Chicken Chow Mein

  • 15MINS
  • 20MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 359KCAL

This Chicken Chow Mein recipe is a slimming friendly treat for anyone counting calories or following plans like Weight Watchers!

  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
  • Fakeaways pinchofnom.com

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories359
  • Carbs45g
  • Protein33g
  • Fat2.7g
  • Saturates0.6g
  • Sugars15g

Chicken Chow Mein - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

Chow Mein means ‘stir noodle’, or ‘stir-fried noodle’. This Chicken Chow Mein recipe uses egg noodles, chicken and vegetables like carrots, spring onion and mange tout. However, there’s nothing to stop you swapping or adding any meat or veg you want.

This Chicken Chow Mein is a quick and simple dish. Perfect after a busy day or just when you don’t fancy making anything too complicated.

You’ll need a few Oriental basics for this recipe, like dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, oyster sauce and Chinese five spice. But if you’re on a slimming plan and are a fan of our Chinese Fakeaways, you’ll have a cupboard full already!

If you’re a fan of Asian inspired dishes, it’s well worth checking out some of our other recipes!

What diets is this Chicken Chow Mein suitable for?

You can enjoy this Chicken Chow Mein if you’re dairy free.

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

You can also make this dish vegetarian by swapping out the chicken for a meat substitute such as Quorn, and swapping the Oyster Sauce for a veggie alternative.

Do you need any special ingredients to make Chicken Chow Mein?

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You don’t really need anything special to make this Chicken Chow Mein. A few classic spices and sauces that are used in many of our Chinese recipes add the flavour to this dish.

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

Swap This

Swap the chicken for another meat, or any veg you like.

NEW TIP
Change it up!
My family aren’t keen on egg noodles so we swapped out for vermicelli and it was just as delicious!
NEW TIP
Absolutely delicious!
When cooking chicken with soy sauce etc I found the liquid evaporated quickly so I added a few tbsp of water so it didn’t dry out.
NEW TIP
Hint:.
Chop up all the vegetables the night before so it’s even quicker to cook if your a full time working mamma!
NEW TIP
So easy to make and the result as good as a takeaway
Added a tsp of chilli flakes for an added kick.
Delicious will serve 6 easily.
I used straight to wok noodles to save cooking dried noodles.
chicken chow mein
I change the chicken to Quorn chicken pieces for vegetarian which will be lower in cals
No chicken chow mein
I swapped the chicken for salmon which works amazing with this chow mien a fave in our house
Great! Would have been happy if this was delivered
Add more oyster sauce and soy sauce if you prefer it a bit saucier
Fabulous treat, tastes just like take away 😋
As this is a stir fry I made sure I had all the ingredients pre prepared.
Had this before and it was so tasty.
We substituted Chicken for Pork as we had some to use up and it was just as tasty
Super simple and easy to make
I made this using sear/saute in my 9 in 1, and it was really quick and easy to make
So easy to make and delicious
Throw whatever veg you've got in. I bulked this out to make 6 portions
Gorgeous. One of my go to meals. Love it!
I think any meat could be used in this meal. The spices make it all taste soooo good! 💖
We swapped the normal noodles with low calorie noodles resulting in the total calories being so much lower but still tasting amazing!
This comes very close to the real thing but without the guilt. I always try and make it interesting for the kids so gave them chopsticks to eat the meal with. They had loads of fun watching YouTube videos on how to use them & eventually ate the lot.
I used Beef instead of chicken, added paprika
I used low calorie oil spray for half of the oil needed and sesame oil for the other half to give it the nutty taste. I add extra sliced peppers and mushrooms and whatever veg I have at the time to make plenty of extra portions & reheat the next day
Better than the Chinese takeaway!
I made this as my partner fancied a Chinese takeaway, I added water chestnuts for extra crunch and served with home made salt and chilli chips and curry sauce 585 cals for the lot!
Prawn Chow Mein
Quick & easy family favorite, so versatile, changed the chicken for prawns. Absolutely gorgeous.

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

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‘Full of flavour. Have never used tinned bean sprouts before but they worked a treat. Nice little crunch to the noodles. Better than a takeaway and so quick to make. A winner all round’

Vicky Harman

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You’ll also need is a good wok. There are plenty like this one on Amazon.

You could even buy a few takeaway containers from Amazon for that authentic takeaway experience (although we have a fair few leftover from our pre slimming days!).

How many Calories are in this Chicken Chow Mein?

Each portion of this Chicken Chow Mein is 359 calories. This means it falls into our Everyday Light recipe category. You can find all of our other Everyday Light recipes here.

This Chicken Chow Mein is a great alternative to the oily takeaway version if you’re following a calorie controlled diet. Just 1 portion from the takeaway can be as many as 1100 calories! It also fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Mist a wok with low calorie cooking spray and fry the onion, ginger and garlic and carrots until you can smell the aromatics.

Step 1 pinchofnom.com

Step 2

Add the chicken breast and continue to cook on high until the chicken begins to brown. This should take around 5 minutes.

Step 3

Add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, sweetener, black pepper and Chinese five spice and stir well. Continue to cook the chicken on high for 8-10 minutes whilst you cook the noodles.

Step 4

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.

Step 5

Add the peppers, mange tout, spring onions, and water chestnuts and turn down to a simmer. Cook for another 3-5 minutes depending on how crunchy you like your veg.

Step 6

Stir through the noodles, and beansprouts and serve!

Chicken Chow Mein - Pinch of Nom Slimming RecipesWhat should you serve with Chicken Chow Mein?

This recipe is a full meal on it’s own, it doesn’t need to be served with anything! However, you could make a few different dishes and have a little from each for a fakeaway feast!

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Whatever you choose, don’t forget to account for any extra calories and/or other nutritional values.

How do you know when Chicken Chow Mein is cooked?

The chicken pieces will be browned on the outside and white all the way through. The vegetables will be softened but will still have a little bit of bite. There shouldn’t be lots of liquid, but the veg and chicken will be coated.

This should take approx 20 minutes on the hob on a high – medium heat.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Chicken Chow Mein in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any left overs to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftovers of Chicken Chow Mein in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze Chicken Chow Mein?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

  • Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat Chicken Chow Mein?

From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.

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Chicken Chow Mein

This Chicken Chow Mein recipe is a slimming friendly treat for anyone counting calories or following plans like Weight Watchers!
  • Prep Time
    15 MINS
  • Cook Time
    20 MINS
  • KCals 359
  • Carbs 45G

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts cut into chunks
  • 4 nests egg noodles
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
  • 1 tsp garlic minced
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 1 red pepper cut into slices
  • 1 green pepper cut into slices
  • 1 large carrot cut into slim batons
  • 150 g mange tout chopped in half
  • 200 g tinned water chestnuts
  • 200 g tinned beansprouts
  • 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar or the juice of a lime
  • 1 tsp granulated sweetener or sugar
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp Chinese five spice
  • 1 bunch spring onions chopped finely
  • low calorie cooking spray

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

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Instructions

  1. Mist a wok with low calorie cooking spray and fry the onion, ginger and garlic and carrots until you can smell the aromatics.
  2. Add the chicken breast and continue to cook on high until the chicken begins to brown. This should take around 5 minutes.
  3. Add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, sweetener, black pepper and Chinese five spice and stir well. Continue to cook the chicken on high for 8-10 minutes whilst you cook the noodles.
  4. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
  5. Add the peppers, mange tout, spring onions, and water chestnuts and turn down to a simmer. Cook for another 3-5 minutes depending on how crunchy you like your veg.
  6. Stir through the noodles, and beansprouts and serve!

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

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30 comments

See what others have to say

ClaireSaturday 25th February 2023

This might be a silly question but here goes, can I freeze the noodles along with the veg and chicken or do you just freeze the veg and chicken?

Reply

    SharonMonday 27th February 2023

    Hi Claire, you can freeze our Chicken Chow Mein, including the noodles. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

    Reply

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