Quick meals are our favourite thing. After an early wake up, possibly a workout, and maybe a long day of work, who wants to come home and then prepare a meal for the next hour? We know that we don’t want to do this. All we want to do is pick up the phone and call for some delicious takeout. However ordering takeout also means spending your hard earned money. This is a dilemma we deal with, almost weekly.
We decided to fix this dilemma, how can we have quick and easy takeout while not spending money? Make vegan takeout at home! We know, we know, the point of ordering takeout is so that you don’t have to spend time cooking. But what if we could tell you that making vegan takeout at home is ready for you to eat before your takeout could be delivered? Yep, it’s true. (Is this blog post starting to sound like an infomercial?)
This Vegan Chow Mein is the fourth and final part of our vegan Chinese takeout series. We first showed you how to make a super easy and delicious Vegan Fried Rice, then we reviewed a local Toronto vegan Chinese takeout restaurant called King’s Cafe, and finally we brought you the most delicious Vegan Sesame Tofu. Talk about a great series.
The best part about this Chow Mein recipe is how simple it is. One of the key components of Chinese food is its simplicity. Allowing the flavours of the few key ingredients we choose to really shine. This recipe truly embodies this. The mix of delicious vegetables and crispy noodles is the perfect punch of flavour with every bite.
This recipe can be put together in just about 25 minutes from start to finish. Can there be a dinner that is this delicious that is any quicker? We think not.
Vegan Classic Chow Mein
Ingredients
- 1 pkg chow mein noodles
- 2 small bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 cup snap peas
- 2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 3 stalks green onions, chopped
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Prepare your noodles according to the package of noodles you bought and set aside.
- Start by chopping all your vegetables. You want to thinly slice your bell peppers and carrots, and add them a bowl along with your snap peas.
- Chop up your green onions and add to another bowl. Set aside.
- In wok heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil on high heat. Once heated add your bell peppers, carrots, and snap peas and cook until just slightly soft, about 5-6 minutes. Make sure to toss them around a bit to avoid burning.
- Once your vegetables have softened add your bean sprouts and green onions and toss. Cook for about a minute until slightly soft.
- Remove vegetables from your pan and into a bowl.
- Add your remaining 1 tbsp of sesame oil to your wok and allow to heat up. Add in your prepared noodles to the pan and all to cook until they are a little bit crispy. Cook them for about 10 minutes, tossing from time to time, in order to get a nice amount of crisp on some of the noodles.
- Add your soy sauce and maple syrup and toss to coat. You may need a bit extra depending on the size of your noodle package.
- Add your vegetables back to your pan with your noodles and toss to incorporate all together. Once everything has been heated through again, your noodles are done.