Instant Pot Lo Mein
Easy Chinese Lo Mein made in the Instant Pot. Everything cooks together in one pot and there is no need to drain water from the noodles. This meal is ready in less than 30 minutes!
Lately I’ve been obsessed with cooking pasta and noodles in my Instant Pot. I love that I don’t have to drain off the water and the noodles come out perfectly cooked.
So far I’ve made Instant Pot Spaghetti, Instant Pot Bang Bang Pasta and Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese.
Chinese lo mein is a stir fried noodle dish that usually requires quite a bit of oil. This healthier version has all the flavors from the original, but without all the oil. For an even healthier option be sure to check out my Garlic Beef Zucchini Noodles which are a low-carb lo mein option.
You add all the ingredients in at once, seal, and cook. When it’s done, the noodles are perfectly cooked and sauced. The vegetables are softer than if you were to stir fry them, but I don’t mind too much because of just how easy this is to make. I recommend sticking to vegetables that take longer to cook and are usually cooked until soft, like mushrooms, bok choy, cabbage, carrots.
This was so quick and easy and we had leftovers for lunch. I also made it again for meal prep.
More Easy Recipes
Instant Pot Lo Mein
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 8 oz linguine pasta, broken in half
- 1 cup snow peas, trimmed
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
Instructions
- Add garlic and sesame oil to the inner pot within your Instant Pot. Set to saute function and when the pot is heated, cook garlic until lightly browned. Spread noodles across the bottom of the pot. Add vegetables on top.
- In a medium bowl, add chicken broth, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine and brown sugar. Whisk until evenly combined. Taste and adjust as needed. Pour sauce into the pot.
- Seal your Instant Pot and set to manual, high pressure, 5 minutes.
- When Instant Pot is done cooking, do a quick release (do not do the natural release as it will cause your food to overcook). When it is safe, remove the lid from Instant Pot. Initially, your noodles will look watery. Stir the noodles several times, breaking up any that may have clumped together during cooking. During this stirring, you should see that the water is quickly evaporating. Stir until all the water is gone. Dish out and serve.
Notes
- The cooking times and measurements are based on the Instant Pot 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker (6 Quart Version).* Ingredient amounts and cooking time may vary for other versions of the Instant Pot.
- The vegetables are softer than if you were to make a stir-fried version. You can use vegetables that take longer to soften or are usually cooked until soft. Carrots, mushrooms, cabbage and bok choy work well.
- *Some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Taste was spot on. I doubled the recipe but it needed more broth as the noodles were not fully cooked. I am gonna do 6 minutes cooking time next time as well. I used frozen broccoli, snow pea, carrot and water chestnut vegetables and if you don’t mind them soft it was good. Overall it was great ?
I’m glad you got it to work for you!
The flavor was very good. The noodles weren’t quite soft enough and the veggies were mush. I would do this recipe but sauté the veggies separate and add to the noodles at the end.
The noodles are supposed to be al dente but you can cook them longer if you want them softer. Thank you for sharing your experience
I found this recipe and am looking forward to trying it during an upcoming kitchen renovation. I do have a question regarding the oyster sauce. I am allergic to all seafood and am unable to use oyster sauce, fish sauce etc. Is there a substitute that you would recommend I use in it’s place?
I would try subbing it with more low sodium soy sauce
question. should this recipe work with the quick pot or any other pressure cooker?
I have only tested it with the Instant Pot. It may work with other pressure cookers but timing may need to be adjusted
great flavor and easy to fix.
I’m happy you like it!
Yum! Made this almost exactly as it says. Followed everything for the sauce and cooked the noodles for 5 minutes. Opened the lid and stirred. I then added a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies and a bag of thawed pre-cooked shrimp. Put the lid back on and set for one minute. Turned out perfectly!! Noodles weren’t over cooked and the shrimp and veggies were hot! So yummy!
I’m so glad you liked it!
Very tasty! Even my picky eaters liked it!
So glad you enjoyed!
I have a few handfuls of frozen precooked shrimp I’d love to toss in with this recipe. Would you recommend adding to IP or just say teeing super quick in a separate skillet and then adding in after?
I would recommend cooking the shrimp in a separate skillet.
Found this recipe looking for lo Mein to use up. Used cabbage, celery carrots as veg. Followed sauce / cooking directions exactly, but after lid off, put the peas on top, closed the lid and let rest up a few min. Result! Garnished w/ green onion, sesame seed, and sriracha for kick. Nice! Thank you for posting this recipe, appreciate the easy accessible instructions and ingredients. ??
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
I dont usually write comments but this tecipe is so good!!! Flavor is spot on (and im Chinese) noodles cooked perfectly. I would love to try to double the recipe because this will not last long!!! Thank you
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I was just wondering if you can use rice wine vinegar instead of shoaxing rice wine? Having a hard time finding it.
adding rice wine vinegar will make the sauce more acidic. A good substitute is pale dry sherry.
I used the sherry! I could not find the shaoxing in my hick town. 🙂
I have it instant pot mini 3qt what would have to do make it work
I have not cooked with a mini before, so I don’t know for sure. But I think if you halve the ingredients it might work
I have a CrockPot Express Multi cooker, do you know how the use of the manual button on the instant pot compares to any button on the crock pot cooker? I would love to try this recipe, but since there is no manual button on the crock pot version, I am afraid I would overcook everything. Thank you!
Sorry I don’t know!
On the Crock Pot Insta Cooker, it’s the “steam” button. Use the + and – to set the minutes.
I made this but my noodles were not cooked enough they were aldenta what did I do wrong thanks
This recipe cooks the noodles but they should be just cooked and not soft. If you prefer softer noodles, I would add another minute to the cooking time. Make sure the noodles are broken in half and spread out before cooking so that they can cook evenly and quickly. If you are using wider noodles they will also need slightly longer cooking time.
At the end, when you’re stirrings the noodles and the water is evaporating, does it have to be on “keep warm”, “sauté” or just use the latent heat that’s in the pot?
it should stay on the “keep warm” function
Do you think you could use rice noodles instead? I have a bunch.
I have not tested with rice noodles but I imagine cooking time and water levels would need to be adjusted and it would not work as a direct substitute.
The flavor of this recipe is DELICIOUS! My only complaint is the veggies turn to mush. I added chicken and onion in the saute phase with no issues at all. I prefer my veggies still a tiny bit crisp, so I am thinking of ways to have fun with this recipe. The sauce will be a staple from here on out though! Thank you so much!
I’m happy you enjoyed the noodles. I warned in the notes section of the recipe box that the vegetables do turn soft. That is why I recommend vegetables that take longer to cook or ones that are naturally enjoyed softened. I also prefer crisper vegetables but it’s much harder to do with the IP unless you cook the vegetables separately, which you can do of course, but it does add more steps to the recipe and prevents it from being a “one pot” recipe.
Can I do this recipe in my normal crockpot!?? Or is it just for the instant pot
this recipe is designed for the Instant Pot
Can this recipe be doubled? Does the cooking time change?
Unfortunately, I have not attempted to double this recipe. If I do, I will update with my results
I tried doubling and it needed a lot more liquid. Got “burn” notice and added another cup of chicken stock. I did get burn notice again but it cooked enough and actually left veggies perfectly cooked so we ate it! But it needed much more liquid
Would it work with frozen veggies and if so any time changes on cooking time? Curious in case I don’t have the veggies in the house one day
I don’t recommend using frozen vegetables because they will break down quite fast and are more likely to be mushy. They also may throw off the cooking time.
Is there an easy way to add chicken?
You can try sauteing the chicken until browned after adding the garlic, and then adding the noodles, vegetables and sauce. I have not tried it this way yet but I’ve done other similar pasta recipes this way.
I would like to add chicken as well. Would the cooking time change if I did?
yes most likely. Unfortunately without testing it, I don’t know what the time change would be
I saute the veggies first then remove. Follow the rest of the recipe as given. Upon quick release reincorporate veggies!
Have yet to try cooking noodles in the instapot but this sounds so fast and simple especially for a noodle dish!
It is super easy, I definitely recommend trying!
Looks delicious! I will have try it in my “Power Pressure Cooker XL”
One question though……..What type of grater do you use to grate the ginger? A regular cheese grater or micro planer?
I use a micro planer so it’s more finely shredded