Chicken Chow Fun

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Chicken Chow Fun is an easy rice noodle dish to make at home. The flavorful noodles are made with colorful veggies and super tender chicken making this the perfect weeknight meal!

Chicken Chow Fun in a plate and a pair of chopsticks beside it.

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Ingredients
Substitutions and Variations
How to Make Chicken Chow Fun
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
Check Out More Chinese Recipes
Chicken Chow Fun

This recipe is inspired by my dad’s beloved beef chow fun recipe except I swapped the protein and added different veggies. This Chicken Chow Fun has wok hei, yet tastes lighter and healthier than the ones you get at restaurants. Nonetheless, the recipe is super delicious and uses less oil and MSG.

This is one of my favorite healthy noodles dishes on my blog. If you’re looking for more noodle recipes, check out my Delicious Noodle Dishes blog post.

Ingredients

Here’s a look at what you need to make this Chicken Chow Fun. There are two steps in making this dish. First we will marinate the chicken, then we will get all the ingredients together for a quick stir fry! The highlights are here but the full ingredient list and quantities of each are in the recipe card.

Chicken Marinade

Chicken breast, olive oil, water, salt, sugar, ginger, and cornstarch laid out on the table.

Chicken Breast – super lean chicken is used for this dish to maintain a light flavor. The chicken is also super soft from the marinade, but feel free to use chicken thigh!
Ginger – this cancels out the gaminess of the chicken flavor. Make sure it’s sliced very thin so you’re not eating chunks of ginger when you eating the stir fried rice noodles.
Seasoning – Soy sauce, salt, sugar, and chicken bouillon is used to ensure that the chicken is flavorful!
Tenderizer – we will use cornstarch, oil and water that gives the chicken that tender and soft texture.

Marinated chicken, white onion, bean sprouts, celery stalk, bell pepper, avocado oil, chow fun, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce laid out on the table.

stir-fry noodles:

The chicken chow fun rice noodles will cook quickly, so get all you ingredients out as we cook all of it on high heat!

Marinated Chicken – the chicken should be marinated at least 30 minutes to ensure the chicken is savory and soft. You can also marinate it overnight.
Vegetables – I added bean sprouts, onion, bell pepper and celery. I love the crunch they add to this dish. You can add mushrooms, Chinese chives, bok choy, and choy sum (anything you want) to the stir fry!
Chow Fun (cooked flat rice noodles) – these rice noodles are made fresh and sold at the asian grocery store (like 99 ranch or Chinese/Vietnamese grocery). They are soft and can only last a few days in the fridge. When you make the chow fun make sure you separate the noodles by hand. There are no noodle substitutions for this recipe as this will change the flavor of this dish.
Green Onions – Lots of green onions and white onions is what gives the sweet flavor to the rice noodles. Make sure you cut them 4 inches long so it doesn’t burn while cooking.
Soy Sauce and Dark Soy Sauce – don’t be confused, we will need two types of soy sauces: low sodium soy sauce and dark sauce (for color). They are both needed for the flavor and the ‘look’ of chow fun noodles. I recommend buying the dark soy sauce in asian grocery stores like 99 ranch or hmart. It will say ‘dark soy sauce’ on there.

Substitutions and Variations

Swap the protein – You can use shrimp or pork. Make sure that the meats are marinated and are around the same measurement as the chicken so the flavor still remains the same.
Add more vegetables! Add different types of veggies like mushrooms, bok choy, choy sum or even carrots. Keep in mind to not add too many veggies as it would make your rice noodles too soft from the water content.
Noodles – if you can’t find rice noodles, change up the noodles! You can use chow mien noodles (check out my chicken chow mien recipe) or wonton noodles and the dish will still taste delicious!

How to Make Chicken Chow Fun

Thin slices of chicken breast in a bowl.

Step 1. Slice chicken breast thinly.

Chicken breast slices, chopped ginger, cornstarch, salt, sugar, olive oil, and water in a bowl.

Step 2. To marinate the chicken, add sliced ginger, salt, sugar, olive oil, water and corn starch. Mix and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Bean sprouts and sliced bell pepper, white onion, and celery stalk on a chopping board.

Step 3. Chop your vegetables (white onion, bell pepper and celery) and prepare for stir fry.

Marinated chicken breast slices sautéing in a pan.

Step 4. In a high heat pan, add some oil. When the pan is smoking, gently add your chicken in the pan. Be careful of the splatter.

Step 5. Saute chicken for 1-2 minutes until it’s half cooked. Take chicken out of the pan and set aside.

Bean sprouts, bell pepper, white onion, and celery stalk in a pan.

Step 6. Using the same pan with the leftover juices, saute your bean sprouts, celery, bell pepper and onion together for 1 minute.

Chow fun noodles, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce added to the sautéd vegetables in the pan.

Step 7. Add your noodles (remember to separate them beforehand) in the pan. Then, add soy sauce, dark soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir quickly and saute for 1 minute until noodles are softened. Try not to break the noodles a part.

Sautéd chicken breast slices added to the chow fun noodles and vegetables in the pan.

Step 8. Add your chicken back in and mix together. The residual heat will finish cooking the chicken to ensure it is very tender! Garnish with green onions and enjoy while hot!

Chopsticks holding up a mouthful of Chicken Chow Fun.

Expert Tips

Separate the rice noodles by breaking them apart when cooking.
Don’t stir the rice noodles too much while cooking are they break apart. Cooking them too long will also cause them to be mushy and break apart.
Fry the chicken first and set it aside to ensure that it doesn’t get overcooked.

Recipe FAQs

Where to buy chow fun noodles?

I found the chow fun noodles in the fresh noodle section (with pho, korean noodles, etc.) at my Asian market (99 ranch). The noodles are already cooked and are fresh! Before you fry the noodles, make sure you spread them apart so they don’t stick together when cooking.
If you can’t find fresh noodles, you can use these type of package noodles. Keep in mind that you will you need to boil these noodles before stir frying. Cook the noodles until al dente according to package directions for the best chicken chow fun result!

How do I serve this?

You can serve as is! There’s carbs, vegetables and meat in this dish. If you want a larger spread, serve with Mongolian Beef or some Steamed Garlic Eggplant. For dessert, I recommend my mango mochi!

What is the difference between Chow Fun and Lo Mein?

Chow Fun uses wide, flat rice noodles, while Lo Mein uses wheat-based egg noodles. Chow Fun is often stir-fried with a smoky wok char.

Check Out More Chinese Recipes

One Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice – juicy chicken thighs are cooked along with ginger and garlic infused rice all in one pot and served with ginger scallion sauce & sweet chili sauce.
Easy Chinese Chicken and Broccoli – tender pieces of chicken are stir-fried with broccoli florets in a savory sauce made of soy, garlic, and ginger.
Shrimp Pan-Fried Noodles – shrimp and vegetable sauce on crispy & crunchy noodles!