15 Minute Instant Pot Lo Mein - Healthy Instant Pot Recipes (2024)

Last updated March 3, 2020. Originally posted October 4, 2018 By Susan 8 Comments

Instant Pot Lo-Mein - A 15 minute meal! This healthy Asian inspired dish combines noodles and heaps of fresh veggies in a tasty soy/garlic/ginger sauce. A quick and easy weeknight meal. {Vegan, Vegetarian}

I made this recipe 5 days in a row! Yes, I really had lo-mein for lunch and dinner for a 5 days straight! I just couldn’t help it..the tasty garlic/soy/ginger sauce with noodles and fresh veggies is just so darn good! And easy! You just brown a little garlic in the Instant Pot and then pile in the noodles and veggies (there is an order to the piling –see below) and cook for 5 minutes. Then, boom! You’ve got a healthy Asian noodle bowl of deliciousness.

How to Cook Instant Pot Lo-Mein

1. Sauté garlic in sesame oil in the Instant Pot until it is lightly browned (about 1-2 minutes) Turn off sauté function (by selecting CANCEL). Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, Sriracha and mix thoroughly.
2. Break pasta in half. Add pasta noodles to the bottom of the pot, making sure noodles are covered with liquid. Lay bell pepper, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, and snow peas on top of noodles. Making sure to keep the snow peas on the top.
3. Cook on, high pressure, for 5 minutes. (5 minutes cook time will yield al dente noodles and crisp tender vegetables - if you wish more fully cooked noodles and vegetable set to 6 minutes).
4. When finished cooking do a QUICK RELEASE to release pressure. Using tongs toss noodles to absorb any remaining liquid and break apart any noodles that may have stuck together. Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped green onions and/or sesame seeds if desired.

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I recommend using either dry spaghetti/linguine noodles or Lo-Mein noodles that contain either egg or egg whites.

Some of the Lo-Mein noodles I’ve tried that were made with just wheat flour and did not contain egg/egg white were just too dense to cook in 5 minutes. (Increasing the cooking time isn’t really an option because the veggies would get overcooked)

My preference for this recipe is spaghetti noodles, they seem to consistently work (regardless of brand or ingredients)

To keep things Vegan - opt for spaghetti or linguine noodles (without egg)

Break the Noodles

For best results, break the noodles in half. You can layer them in a criss-cross pattern to reduce possibility of them sticking together.

Customize with your favorite vegetables

Swap out any of the vegetables listed (bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli and snow peas) for other veggies you love or have on hand. Other options might include; bok, choy, spinach, bamboo shoots , baby corn, cabbage, peas, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, celery or scallions.

Layer the vegetables

When adding vegetable on top of noodles to be cooked, keep the delicate vegetables (like snow peas) on the top. Layer the heartiest vegetables (like broccoli and mushrooms) at the bottom.

Recipe Notes:

Important last step

Most likely a few noodles will stick together, but don’t worry this isn’t a problem. Simply use two forks or some tongs to gently work the noodles apart.

Once all noodles have been separated, use tongs to incorporate the veggies into the noodles. Let the noodles sit for a couple of minutes to absorb any liquid. Then serve and garnish with chopped green onions and/or toasted sesame seeds.

Like it spicy?

I love adding a couple of drops of hot chili oil when giving the noodles/veggies their final toss before serving. Hot chili oil is HOT..so a couple of drops is probably all you'll need.

Other Quick + Easy Instant Pot Recipe Ideas you may enjoy:

Instant Pot Spaghetti - an easy dinner just got even easier!

Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken bursting with lemon, garlic flavor!