Vegetable Chop Suey is an American Chinese dish filled with vegetables in a salty, starch-thickened sauce served over crunchy, fried chow mein noodles or rice. If you like saucy Chinese-inspired dishes, you will love this meal.
This was the one and only Asian style dish that my mother ever made when I was a child and it was one of my favorite meals. We have always served it over crunchy chow mein noodles, so that is how I usually make it for my family and what is shown in the pictures. However, there are many ways to make vegetable chop suey or chow mein. They're all a variation of vegetables cooked in a light brown sauce served over rice or noodles, or with the noodles mixed in.
Chop Suey is a great meal for using up whatever vegetables that you have in the house. You can make it different every time with whatever you have available.
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🍜 Chop suey vs. chow mein
Both of these dishes are Americanised meals inspired by Chinese-style cooking. There are so many variations of these dishes it is hard to determine a major difference between chop suey and chow mein. From what I can decipher, chop suey usually has a starch thickened sauce and chow mein has a thinner soy sauce base. Lo Mein is also very similar, but the sauce is thinner and vegetables are always mixed with noodles.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's easily made gluten-free.
- This recipe is versatile and can be made with any vegetables.
- Its saucy, delicious, comfort food that the whole family will love!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Vegetables - your choice of any of the following...
- onions
- carrots
- celery
- bean sprouts
- water chestnuts - highly recommended for a nice crunch!
- baby corn
- bamboo shoots
- mushrooms
- bell peppers
- broccoli
- snowpeas
- Vegan Butter - or neutral-flavored oil.
- Salt and Pepper - for flavor.
- Vegetable Broth - or water to make the sauce.
- Soy Sauce - to flavor the sauce and add saltiness.
- Water - to make the sauce the right consistency.
- Sugar - to sweeten the sauce a little. You can leave it out if you want.
- Corn Starch - to thicken the sauce. You can also use potato starch or arrowroot if you wish.
- Rice, Noodles /Chow Mein Noodles/ Rice - whichever you choose to serve the chop suey over.
🥄 Chop suey instructions
- Wash and chop onions, celery, water chestnuts, and carrots or any other vegetables of choice.
- Add vegan butter or oil to a large skillet, put in diced onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until the onions become translucent.
- Toss in the celery, carrots, bean sprouts, or any other vegetable that you wish, add 1 cup of water or vegetable broth and turn up the heat to medium and cover. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes until the veggies become just barely tender.
Thicken the sauce:
- Put 1/3 cup cold water 1 1/2 tbsp potato starch, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tsp of sugar in a small bowl and stir well.
- Pour over the cooked vegetables and stir well and heat until it thickens the sauce.
- Serve over rice, noodles, or chow mein noodles.
🌟 Variations
- Serve the chop suey over rice or your choice of noodles.
- Toss the noodles in with the vegetables and sauce for more of a lo mein type meal.
- Add tofu or vegan chicken strips along with the veggies for a more filling meal.
- Serve with crispy tofu on top or on the side for a delicious crispy protein.
🥄 Chow mein instructions
To turn this dish into a vegan chow mein, simply leave out the starch or reduce the starch to only 1 tsp to make a thinner sauce.
Serve this with some authentic tasting vegan egg drop soup or vegan lettuce wraps for a complete meal!
🌟 More Asian inspired dishes
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
An easy vegan chop suey recipe that can easily be made into vegetable Chow Mein or lo Mein as well.
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup bean sprouts or 1 can bean sprouts (drained)
- 1 8 oz can water chestnuts sliced or diced
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter neutral-flavored oil
- 1 cup vegetable broth or hot water
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 1/2 tablespoon corn starch or potato starch of 2 tbsp arrowroot
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos for gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups chow mein noodles or rice or any noodles of choice
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Wash and chop 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 cup celery, 1 cup bean sprouts, 1 cup water chestnuts, and/or any other vegetables of choice.
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Add 3 tbsp vegan butter or oil to a large skillet, put in diced onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until the onions become translucent.
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Toss in the celery, carrots, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, or any other vegetable that you wish, add 1 cup of water or vegetable broth and turn up the heat to medium and cover. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes until the veggies become just barely tender.
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Put 1/2 cup cold water 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp of sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl and stir well.
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Pour over the cooked vegetables and stir well and heat until it thickens the sauce.
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Serve over rice, noodles, or chow mein noodles.
Variations of vegan chop suey
- Serve the chop suey over rice or your choice of noodles.
- Toss the noodles in with the vegetables and sauce for more of a lo mein type meal.
- Add tofu or vegan chicken strips along with the veggies for a more filling meal.
- Serve with crispy tofu on top or on the side for a delicious crispy protein.
How to make vegetable chow mein
To turn this dish into a vegan chow mein, simply leave out the starch or reduce the starch to only 1 tsp to make a thinner sauce.
