Is Chow Mein High In Syns? Can I Eat Chicken Chow Mein On The Slimming World?

If you are planning to have a Chinese takeaway or maybe a dinner out, you might be curious as to how many syns a chow mein has on the slimming world?

Chow meins have on average between 5-7.5 syns depending on the type of chow mein you choose and ingredients used, for chicken chow mein your looking at 7.5 syns for a 100g portion which is over half of your daily syn allowance.

We've put together a guide below which will take you through why chow meins are so high in syns, some syn values, syn values of other Chinese meals and a recipe for making your own SW friendly chow mein at home below!

Why Are Chow Meins So High In Syns?

For a 100g serving chow meins have between 5-7.5 syns making them very high syns and consuming nearly half of your daily syn allowance.

This Chinese dish gets its high syn value from the noodles which are often fried in oil, we would also suggest eating this dish in moderation since it can be very high in sodium.

How Much Chicken Chow Mein Can I Have On Slimming World?

Chicken chow mein will have around 7-8 syns on average for a 100g portion, this allows you to have 200g portions before using up all of your 15 syn daily allowance.

Chicken chow mein is typically high in syns because of the oil used during cooking and sauce which can be high in sodium, these noodles are often high in fat too, having up to 7g a portion.

We would suggest having a half portion to try and save some syns.

Syn Values Of Chow Mein & Chicken Chow Mein

Chow mein has varying syns values according to how it is prepared and the protein used in the noodles, to help you compare the syns, we've listed some common values below.

• Chicken Chow Mein, Chinese Takeaway - 7.5 syns.
• Prawn Chow Mein, Chinese Takeaway - 5 syns.
• Char Siu Pork Chow Mein, Chinese Takeaway - 6.5 syns.
• Aldi Slim Well Chicken Chow Mein 550g - 3.5 syns.
• M&S Count On Us Chicken & Vegetable Chow Mein 380g - 13 syns.
• Tesco Chicken Chow Mein 400g - 6 syns for 100g.
• Mug Shot Noodles Chow Mein 45g - 3.5 syns.
• Sainsbury's Chicken Chow Mein 400g - 4.5 syns.
• Slimming World Free Food Salt & Pepper Chicken Chow Mein 550g - SYN FREE.
• Asda Good & Balanced Chicken Noodle Chow Mein 380g - 5 syns.
• Bachelor's Super Noodles Chow Mein Flavour 90g - 11 syns for half.
• Aldi Inspired Cuisine Chicken Chow Mein 400g - 4.5 syns for half.

Chinese Takeaway Syn Values

One of the best parts about slimming world is that you can still enjoy takeaway food without any guilt as long as you can try to fit it into your syns.

We've listed some general syn values of Chinese takeaway items below to help you stay on track, these are all for a 500g portion so you can half if having between two people.

• Battered Sweet and Sour Chicken - 30.5 syns. 
• Szechuan Prawns & Vegetables (550g) - 10.5 syns.
• Sweet and Sour Pork (550g) - 28.5 syns.
• Chicken & Mushroom (550g) - 9.5 syns. 
• Sweet and Sour Prawns (550g) - 28.5 syns.
• Fried Rice with Chicken/Pork/Prawns (550g) - 11 syns. 
• Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables (550g) – 10.5 syns
• Chicken Chop Suey with Noodles (550g) - 9.5 syns. 
• Chicken in Black Beans Sauce (550g) - 7.5 syns. 

Our Best SW Friendly Chow Mein Recipe

If you find Chinese chow mein to be too high in syns, we've got a great low syn recipe for you to check out below which only has 0.5 syns a serving and serves 4 people in total.

Ingredients

• Three garlic cloves.
• Two tablespoons of white wine vinegar.
• Four tablespoons of light sodium soy sauce.
• A small piece of ginger grated.
• 180g of dried egg noodles.
• Can of bamboo shoots.
• 150g of mange tout halved.
• 10 spring onions sliced.
• Four spoons of darker soy sauce.
• One red pepper thinly sliced.
• One large spoon of sweet chilli sauce.
• Pinch of Chinese five-spice.
• Three chicken breasts thinly sliced.
• One spoon of chilli sauce.

Method

1. Start by adding your chicken to a bowl with the light soy sauce, Chinese five spice powder, vinegar, chilli sauce, garlic and ginger then leave the chicken to marinate in it.
2. Next cook the noodles then drain and set aside, spray a large pan then add the chicken with marination and fry on a high heat until browned which is about five minutes, add the veggies and fry again for five minutes.
3. Lastly, add in your noodles and sweet chilli sauce as well as the dark soy sauce, heat through then serve with some thinly sliced chillis.

Last Words

Overall, chow mein is a very high syn Chinese dish due to the oil used during preparing the noodles making it high in fat, this dish is also very high in sodium because of the soy sauce.

This doesn't mean that you can't enjoy a healthy chow mein however, simply choose lean protein sources like chicken breast and prepare the dish at home instead with less oil to save syns.