Also awesome for julienned carrots). It couldn't handle the centre seedy portion so well so I chopped those up and popped them into the freezer for other meals.
I credit Skinnytaste for all my missing pounds – and for my delicious suppers every night!
Really wish the printer friendly version wouldnt have wasted 20 pages of ink OMG reminder dont print recipes from here anymore!
I always print the recipes from this site, and had no problems. I do watch to see if a 2nd page is needed as sometimes there is only one or two lines that would print on a 2nd page. Perhaps your printer or computer just had a burp!
Made this tonight–phenomenal. I did the prep in the AM (including cooking the chicken) and at dinner time it came together in less than 10 minutes!! Everyone, including my picky kids, gobbled it up!
another great recipe! Loved it!
This recipe was great My husband decided as he watched me prepare that he would not like this, but much to my surprise, he replied after a few bites….."OMG, this is delicious." I'll be making this again.
What os the soy sauce you use? Is it the Kikoman low sodium?
I'm nervous about using oyster sauce…never used it and don't want the fishy taste (not a seafood eater).
We made this for dinner last night and followed the recipe. It was not fishy at all! I think the ginger comes through more but all the flavors for this come together very well. It's delicious! We will be making this again!
I can't have soy but love oriental food. I made this with soy free soy sauce (coconut aminos) and soy free teryaki sauce and it is SOOO good!! Thank you for this delicious alternative!!!!
What is the best Spiraliser to buy?
This was an amazing dish. I made it for my boyfriend and I and he hates vegetables — yet, he was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this meal!! This is super quick and easy – I'll certainly be making this one again!!
can you just use the large shredder for the zoodles?
Made this tonight for dinner. It was delish. Even my husband liked it. I used the veggetti pro for the noodles worked freat.
This looks sooo good! I am definitely going to try it this week. My husband LOVES spaghetti so we try to use the spiralizer at times to replace the pasta. We use the zoodles with sauce & meatballs.
I found this to be very slimy. Any idea what I may have done? Or what can be changed about the recipe to prevent this? I actually couldn't eat it, but really wanted to love it because I love this dish with real noodles!
I haven’t made this yet, but i find if I let the zucchini noodles rest with a bit of salt to drain out some water before cooking, it helps to improve the texture
Is this truely 28 carbs per serving? I'd love to make it but that doesn't seem very low carb…
DELISH!!!!!!! I doubled it to serve 4. It's a bit labor intensive but worth it!! Didn't have fish sauce so used hoisen. Didn't have rice wine so used sherry. Served with Chinese mustard!!!! Soooo love this
Made this tonight for dinner! Delicious
Looking for help here! I just entered all of this nutrition info into the Weight Watchers calculator (I entered Sat. Fat as 0 because it is not provided) and the calculator is telling me that one serving is at least 7 Smart Points, not 5. Anyone else having this problem?
I entered the recipe into the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com, and it came up with 5. Then I ran the nutrition information as you did, and came up with 7. I'd go with recipe builder total.
Can I use a regular pan? I do not have a Wok
I have made spaghetti with this using zuchinni. I microwaved the zuchinni to my texture preference and then added spaghetti sauce. It was delicious!
Can I use fish sauce instead of oyster sauce?
OMG, this is delicious. My 6 years old approves it !
I didn't put ginger because we are not fan of ginger.
I really enjoyed this recipe! I tripled it. I did make some changes/mods: used rice vinegar, coleslaw mix instead of bok choy, sesame oil instead of canola, and pre-cooked shredded chicken breast from the freezer. This turned out fantastic and seems like it would be really flexible too. The zoodles turned out great. I used my vegetti.
I want to try it with some asparagus!!!!! I have been dying for Asian food & can't wait to give this a shot 🙂
Made this for the fiance and myself for dinner tonight and I was so pleasantly surprised by the zoodles. I want sure if I'd like the zoodles, as I'm not big on zucchini (so why did I plant so many? ), and I'm glad I enjoyed this recipe so much. I can't wait to try zoodles in other recipes.
I wasnt reading close enough and used rice wine vinegar instead of rice wine. Oops. Still delicious, but I will be using the rice wine next time. 🙂
I made this for someone, and they said "This tastes one step ABOVE what you would order at a high end restaurant." This was also coming from someone who does not care for zuchinni. Thanks, Gina.
I bought the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer you recommended a while ago and finally tried it last night. It was fantastic. My husband wasn't 100% on board with this recipe but can't wait for me to try the Zoodles and Meatballs. I can't wait to test this with our 5 year old grandson who we can't get to eat veggies. Will have to make the zoodles while he is preoccupied! Last but not least, tis the season, so I told the family if anyone offers up zucchini, don't pass it up. Also can't wait to try the broccoli zoodles. Thanks Gina.
Thank you for a wonderful, healthy recipe! My daughter and I devoured this. Added a bit a sriracha sauce for a bit of heat; may have cooked the zoodles a bit too long because it was a bit "runny". This is on our "make-again list".
Is rice wine vinegar the same as rice wine? I've never cooked with either. I can find rice wine vinegar in the stores, but haven't found rice wine.
Someone asked this question a while back and was told the recipe is NOT calling for rice wine vinegar (which I assumed is what "rice wine" meant). I believe rice wine is sake?? I looked at several stores and only found sake. I bought a little bottle and used that.
I just got a spiralizer and this was the first recipe we tried!!
Hubby was pretty hesitant about the 'zoodles', but he loved it – he and I both found this dish wonderfully filling and satisfying, and I didn't miss the carby-goodness of pasta as much as I thought I would…..and neither of us felt as bloated after eating this the way you usually do when eating 'real' noodles!
We both found the sauce a bit lacking though. We couldn't put our finger on exactly what was missing though. We added some Ponzu (citrus soy sauce) and the juice of 1 lime and the citric acid really gave more life to the sauce.
loving my spiralizer, will be certainly making more recipes soon!
I made the mistake of buying regular rice wine vinegar rather than seasoned rice wine vinegar recently. The dish I made tasted bland. Maybe that's the difference with your dish . Try the seasoned.
*Love* the tip to keep the sauce thick as the zoodles release a lot of water – made this pretty much to the letter (substituted rice wine vinegar for rice wine) and it was a big hit! Thanks Gina for coming up with so many "go to" light recipes.
GREAT!!
We're definitely going to try this! How does it hold up as a leftover?
We did try this and it was excellent! Trying your Kung Pao this week.
Love the recipe. How many ww points would recipe be without the
Chicken
Thanks
For thos asking for substitutions. Not sure if this has been said already. Hoisin is an ok sub for oyster sauce.
As for mirin I think sherry and sugar would be the closest sub Mirin is a little thicker than actual wine or vinegar though.
I'm so excited to try this recipe. So delicious! So inspirational!
Happy new year!
www.trangscorner.com
What about making this with shrimp instead of chicken?
Thanks for another great recipe!
Can this be made in advance and put in the fridge? Was wondering how it holds up for leftovers for lunch the next day.
Thanks!
I use my spiralizer and make my zoodles ahead of time. Then I bag them and put in the freezer to have dinner on the table in no time.
I wish to make this for someone who is allergic to sugar and alcohol is there something else I can use besides rice wine and oyster sauce?
This was so yummy! Made it for lunch today using veggies I had on hand and leftover roasted chicken, and it was super quick and easy.
Time to add a spiralizer to my kitchen collection so I can give this delicious a try!
Yummmmmm. I made zoodles last week because I missed them! Winter veggies are….less interesting to me.
I have been creating zoodles for a long time making use of my personal chef's knife. Father christmas delivered us some sort of spiralizer as well as gaming simply grew to become easier! "Gadgets" usually are not genuinely my personal point, nevertheless I appreciate this blog!
This looks Delicious!!
Baanou
www.baanou.com
I don't have the fancy gadget to make zoodles, but am going to use my "old-fashioned meat grinder. This sounds and looks awesome.
Can anything be substituted for the Rice Wine? It is not something I have, and don't know where to get it. How long does Rice Wine last, and how do you store it?
I think I read somewhere that you could sub white wine + sugar?
Here, I found it:
"When a recipe calls for mirin, the Japanese sweet rice wine, you need a combination of acidic and sweet flavors. Add between 1 and 2 tablespoons of sugar to 1/2 cup of white wine, vermouth, or dry sherry to replace 1/2 cup of mirin"
Great tip! Thanks!!
Can't have WINE…any suggestions?
I've been making zoodles for years using my chef's knife. Santa brought me a spiralizer and my life just became easier! "Gadgets" aren't really my thing, but I do love this one!
Another zoodle winner….thanks
Anyone with shellfish allergies have an alternative to oyster sauce? Would love to try this recipe but not sure how leaving out the oyster sauce would affect the sauce. Thanks!
I know that you can get a vegetarian "oyster" sauce made with mushrooms. Or maybe you can use Hoisin in it's place.
Thanks! I will try it with of those options. Appreciate the reply 🙂
I was out of oyster sauce so left it out of the recipe and it was AMAZING!
Hi – does everyone use the Paderno slicer? Most Amazon reviews are positive but the negative ones scare me… the handle breaks easily, it's difficult to switch blades, the unit doesn't stick on your countertop (I have granite)? Gina, what do you think of yours? I really want to make zoodles! 🙂 Thanks!
I love mine, I don't have any of those issues and I have the older one, had it a few years now.
I just got one for Christmas and have used it several times. I don't have any problems and it is easy to change the blades. It just lifts right out. I got the model just below the most expensive one because it had better reviews. The most expensive one has more problems. Read the reviews.
I've had mine for over a year and haven't had any problems with it. As soon as I use up a batch of noodles, I spiralize another. Handle is fine, blades aren't hard to switch, although I use the same one most of the time (larger noodles), and it sticks just fine to my granite countertop. Just be careful of the blade when you wash it, but don't be afraid of it. I say go for it!
I LOVE MY SPIRALIZER!! I have used it many, many times and have never broken a part of it. It's one of my favorite gadgets. My family can now eat healthy 'noodles'!
Thank you everyone – I'm getting one!! 🙂
I have the same question about rice wine and rice wine vinegar – is there a difference? Also, can fish sauce be substituted for oyster sauce? Is there much difference between these two? Thanks for a great recipe!
Fish sauce is highly concentrated and much thinner than oyster sauce. Oyster sauce is thicker and a bit sweet.
Yeah, I don't suggest subbing fish sauce for oyster sauce! Fish sauce is salty and very thin – oyster sauce has a completely different flavour. Rice wine (called Mirin) is sweeter and thicker than rice vinegar and doesn't have that vinegar zing.
Better to sub oyster sauce with hoisin sauce than fish sauce, as fish sauce is an entirely different taste and also is much thinner and saltier. Hoisin may make the dish a tad sweeter though.
And yes, there is a difference between wine and vinegar – most don't regularly drink a glass of vinegar with dinner. 😉 That said, wines and vinegars are commonly used to substitute for one another in a pinch, but remember that the flavour of the dish will change slightly.
I don't know what I'd do without my spiralizer! I keep zoodles in the fridge and use in so many dishes. I heat them in microwave for a minute and place under many entrees. You can spiralize zucchini, place in zip lock or any plastic bag with paper towel and zoodles will keep for several days. I think it actually works better in recipes if you spiralize ahead of time as it seems to remove some of the moisture. This recipe will be one of our dinners this week.
Lots of my foodie friends are using spiral veggie slicers these days. This looks so enticing! I may need to try this kitchen gadget myself someday. Thanks for sharing this yummy looking recipe =D
The inexpensive ones in the grocery stores for about $10 do work, but it takes getting used to. It is amazing how it all works. I look forward to using this recipe. It sounds great, but can you sub fish sauce for oyster sauce?
Fish sauce is really salty, and a very different taste from oyster sauce, I don't know that it would be a very good substitute.
Yum, I've been loving all of the zoodle recipes! I finally bought the Paderno spiral slicer today (I had been using my mandolin). In case anyone is interested, Williams Sonoma is having a one day sale on the slicer, so it's $29.95! And they have free shipping today!
I Mae this the other day and it was amazing! Thanks for the great recipes.
Gorgeous bowl!! This looks incredible 🙂
Hi Gina, where do you get the Paderno spiralizer from? I cannot seem to find it in any of our stores. Melody from Calgary Alberta
I got mine from amazon.com! It was on sale 🙂
Amazon but I've also seen it in Williams Sonoma
I bought mine at Williams and Sonoma and had a gift with purchase of a cookbook. Has good ideas for other uses as well.
Another recipe to use and get those in my family to eat more veggies! I love the tip about leaving the sauce thicker.
This looks fantasmic! Loving the colours 🙂
The first few times I made Asian from scratch, I couldn't believe how easy it was to make the sauces from scratch. Not to mention how much better they taste compared to the supermarket ones 🙂 Mmmmm!
I hope you have a lovely week ahead Gina! x
I need to get a spiralizer!
This looks delicious. When the recipe calls for rice wine, do you mean rice wine vinegar? Thanks so much Gina
No actually it's called aji mirin.
Mirin
This looks amazing! Love how light it is too!
Love all your zoodle dishes! Can't wait to try this one 🙂 Not a fan of mushrooms but would love another veg maybe sugar snap peas or ???
Baby corn (which might affect PP), water chestnuts, bamboo shoots or even broccoli!
Yes, any veggies you like honestly!
On the menu for tonight! Got my spiralizer last week and have been dying to try it.
Great alternative! I love anything pasta, but try not not to eat it…so this looks like such a yummy way to make yourself think you're eating pasta!
I’m also a pasta-holic. Try doing half pasta and half zoodles, it’s a great way to cheat without being TOO bad. 🙂
I have been wanting to make zoodles. Guess, it is time to give in and get another kitchen gadget so I can try this recipe.
I thought the same thing! I've been putting it off but after reading this recipe I got on amazon and bought a spiralizer…
At weight watchers word got around about making noodles from vegetables and we discovered vegitti is much cheaper and does the same thing! Got mine on ebay for $12 – plus it's small and doesn't take up space in your cupboard. This recipe looks delish! http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/veggetti-spiral-vegetable-cutter/1042545910
I started with the Vegitti and eventually graduated to the spiralizer. The spiralizer is so much better! It turns with ease and I have never felt nervous about the blade. I was a nervous wreck each time I used the Vegitti.
I did the same thing. The spiralizer is much easier and I feel safer. You can get them on sale for under $20. I have limited kitchen space so keep it on a shelf in the basement.
Agreed. I started with the vegetti and honestly I found it to take too long and be a pain to use. The paderno spiralizer is so quick and easy. The attachments are great!
I started with vegetti and upgraded to the spirazlier too. Love it! I cut myself multiple times on the vegetti. I'm sure it was operator error, but too easy to do. Much happier with the spiralizer and I use the flat blade to thin slice apples to put in the dehydrator. Love that it has multiple blade options.
Let me tell you the zoodles are AMAZING!