This healthy, gluten free beef chow mein recipe comes from a collection of budget friendly recipes I created when I challenged myself to spend under $150 (NZD) on healthy, gluten and dairy free food – breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for my family of 5. I did it successfully and this was one of the recipes I used for our dinner that week.
There is quite a few ingredients – but all are necessary to perfect the delicate balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy that makes this beef chow mein taste incredible.
There some ingredients you will see I have included as optional – one is peanut butter. My kids love me adding the peanut butter, it gives it a delicious satay tang, plus they are huge peanut butter fans. However I realise that peanut butter or satay isn’t everyones thing, or you might have peanut or nut allergies, in which case you can easily leave this out.
Gluten free soy sauce – make sure you use gluten free soy sauce to make it gluten free, or I use tamari.
Soy free / coconut free
To make this soy free, you can replace the soy sauce with coconut aminos. To make it coconut AND soy free (yes, we have been there!) you can use fish sauce instead.
This dish becomes budget friendly because you can actually use any meat you like. So grab whats already in your freezer, or whats on special this week! Mince was a great budget friendly option for us this week. Also you can use whatever veggies are in season, buying whats in season saves a lot of money. Broccoli, carrot and cabbage are great winter options. And if the fresh produce is really breaking the bank, then you can opt for frozen veggies instead. Change them up to suit your budget, season and your preferences.
If you make any of my recipes don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram. And if you have any questions about the recipe, or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!
Gluten Free Beef Chow Mein
Ingredients
- 500g mince
- 1 small onion – diced
- 3 cups veggies (I used broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms – capsicum, beans, peas, or any seasonal vegetable works fine)
- 1 cup grated or juliened carrot
- 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
- 100g vermecelli rice noodles
- 3 cloves garlic (finely diced or minced)
- 1 tsp ginger (finely diced or minced)
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- ¼ cup Tamari / gluten free soy sauce (or coconut aminos for soy free)
- ¼ cup maple syrup or other sweetener
- ¼ cup lemon or lime juice
- ⅛ cup rice wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- Optional – ¼ cup peanut butter (highly reccomend!)
- Optional – chilli to taste (we add chilli flakes and chilli oil after serving as our kids dont like spicy stuff!)
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and garlic in the sesame oil. When softened, add the mince. Cook until browned.
- Add the veggies, except the carrot and cabbage. Turn the heat down a little and place a lid on top. Leave for 5 minutes, for the veggies to cook.
- Once the veggies are tender, remove the lid and add the ginger, tamari, sweetener, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and stir through.
- Let the liquid reduce over a meduim heat, stirring often. Once the liquid is thickened (around the consistency of a thick soy sauce) add the peanut butter if using. Stir to combine.
- Cover the rice noodles in boiled water until they are soft – this would usually take about a minute. Drain the noodles well.
- Take the pot with the mince mixture in, off the heat and stir in the rice noodles, cabbage and carrot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the sesame seeds just before serving and optional garnish with fresh corriander and chilli to taste. My kids dont like chilli so we add chilli flakes and chilli oil to our plates after serving.
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