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    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    March 6, 2015 66 Comments

    Veggie Chow Mein

    7.1K shares
    Jump to Recipe

    Check out this recipe for Veggie Chow Mein!

    As Wikipedia explains: "Chow mein (/ˈtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/) are stir-fried noodles, the name being an English language corruption of the Taishanese chāu-mèing." Oh corruption, why do you taste so good? Delicious, delicious corruption, how you woo me with your noodley goodness.

    Corruption smerruption, whatever this is, it is a damn fine dish, and I have no problem chowing down, 2 heaping bowls of this veggie packed noodle bliss. (See what I did there).

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken


    Did you know that cabbage is a super healthy food. Low in calories, high in vitamins C, and K, and receives 5 stars on both the weight loss and optimum health scales on Self Nutrition Data. Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it's not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is good for you.

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Are you drooling over your keyboard yet? If you like this recipe or any other recipes or posts on It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken, perhaps you could be my friend nominate me for the SAVEUR Blog Awards, and help me get all my hard work recognized. You can do so by clicking here. Thankyouthankyouthankyou! You're my favourite.

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Back to noodles. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the chow mein noodles according to the package directions.

    When you are shopping for chow mein noodles make sure to get the egg-free kind. In my grocery store, both the egg containing chow mein noodles and the egg free kind are right beside each other in the Asian section of the grocery store.

    Now mince your garlic and ginger and add it to a small bowl along with all the other chow mein sauce ingredients. Then set that bowl aside. I keep the favours fairly light here as I know not everyone is as obsessed with soy sauce and Sriracha as I am. The good news is you can always set your mouth into a salty fire by choice in your own bowl, while someone else can decide not to destroy their taste buds.

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Chop up all your veggies.

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Now get a pan nice a hot, and sauté the cabbage and onions in a bit of oil. Am I the only one who thinks that cooking cabbage and onions smells like cooking potato pancakes for no apparent reason? I am going to go ahead and say I am the only one. When it's all delicious, golden and wilted, dump the cabbage and onion mixture into a bowl and set aside.

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Add the pan back to the heat, and sauté the mushrooms, carrots, and snow peas. Cook these guys for about 5 to 10 minutes until they are cooked through and the mushrooms release their awesome juiciness. Toss in the chow mein sauce and cook for just a minute more. Add in the cabbage and onion mixture, and the cooked noodles, and toss well to combine. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and feast your way to noodley paradise.

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Print Recipe
    4.96 from 22 votes

    Veggie Chow Mein

    Healthy and vegan, Veggie Chow Mein! Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it’s not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is GOOD for you. 
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time20 mins
    Total Time35 mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American, Chinese
    ingredient tag: mushrooms, noodles & pasta
    Servings: 6
    Calories: 310kcal
    Author: Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken

    Ingredients

    • ¾ lb vegan chow mein noodles

    For the sauce:

    • ¾ cup water
    • ¼ cup soy sauce
    • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
    • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 inch piece fresh ginger
    • ½ teaspoon sesame oil
    • ½ teaspoon sriracha

    For the chow mein:

    • 1 tablespoon light oil (such as canola or vegetable)
    • 5 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
    • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
    • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
    • 3 cups mushrooms, sliced
    • 1 ½ cups snow peas
    • ½ cup green onions, sliced
    • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
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    Instructions

    • Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the chow mein noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
    • Add all of the sauce ingredients to a bowl and mix together.
    • Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cabbage and onion. Stir frequently until the cabbage and onion have reduced in size and are nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the cabbage mixture from the pan and set aside.
    • Return the pan to the heat. Add more oil if needed and then sauté the carrots, peas, and mushrooms for  5 to 10 minutes, until softened and cooked through.
    • Add the chow mein sauce to the pan, and cook for about 1 minute longer. Now add back the cooked cabbage and the noodles to the pan. Toss everything to combine. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 310kcal
    Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram and Hashtag #itdoesnttastelikechicken

    Feature Ingredient: Cabbage.

    Bon Appetegan

    Sam

    « Creamy Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Pasta
    Agave Green Tea Mojitos »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marianne says

      September 19, 2021 at 6:07 pm

      First, I would like to say that I am a fan of your recipes! This one for me was too bland. I did have to sub coconut aminos for the soy sauce as I can’t have soy. So I realize that it would be less salty. But I think if I try it again, I might sauté the veggies in a little veggie broth as well as use vegetable broth instead of the water. And maybe add more siracha. It just needed more of something.

      Reply
    2. Kortneii says

      October 19, 2020 at 12:19 am

      5 stars
      Tastes just like takeout chowmein! Love the cabbage! Thkank you!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        October 22, 2020 at 11:23 am

        Yay!!

        Reply
    3. Kortneii Mackenzie says

      October 13, 2020 at 11:30 pm

      5 stars
      Another 5 star recipe! Tasty and simple as always. Thanks much!

      Reply
    4. Nancy says

      July 01, 2020 at 12:32 am

      I loved this recipe. I read some of the previous comments so I added a little more Ponzo sauce which is citrus based soya sauce and a quarter of a cup less of water. I also added a little more sesame oil as I went along. One thing I did do wrong was add a little bit too much sea salt here and there. Despite all that though this was a very delicious recipe and I would never call it bland in a minute. I bought your cookbook and so far everything I’ve cooked from it Was absolutely delicious. So much so two of my friends have now bought the cookbook.

      Reply
    5. Kelly says

      June 18, 2020 at 9:31 pm

      5 stars
      I made a couple of adjustments to suit our tastebuds (a little less water, a little more sesame oil and Sriracha). This was a fantastic recipe-it’s a keeper for sure! Thank you!

      Reply
    6. Ann says

      May 25, 2020 at 7:13 pm

      Hmmm, this was very bland for me and my family. 🙁

      Reply
    7. Mandy MacKenzie says

      May 05, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      4 stars
      This is a great starting point for a chow mein dish! I will add garlic and more sriracha next time because I like mine a bit more "punchy" than this, but it was delicious!

      Reply
    8. Allie says

      April 27, 2020 at 12:06 pm

      5 stars
      I used the veggies I had on hand but followed your sauce recipe pretty closely and the meal turned out great. I love how much less greasy this is than traditional takeout and my veggies turned out perfectly al dente. I'm saving this recipe to make for my boyfriend sometime!

      Reply
    9. Jo says

      February 04, 2020 at 8:09 pm

      This turned out great, thank you! Baby corns are essential to chow mein for me so I added a can of those as well!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        February 07, 2020 at 1:48 pm

        Awesome!

        Reply
    10. Angela says

      September 08, 2019 at 10:38 am

      5 stars
      Made this last night for dinner, it was really good. I’m not very good at making Asian food but this was a breeze, thank you!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        September 09, 2019 at 3:20 pm

        Wonderful!! Thrilled it worked out fo you, Angela 🙂

        Reply
    11. Pam says

      April 04, 2019 at 4:59 pm

      Can you share what brand of noodles you used or like to use?

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        April 08, 2019 at 6:53 pm

        I can't say I remember the brand I used but any rice or wheat noodle that is egg free would work 🙂

        Reply
    12. Tracey Barry says

      January 14, 2019 at 9:45 pm

      5 stars
      This was amazing!! I decided to use rice instead of the noodles yet I found some crunchy Chow Mein noodles to put on top. I also added some water chestnuts. Super yummy! Your recipes are the best. I have your cookbook and every recipe is superb! Hope you will have another one in the future! Thank you for sharing all of these delicious recipes!!!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        January 16, 2019 at 9:43 am

        Sounds delish!! So thrilled you are enjoying so much of my recipes, Tracey!! 😀

        Reply
      • Jen says

        December 05, 2021 at 6:17 pm

        5 stars
        I did the same thing and it was yummy!

        Reply
    13. Gail says

      May 14, 2018 at 10:30 pm

      I didn’t find it to have much taste. What about sauting in a little sesame oil and not canola oil.

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        May 15, 2018 at 1:04 pm

        Go for it!

        Reply
      • Mar says

        January 14, 2019 at 2:24 am

        Omg. This wasn’t just bad. It was disgusting. I tried it twice, thinking I must have done something wrong. Nope. The liquid with the cornflour solidified before the garlic or ginger cooked. Both times. Gross. I threw it out, both times after one bite.

        Reply
        • Diane R says

          August 15, 2019 at 3:51 pm

          Well, if the sauce thickened before the ginger and garlic cooked to your liking the first time, why didn't you keep them out of the sauce and cook them along with the veg the second time? Don't blame the author if you can't adapt.

    14. Jenn says

      April 24, 2018 at 11:02 pm

      5 stars
      Mmmmm. So good! Asian food is hard for me to make good but this is delicious. In eating my second serving as I write this. Should have stopped after 1 serving but couldnt resist! Ive made I think 4 of your recipes so far and shared your site with my sister in law and she made 3 recipes and verything weve made has been amazing!

      Reply
      • Sam Turnbull says

        April 25, 2018 at 2:10 pm

        Oh that's so awesome! Thank you for sharing and loving my recipes, Jenn 🙂

        Reply
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    I'm Sam. Bestselling cookbook author and full-time vegan recipe creator! I LOVE vegan food, but it didn't start that way. As someone who comes from a family of hunters, butchers, and chefs I'm the last person I thought would go vegan. Here's My Story →

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