Chicken & Veggie Chow Mein
Prep Time:10 mins, Cook Time: 15 mins, Total Time: 25 mins
March 5, 2014
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Stir fries are a great way to easily bump up your 5-a-day quota and are a fun eat for kids, there’s something about noodles that they all seem to love. They’re still known as wiggly worms in our house.. My two have been eating stir fries like this since toddlerism, though back then I tactically sliced and diced the veggies to miniscule proportions so they wouldn’t, and couldn’t, pick them out. Luckily these days I don’t have to go this far and the overall flavour of a tasty sauce has enough appeal to get them greedily chowing down on a big bowl of veggies and noodles. Invariably there’re full tummies and one very happy Mummy.
APRIL 2015 Update: This is the exact same recipe that we followed at the first of my after-school National Lottery Funded ‘Healthy Dinners Club’ sessions (on 28 April). Year 6 children loved making it and genuinely made the entire stir fry themselves, and got to take enough home to feed their families too!.
I’m entering my Chow Mein to a few challenges:
1) To Family Foodies which I host with Vanesther, this month it’s over on Bangers and Mash with the theme of Fab Fast Food, very excited to see the entries on this one.
2) To Vanesther’s The Spice Trail challenge which this month so happens to be Ginger.
3) To Extra Veg, an event co-hosted by Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy, as there’s a whole barrage of veggies going in here!
4) To A Mummy Too‘s Recipe of the Week
Lean Chicken, Broccoli, Carrots, Courgettes, Spring Onions, Red Peppers, Mushrooms, Bean Sprouts
Great For:
Toddlers, Big Kids, Grown Ups, Family Dinners, Mid-Week Wonders, Quick Dinners, Chinese New Year, Chinese Banquets, Making With Kids
Notes:
Makes enough for a family of four
Vary your veggies as to what’s seasonal or you have in. You could also use kale, sweetcorn, aubergine, peas, mange tout, runner or french beans, red or white cabbage.
Why not make with beef or pork strips instead of chicken, or some prawns. Omit the chicken for vegetarians.
Special Equipment:
A wok or a very large frying pan
Chicken & Veggie Chow Mein
Ingredients Prep Time:10 mins, Cook Time: 15 mins, Total Time: 25 mins
For a Family of Four:
150g medium egg noodles
2 dessertspoons toasted sesame oil
3 dessertspoon lower salt soy sauce (I use Kikkoman Less Salt)
1 dessertspoon sweet chilli sauce
1 heaped teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice
300g skinned chicken breast (about 2), preferably free range
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 tablespoons sunflower or rapeseed oil
1 large thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 carrots, peeled or scrubbed and cut into fine strips
½ head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 red or orange pepper, cut into fine strips
½ courgette cut into strips or 100g mushrooms, quartered, or both
a little water
4 spring onions, sliced into 1cm pieces
125g bean sprouts


1. Cook the noodles to packet instructions until almost tender, drain and toss in 1 dessertspoon of sesame oil.
Set aside.
2. Meanwhile combine in a bowl 1 dessertspoon of soy sauce, 1 dessertspoon of sweet chilli sauce and 1 heaped teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice.
3. Slice the chicken into fine strips (about 1cm by 4cm) and then toss in the bowl with the sauces and spice until evenly coated. Spoon in the cornflour and toss again.
4. Grate the ginger. Prepare all the vegetables as per the ingredients list.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of sunflower or rapeseed oil in a wok or a very large frying pan until hot. Add the chicken strips and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, moving around the pan, until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside in a bowl.
6. Heat another tablespoon of the oil in the same pan and add the ginger and all vegetables except the spring onions and bean sprouts, plus a splash of water. Cook for 5 minutes, moving regularly around the pan, add another splash of water if the pan looks dry. Add the spring onions, and cook for 1 more minute.
7. Stir in the set aside chicken strips, bean sprouts and noodles and heat through.
8. Stir in the remaining 1 dessertspoon of toasted sesame oil and 2 dessertspoons of soy sauce and serve immediately.
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I’ve had similar recipe today 😉 stir fry rocks!
I saw your recipe too, good idea using wholewheat pasta!
My family would love this. Thanks for posting, I hope to try the recipe soon.
Oh please do Julie, stir fries are really popular with my little monsters!
This looks like the perfect fab fast food – great entry! 🙂
Thanks Vanesther, a really fun challenge this month!
I love stir fries very tasty In fact we had one yesterday too so recipe still in draft.Yours looks very colourful.
Stir Fries truly rock, healthy, fast and dead easy!
Your Chicken Chow Mein looks delicious. I love chinese food as it is ever so quick to rustle together and the flavours are sensational.
Thanks Tina, you’re so right. Perfect mid-week tasty fodder!
This sounds lovely! Trying to work out if I can make it with pork (currently defrosting), no sesame oil, sweet chilli sauce or beansprouts. Have everything else! Think I will improvise 🙂
For some reason most of our stir fries involve pork, and in all honesty I rarely use bean sprouts though they are lovely in a stir fry. You don’t really need the sweet chilli sauce, either leave out or add a little chilli. As for sesame oil, it’s just a little added flavour, I wouldn’t worry!.
That looks really tasty!
Thanks Janice!
This looks very tasty. I don’t often do stir fries as I struggle to get my wok hot enough and my stir fries often end up a bit soggy. GG
Luckily my kids aren’t too discerning (yet!) of the odd soggy veggie, but as I cook on gas with a wok you can get them pretty crispl
Another tasty meal from Eat your Veg and I DO love a good stir-fry Lou!
Thanks Karen!
Mmm tasty and full of veggies. We had noodles for first time in ages last night but I won’t be leaving it so long again now I’ve seen this for inspiration.
My kids adore ‘wiggly worm’ noodles, well about as much as they do spaghetti which has similar appeal!
Great looking colourful stir-fry. I haven’t thought to try my toddler on a stir-fry yet but think perhaps it is time that I do.
Oh go for it, my kids have been eating something like this since they were wee toddlers, though back them I used to cut the veggies very finely (mainly for disguise!).
very yummy! I love stir fries too!
Thanks Fiona!
Fab stir fry and great way to get the 5 aday into the wee tummies eh? I love it that u have used low salt soy sauce we do too !
Certainly is a 5-a-day wonder meal! I can’t tell the difference between the ordinary and low salt so I’ve taken to always buying it now.
Chow mein used to be a favourite take away treat as a teenager – I think I was allowed about one a year! I bet I’d enjoy your version a whole lot more than any takeaway one.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a good take away Chow Mein to be honest, but then I can’t even remember my last Chinese take away!
YUMMY! Love all the flavours you’ve used so reckon I’d love this chow mein!
Janie x
Thanks Janie x
We often have a stir fry and I love thinly slicing the chicken the same as the veg, helps it all cook evenly. I also take any left over to lunch for work!
I LOVE leftover stir fry, but it usually goes with Jacques to school!
Delicious and a great way for extra veggies! thanks for sending to Extra Veg!
To be honest most things I make are ‘extra veg’, but limit myself on entries!
I made fried rice at home all the time, but have never made chow main. I’ll have to add this into the rotation!
There’s something about noodles that’s impossibly appealing, go for it!
This looks delish. I would use Quorn pieces I think, then we could all eat it 🙂 Thanks for joining in with #recipeoftheweek. I’ve Pinned and Tweeted this post and there’s a fresh linky live now. You might have already popped over but if not, please do!
Thanks Emily, looking forward to making more regular #recipeoftheweek entries!
I could not survive a week without a stirfry and brilliant way – as you say – to pump up the veg quotient for the week. I try to use the low salt kikoman too or even tamari which I have been told in lower in salt.
Looks really tasty Louisa! We all love a good stir fry so I have no idea why we don’t have them more often!