Panda Express has an extensive menu and always offers a satisfying and delicious experience, but that doesn’t mean you always want to pay restaurant prices or even drive all the way over there. We have some good new for you – you can still enjoy the very best Panda Express recipes by creating copycat versions right there in the comfort of your own kitchen! Whether you want beef, pork, noodles, chicken, or something else, you’re going to be impressed with all these tasty copycat dishes from the Panda Express menu!
Black Pepper Chicken – Copycat Panda Express
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Make restaurant-style black pepper chicken at home in just 30 minutes with this delicious copycat Panda Express recipe. Satisfy your Asian food cravings with this easy and flavorful stir-fry. Get the Recipe:Black Pepper Chicken – Copycat Panda Express
Wok Seared Steak and Shrimp – Panda Express Copycat
Make this tasty Panda Express copycat wok-seared steak and shrimp dish at home with soy sauce, chili sauce, ginger, and garlic flavors. Impress your friends or enjoy it for lunch or dinner – it’s like an Asian surf and turf with beef and shrimp! Get the Recipe:Wok Seared Steak and Shrimp – Panda Express Copycat
Easy Copycat Panda Express Mushroom Chicken Recipe
Love Panda Express but can’t make it to the restaurant as often as you’d like? This Copycat Panda Express Mushroom Chicken Recipe will cure your craving any time it hits. Get the Recipe: Easy Copycat Panda Express Mushroom Chicken Recipe
Honey Walnut Shrimp – Panda Express Copycat
This Panda Express honey walnut shrimp copycat recipe coats crispy deep-fried tempura shrimp in a tantalizing sweet and savory sauce that’s served with candied walnuts. This will become one of your favorite quick dinner recipes! Get the Recipe: Honey Walnut Shrimp
Let your instant pot get the flavor of Panda Express fried rice on your table in no time. This recipe is easy, tasty and best of all, budget friendly so you can get your Panda fix anytime! Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Fried Rice
Orange Chicken – Panda Express Copycat
Panda Express Copycat Orange Chicken has tender chunks of pan fried chicken that are smothered in a delicious orange sauce that has a kick of heat! The perfect quick night dinner option that’s ready in just 35 minutes! Get the Recipe: Panda Express Copycat Orange Chicken
Broccoli Beef
If you love broccoli beef over rice from Panda, then you have to try this copycat recipe. It is so tasty, and you are going to love how quick this dish comes together for a weeknight meal. Get the Recipe: Broccoli Beef
Kung Pao Chicken
This recipe for kung pao chicken might be even better than what you can get at Panda Express! You are sure to love the flavor of this easy and budget friendly take out fake out! Get the Recipe: Kung Pao Chicken
Vegan Orange Tofu
This 15 minute meal is a perfect vegan option for those nights you want take out, but don’t really want to go out and get it. It is made with simple ingredients for a flavorful and filling meal when served over rice. Get the Recipe: Vegan Orange Tofu
Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork
Use crispy pork belly to make this restaurant quality sweet and sour pork. This tastes even better than what you will get from Panda Express. It is also not too complicated to make on a weeknight for fast, homemade food. Get the Recipe: Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork
Black pepper chicken makes for such a wonderful and easy dinner option. This recipe is loaded with celery to make a healthy one dish meals that tastes even better than an order from your favorite fast food spot. Get the Recipe: Black Pepper Chicken
Chow Mein Copycat
If you can’t resist chow mein from Panda Express, then you need to make this at home, as soon as possible. It is so easy to make on a busy night and it pairs well with chicken, pork, beef or shrimp for a versatile homemade meal. Get the Recipe: Chow Mein Copycat
Mushroom Chicken
Serve this mushroom chicken with zucchini over rice for a homemade meal that tastes even better than what you can get at Panda Express. This is so fresh and flavorful for a fast weeknight meal. Get the Recipe: Mushroom Chicken
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti of xoxoBella is a storyteller, food lover, dog mom and adventure seeker living on the Pacific coast. She shares her passion for recipes, dogs, sustainability, adventures, travel and philanthropy, in hopes of encouraging followers to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places and stand for a cause. Bella lives with Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease.
Bella Bucchiotti is a freelance food, travel, and lifestyle writer for MSN and the Associated Press Wire.
1. The Original Orange Chicken. We doubt anyone will be surprised to see The Original Orange Chicken in the number one spot. In fact, at every Panda Express we've ever been to, the dish is served from a bowl on the counter that's nearly twice the size of all the others.
Long Grain Rice – If you're going for fluffy, not sticky, then long grain is the way to go for fried rice like Panda Express! Medium grain or jasmine are okay substitutes to use, but short grain should be avoided.
Panda prepares its entrees fresh with shared cooking equipment and therefore allergens could be present in any entrée. No MSG added except for that naturally occurring in certain ingredients.
Unfortunately, if it's a nutritious meal you're on the hunt for, this one isn't it. "Panda Express's Orange Chicken and Chow Mein are considered unhealthy due to their high levels of sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fats," says Young.
So what's the healthier order, fried rice or lo mein? Short answer: lo mein. Yes, both dishes usually come slathered in sauce, but the rice offers the unfortunate double-whammy of being fried in oil first.
This side dish is high in almost every category, with 510 calories, 20g total fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 80g carbohydrate, 13g protein, and 860mg sodium. (Fried rice is a close second, with similar nutrition info.)
Or the nutrition side of things? Fried rice has 570 calories (extra calories are from fat) and 900mg sodium. However, chow mien has fewer calories of 400, but a huge amount of sodium 1,060mg! Another thing that you could look at would be the number of vegetables in each dish perhaps.
Why is meat in Chinese restaurants always very tender? Generally because the meat is first partially cooked after a process called 'velveting', wherein the meat is first stirred with a combination of ingredients… typically cornstarch, water, a little rice wine, and sometimes soy sauce and egg white, plus a little oil.
Why is Panda Express chicken so soft? Chinese restaurants use a cooking technique called velveting. One method is to marinate the meat with cornstarch to create a moist, velvety soft texture. Another method is to coat the meat in baking soda for about 20 to 30 minutes, rinse, and use in the recipe as directed.
The typical Panda Express store uses 25 holding wells, each about 12 inches in diameter. These holding wells keep food hot by use of an open-loop system that applies a certain level of conductive power to heat water and create steam beneath each well.
Panda Express entrees and sides contain zero grams of trans fat per serving and adds no MSG in their food. Panda Express uses only 100% pure soybean oil in the preparation of recipes.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer often added to restaurant foods, canned vegetables, soups, deli meats and other foods. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that's generally recognized as safe. But its use is still debated.
Although fried rice is a Chinese restaurant favorite, it actually tops the list of the highest-calorie side dishes on the menu. Further, the sodium for this side alone is 37 percent of the daily recommended maximum.
Pandas subsist almost entirely on bamboo, eating from 26 to 84 pounds per day. Though solitary animals, pandas still communicate with one another through vocalization and scent marking.
Panda Express is often the first taste of Chinese culture and food for many people across the country and we take pride on delivering American Chinese cuisine innovation and ability to create authentic, yet approachable Chinese-inspired dishes to our guests.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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