Lo mein might already be one of your go-tos when ordering Chinese takeout. Skip spending money and make this dish at home in only 30 minutes!
If you enjoyed this lo mein recipe, you’ll love the Best Beef Stir Fry Recipe.

Lo Mein
If you haven’t tried lo mein before, you are probably wondering what the heck it is. In short, lo mein is a stir-fried noodle dish. Long, soft egg noodles are tossed with a savory and sweet sauce and either beef or chicken. The end result is a bowl of slurpy deliciousness!
You have probably heard of lo mein’s close cousin “chow mein”. Wondering what the difference is between the two? Lo mein is a dish of soft noodles tossed in a thick sauce. Chow mein, on the other hand, calls for a longer frying time to make the noodles crispy. Both are delicious and super easy to make!
Lo Mein Sauce
Sweet, savory and rich, lo mein sauce is oh-so comforting. It’s also VERY easy to make. My interpretation only requires brown sugar, beef broth and soy sauce. You simply bring all the components to a boil together and just like that, you have a homemade lo mein sauce.

What Meat Goes with Lo Mein?
- Beef: Flank steak, skirt steak, ribeye or top sirloin will all work great in this recipe. Whatever cut you choose, make sure the beef achieves a nice golden color. It will have so much flavor.
- Chicken: If you are going to opt for chicken, use boneless breasts. Skip the browning step, but still slice the chicken into two-inch pieces. When sauteeing your chicken slices in your sauce, make sure to cook them all the way through!
Lo Mein Noodles
Most grocery stores will carry lo mein noodles in the Asian aisle. You can find these wheat and egg based noodles dried or fresh. If you get lucky, you will find fresh lo mein noodles in the refrigerated section (sometimes in the produce aisle, sometimes in the Asian aisle). These will allow you to skip the boiling step entirely, as they are already cooked!
If you can’t find dry or fresh lo mein noodles, don’t panic! I often use spaghetti noodles when I am in a pinch. They work great and don’t sacrifice taste!

Lo Mein Ingredients
- Noodles: Any egg noodles will work. Try to snag authentic lo mein noodles, but like I said above, spaghetti noodles will work also.
- Sesame Oil: If you don’t already have sesame oil on hand, grab some! It is a key ingredient in most Asian cooking. It adds a toasted, nutty flavor to dishes. You will toss your cooked noodles in sesame oil to prevent them from sticking while you prepare the rest of your lo mein components.
- Better than Bouillon (Beef flavor): This broth concentrate is a game changer! It has an amazing beef flavor and has become a staple in my kitchen. You will use it to make a beef broth that will serve as the base of your lo mein sauce.
- Soy Sauce: You can’t make Chinese food without soy sauce! Soy sauce will elevate your broth and give it that signature Asian flavor.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds the necessary thickness to your sauce. Chinese sauces almost always contains brown or white sugar for this reason!
- Garlic: Lo mein calls for fresh garlic. Don’t use garlic powder or marinated garlic if you can avoid it. The fresh stuff makes all the difference!
- Veggies: For my interpretation of lo mein, you will use carrots, onions and broccoli. Carrots and broccoli are perfect for stir-fry, as they keep a nice bite and provide a perfect contrast to soft lo mein noodles. You can also add bell peppers.
Storing Lo Mein
Store your lo mein in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last for 3-5 days! Bonus: The sauce gets richer as it marinates in the fridge. Can you say BOMB leftovers?!
Other Asian Recipes to Try
- Simple Yakisoba Noodles Recipe
- The Best Beef Stir Fry Recipe
- One Pot Beef & Broccoli Recipe
- George Foreman Grill Recipes
- Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz noodles (cooked according to instructions)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup hot boiled water
- 1 tbsp Beef Better Than Bullion
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- oil (olive or sesame) for frying
- 1 lb beef
- 2 large carrots
- 2 cup broccoli
- 1 large onion
- 4 garlic cloves
Instructions
- Into hot, boiled water add Better Than Bullion and brown sugar; stir to dissolve. Into the mixture, add soy sauce and set aside.
- Dice carrots, broccoli and onion into two-inch pieces. Pre slice beef into very thin strips. Using a hot skillet with sesame oil, cook beef until it's golden brown, remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Using the same skillet that was used to cook beef, sautee onions until golden brown with sesame oil. Remove from the skillet. In the same skillet, saute carrots until softened, add broccoli and cook for about three minutes. Press garlic into the same mixture.
- Add cooked beef into the skillet with vegetables. Pour sauce over the ingredietns and let them simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Add cooked noodles and toss everything together.
- Into a large dish, combine noodles, vegetables and beef. Toss to bring everything together and serve while it's still hot.
Where are the instructions?
They are under ingredietns, just keep scrolling, you will also see step by step photos.
This is so yummy...and u can tweak it with what you have...thank you so much
Tracy, yes definitely adjustable with ingredients in this dish. Thank you for saying hi! 🙂
In your list of ingredients you say oil for frying. In your directions you say to use sesame oil but you don't say how much. Sesame oil can be very strong and I don't want to overdo it. How much sesame oil for frying the beef and how much for sauteing the onions. Thank you
My new fav. So simple, easy. Even my mother-in-law, whose staying with us from Western Africa, loved it too. Getting ready to make it again tonight 😁👍
If you can your mother-in-law's approval, that's the best compliment you can ever ask for! 😉 I am so happy you all love it! (try japchae too, I love that one too)
How many servings in this awesome recipe! Thanks!
This beef lo mein makes 6 servings.
Holy Moly. This dish was fantastic!!! I mean, we all loved it so much, and can't wait to eat the leftovers! It was SO flavorful and oh-so-delicious! I will never order this as takeout again, because what I made was way better! Lol! (I made exactly like the recipe... Flank steak, Beef Better than Bullion, same lol mein noodles, etc.) And it was very easy to put together.
Barbara, I use sesame oil because I love the flavor of sesame. But you can omit that and use olive oil for frying and sesame in the sauce only. You really dont need much for frying, just enough to drizzle the pan.
How much water do u add with the brown sugar
1/4 of a cup of water.
What did you use the sesame oil for?
Use Sesame oil for frying veggies and beef.
What cut of beef do you recommend for this dish?
Flank works amazing for this recipe. But really you can use bay cut as long as you slice the beef very thin.
You don't say how to cook the meat.
Hey Jeff, see step 2. Using a hot skillet, cook beef until it's golden brown, remove from the skillet and set aside.
Can you use rice noodles instead?
Rice noodles would have completely different texture. You can use them but they would overlook much quicker, so keep that in mind. If you can you lo mein noodles or spaghetti work well for this recipe too.
I used rice noodles and cooked them first to almost done then put them in mixture.
Was delish and easy
I used chicken
Susan this is such a useful feedback. Thank you! A lot of people asked if they can use rice noodles!
I had this recipe saved to my Pinterest for a couple years now, and I had recently made it and wanted to make it again tonight. But it seems completely different. I'm very confused, would you know about that?
Hey Emily. We updated photos and added more details to the recipe. Ingredients and recipe process stayed very similar, only easier! 🙂 you will love this version even more!
This looks exceptional and not too expensive. I have printed the recipe and am going to try my hand at this. Thank you and have a great day. Regards Sherrie
Sherrie, I hope it becomes your favorite! Enjoy it! 🙂
Just made this delicious meal tonight!! My husband loves it! Definitely keeping this recipe 😉 thank you for sharing!!
Hey Rachel, I am so so happy you love the recipe. Hope you will try a few other recipes on the blog as well! 🙂
Is the nutrition info somewhere for this?
Jenny, We were able to add nutrition facts to the recipe.
Can you use ramen noodles for this? I have a bunch of packages that my husband bought at BJ's that haven't been used and thought this might be a good way to use them.
I wouldn’t recommend using ramen noodles. They don’t have as much texture. This recipes works great with spaghetti noodles as well. I think you will like results more with spaghetti or lo mein.
Can I use veggie better than bullion?
Yes, that would work just as great.
Can this be made ahead of time? I need to make ALOT of it.
Yes, it can be made ahead of time. Depending on the way you plan to reheat or keep it warm, you may need to add more sauce to it before serving. Can you tell me about the event? I would love to give you more tips.
Why does my meat always turn out chewy and rubbery everytime i make it? I used beef eye of round.
I am wondering if you are over cooking the meat. Maybe try flank steak next time?
Just made this for the first time tonight. It was wonderful and such a good recipe. So satisfying on a cold blustery rainy night. I too added bell peppers in it-was really, really good. This one is definitely a keeper in my recipes.
Glad you loved this recipe. We have been making this for two weeks straight 🙂
It's gonna be tonight's dinner.
So awesome!!! I hope you love it 😉
Just made this delicious meal!!!
Super yummy
Natasha thanks so much for sharing-I don't know why I didn't try this recipe earlier.
Totally love it!
Yeah, I haven't made it in a while but this is one of my all time favorite recipes. I want to try it with other noodles to make it a bit healthier, we will see how it goes 🙂
Just found this recipe and yay!! I can finally make lo me in. I cook all the time and I am a really good cook until it comes to anything Asian. Never seem to get it right. It's a running joke at my house. Oh no moms going to try to make stir fry call dominos! Thought I would give this a try anyway and it is fantastic!! Ha! My daughters loved it even. They were amazed! Thank you so much for this recipe it's quick and easy. Absolutely delicious!
Dani, you are so funny about Asian food 🙂 I haven't made this recipe in a while. Have really been craving it 🙂 I am happy you guys loved it.
this looks so super yum-o-lish. i like to have sauce
on hand to whip up something fast if needed. how long do you think the fridge life is for your super sauce?
I don't really know cuz garlic is fresh. I would suggest making it fresh everytime.
Hi Natalya! I made this once before and it's what my bro calls is a bomb taste. Mom purchased noodles at cash and carry today. I use the steamer to prepare the noodles and will add whatever veggies I have. I call it Panda Express at a fraction of a cost. Very simple ingredients but is a crowd pleaser. I just couldn't pass by without saying thank you for such an amazing recipe!!!
Oh, so sweet! Thank you for sharing with me. I am so happy you loved it!
I would like to make this with shrimp instead this time. Do you think that will work?
Yes, it definitely be amazing! Just bevareful don't over cook the shrimp.
What kind of meat cut....? This looks so good I'm going to make tomorrow. Hopefully it comes out great. ...
Serlion works great, but I also love flank
I'm 13 and I made this dish super easy and very yummy
Oh my goodness! If you cook this type mals at 13 I am in WOW!!! You have totally made my day.
hi could you tell me what beef better than bullion is so i can find something in nz to swap with, cheers
Any of the seasoning bullion would work. I do like the beef bullion the most.
Made this today and it was so delicious!
Oh hi Jay, so awesome that we got to be part of your dinner. It makes me happy that you loved it. 🙂