Easy vegetable chow mein

Saucy noodles stir-fried with pretty much any/all of the vegetables in your fridge, perfect for slurping and done in less than 20 minutes? Vegetable chow mein is here to deliver on all of that.

Today, there’s no time for messing around. In South Africa, schools are back after our annual winter break and can I please just tell you about my mixed feelings?! Because I have to say, I am so ready to get back into the swing of things and not hear PlayStation games or YouTube videos or “what can I eeeeaaat?!” for the one millionth time in a day but also, almost 4 weeks of no alarm clock, no lunchboxes and no homework has been pretty blissful. It’s amazing though, the moment my alarm went off this morning, I was back into it. Making breakfast, brushing hair, making beds and making to-do-lists in my head. And once again I feel like there’s not enough hours in the day. But that’s where this bad boy of a recipe comes in.

We all need recipes that we can call on on the days that the kids are screaming at you in the bath, your husband wants to know where the TV remote is and the dog’s barking is driving you mad. Recipes that get dinner on the table in mere minutes. This vegetable chow mein recipe is SO easy you guys, I can’t emphasize it enough. And the beauty of it is that you can literally use any vegetables you want. I often make this when I have half a head of broccoli, a few sad looking mushrooms and a few peppers lying around. Sometimes I add baby corn, other times a few sugar snaps or mange tout manage to find their way in, but it’s really all about what I have to hand. I always have noodles in the pantry for quick, throw-together meals and this chow mein is now right up there.

I used dark soy (all I had at the time) along with a little sesame oil and oyster sauce to create the slurpable sauce and along with the garlic, ginger and chilli, resulted in so much depth of flavour and the kids going “oh yum!” after every bite. This chow mein also makes for pretty delectable leftovers and are particularly delicious eaten late at night while you’re working… just fiy.

Easy vegetable chow mein

Quick and easy vegetable chow mein is the perfect 20 minute weeknight meal, using up all the vegetables you have in your fridge.

4.47 from 13 votes

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Course: Asian, Stir Fry, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 17 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

• 3 spring green onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 2 cups mushrooms thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper de-seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow pepper de-seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 cups broccolini halved lengthwise
• 1 cup sugar snap peas halved lengthwise
• 10 baby corn halved lengthwise
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 300 g egg noodles dry weight, cooked and cooled
• Fresh chopped chillies to serve (optional)

Instructions

• In a hot wok, add a splash of vegetable oil then add the spring onion, garlic, ginger, mushrooms and peppers and stir fry for 5 minutes.
• Add the broccolini, sugar snaps and corn and fry for another 5 minutes until the vegetables are cooked but still firm.
• Add the baby spinach, soy, oyster sauce and sesame oil then stir fry for another 2 minutes to wilt the spinach.
• Add the cooked noodles then toss to combine, Season with lemon juice and more soy if necessary and serve.

Other noodle recipes you’ll love:

Rainbow Asian noodle salad with peanut ginger dressing

Sesame chicken noodle bowls

Pork belly ramen