Veg Chow Mein

Veg Chow mein or chow mein with vegetables is one of the most popular vegetarian street foods in India. It's an Indo-Chinese stir-fried noodle dish that's very easy to make at home and gets ready in less than 30 minutes.

Veg Chow Mein is the first dish I ever cooked in my life. Even before learning how to make tea or cook instant noodles, I learned how to make veg chow mein at home.

This fact is enough to give an idea of how easy this recipe is.

It's also a very quick recipe and the only time-consuming step in it is chopping vegetables. Once that's done your chow mein will be ready in no time.

If you like noodles and looking for a quick and easy recipe then vegetable chow mein is a must-try.

Jump to:

• What is Chow Mein?
• Ingredients required
• How to make vegetable chow mein at home (step by step instructions)?
• Serving suggestions
• Storing tips
• Recipe tips & tricks
• Frequently asked questions
• More easy vegan/ vegetarian noodle recipes
• Recipe

What is Chow Mein?

Chow Mein is a type of Chinese stir-fried noodles that is made both with and without meat. Chow means stir-fried and Mein means noodles.

It's very popular in India and a lot of other countries too, and most of them have a local version of this delicious noodle dish.

Ingredients required

To make vegetable chow mein at home, you will need the ingredients shown in the image below:

The three main components of Vegetable Chow Mein are:

1. Noodles
2. Vegetables: The most commonly used vegetables in chow mein are cabbage, capsicum, carrots, and spring onion. You can also use bean sprouts, French beans, tofu, bok choy, mushrooms, or any other vegetable you like in stir-fried noodles.
3. Sauce/ condiments: The sauces generally added in Chow Mein are soy sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, and oyster sauce. In India, oyster sauce is not used in tchow mein and also since this is a vegan recipe, I have skipped that. I have added some tomato ketchup, the way it’s done by street vendors in India. You won’t be able to taste ketchup in chow mein but because of it, the sauce will nicely get coated on the noodles. Instead of ketchup, you can also use tomato paste.

How to make vegetable chow mein at home (step by step instructions)?

Step 1: Boil water in a large pot. Add some salt. When the water starts boiling, add noodles. Boil until the noodles are almost cooked. It's best to follow the instructions given on the packet of noodles you are using as different noodles need different cooking time.

Step 2: Strain the noodles and discard water.

Step 3: Rinse noodles with cold water to stop further cooking. Overcooked noodles turn mushy.

Step 4: Drizzle around 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil on noodles and gently toss until the oil evenly coats the noodle strands. This step will help in avoiding the strands sticking to each other. Keep the noodles aside.

Step 5: Put all the sauces, vinegar, salt, and ground black pepper in a bowl. Mix and keep aside.

Step 6: Heat oil in a large wok and add chopped garlic. Saute for a few seconds.

Step 7 and 8: Add thinly sliced onion and saute until the onion turns translucent.

Step 9: Add shredded cabbage, carrot, bell peppers, and green chilies.

Step 10: Stir fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but still crunchy.

Step 11: Add the sauce mix.

Step 12: Stir fry the vegetables in sauce for about a minute on high flame.

Step 13 and 14: Add boiled noodles to the wok.

Step 15 and 16: Gently mix until the sauce evenly coats all the noodle strands. Keep the flame high flame as the noodles will also get stir-fried while getting mixed with the sauces and vegetables. It will add a nice smoky flavor to the chow mein.

Step 17 and 18: Finally, add spring onion greens and mix.

Enjoy your delicious homemade vegetable chow mein.

Serving suggestions

Loaded with vegetables, this flavorful chow mein doesn't really need anything else on the side. However, if you want, you can serve any of the following dishes with veg chow mein:

1. Veg Manchurian (The most popular side dish with chow mein)
2. Baked gobhi manchurian
3. Kung pao cauliflower
4. Pineapple tofu
5. Vegetables in hot garlic sauce
6. Chili garlic tofu
7. Broccoli in garlic sauce

Storing tips

To store, put in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will be fine for 2-3 days. Re-heated chow mein tastes even better.

Recipe tips & tricks

• Don’t overcook the noodles, take them out of the boiling water 1-2 minutes before they are completely cooked. Rinse with cold water, apply oil, and keep aside while you stir fry the vegetables. Applying oil will help preventing the noodle strands sticking with each other.
• Use a large wok or pan to stir fry the noodles.
• Stir fry the vegetables and noodles on high flame.
• Since chow mein is cooked on high flame, keep all the vegetables, sauces, and noodles ready before you start the stir-frying step. Even mix all the sauces, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl so that you can add them all in one go.
• Soy sauce is already salty so add more salt carefully and only if needed.
• For extra flavor, drizzle a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil once the chow mein is ready.

Frequently asked questions

More easy vegan/ vegetarian noodle recipes

If you also love noodles and want to try more easy noodle recipes at home then don't miss trying the following links:

1. Vegan Kung Pao Noodles with Charred Broccoli
2. Easy Vegetable Teriyaki Noodles
3. Easy Hot Peanut Butter Ramen noodles
4. Vegan Pad Thai
5. Thai curry noodles
6. Easy chili garlic noodles

If you try any of my recipes, please rate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ it on the recipe card and also leave your feedback in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and subscribe to my youtube channel.

Recipe