17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (2024)

Panda Express is one of the most popular eateries if you like Asian food but you don’t always want to go to a restaurant to get your Chinese food fix. The following Panda Express recipes are great copycat dishes that you can make quickly and easily at home. Whether you’re in the mood for beef, chicken, pork, noodles, or something else, you’re sure to find something you can’t wait to whip up and enjoy!

Black Pepper Chicken – Copycat Panda Express

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (1)

This post may contain affiliate links, please see the privacy policy for details.

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (2)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (3)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (4)

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

Orange Chicken

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (5)

Panda Express Copycat Orange Chicken is a delicious and crispy chicken that is coated in a sweet and spicy sauce. This healthy orange chicken makes for an easy dinner.
Get the Recipe: Orange Chicken

Instant Pot Fried Rice

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (6)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (7)

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

Eggplant Tofu (Panda Express Copycat)

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (8)

This eggplant tofu is a copycat recipe for the popular dish served at Panda Express! Crispy tofu is tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce.
Get the Recipe: Eggplant Tofu (Panda Express Copycat)

Sweet Fire Chicken

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (9)

Sweet Fire Chicken smothered in an irresistible sweet and spicy zingy sauce that is better (and healthier!) than your favorite Chinese takeout!
Get the Recipe: Sweet Fire Chicken

Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (10)

Drunken Noodles are a Thai food stir fry noodle dish that packs a punch of heat and is loaded with tender chunks of chicken and veggies!
Get the Recipe: Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)

Broccoli Beef

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (11)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (12)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (13)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (14)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (15)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (16)

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

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (17)

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 is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause.

Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts. As well, Bella celebrates her Italian heritage with tasty dishes inspired by her favorite Italian foods. She has been featured in publications such as MSN, Self, Well + Good, New York Post, Salon, and more.

As a social media influencer, Bella can be found on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Since 2015, she has partnered with international brands and Fortune 500 companies. Living with celiac disease and Type 1 diabetes, Bella takes every opportunity to share her experiences with T1D and educate others about these autoimmune diseases.

17 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (2024)

FAQs

What is the most ordered food at Panda Express? ›

A representative from Panda's PR team said that the five top-selling entrées at the restaurant are (drumroll please): Beijing Beef, Broccoli Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Mushroom Chicken, and, of course, the Original Orange Chicken—the dish that Panda Express is credited with inventing.

What oil does Panda Express use? ›

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.

What brand of noodles does Panda Express use? ›

Tools used in the making of this Panda Express Chow Mein recipe: Yakisoba Noodles: These noodles are the perfect (easy find) swap for Panda Express Chow Mein if you're looking online or in the store.

What is the unhealthiest food at Panda Express? ›

"Panda Express's Orange Chicken and Chow Mein are considered unhealthy due to their high levels of sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fats," says Young.

What is the most popular Chinese takeout dish? ›

General Tso Chicken – According to Grubhub, this sweet fried chicken dish is the most popular Chinese food in America. It's also unhealthy, considering that it is deep-fried and the recipe demands tons of sugar.

What do most Chinese people eat for dinner? ›

A typical Chinese's meal usually consists of rice, soup and three to four side dishes. Dishes are made of seasonal vegetables, fresh seafood or bite-size portion of meat or poultry.

What type of rice does Panda Express use? ›

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.

Does Panda Express use MSG in fried rice? ›

Large eggs: While you could omit the eggs to make this vegetarian Panda fried rice vegan, they are a classic fried rice ingredient. I suggest using them! sh*take mushroom bullion: This is my personal touch to add umami flavor to this recipe. You can also use chicken bouillon or a touch of MSG (the restaurant uses MSG).

What does fried rice from Panda Express have in it? ›

Ingredients: cooked white rice, liquid eggs, peas, carrots, soybean oil, green onions, contains less than 2% of: salt, sesame oil, maltodextrin, modified food starch, sugar, onion powder, celery extract, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, soybeans, wheat.

What makes chow mein taste like chow mein? ›

Simple sauce: While chow mein sauce is unbelievably easy to make, it still brings a complexity of flavors to the dish. The careful combination of ingredients like soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce and sugar results in a chow mein sauce that has hints of both savory and sweet notes.

What is the difference between lo mein and chow mein? ›

Actually, the main distinction between these two popular dishes lies in how the noodles are prepared. Mein or mian is simply the Chinese word for noodles. Lo mein means "tossed noodles," while chow mein or chao mian means "fried noodles."

What's the difference between chow mein and chop suey? ›

With chow mein, you cook noodles and add them to your wok of other ingredients, cooking everything together in one pan. However, with a chop suey recipe, you will cook the noodles or rice and other ingredients separately before combining them in a bowl, serving up the noodles or rice with the sauce served over the top.

What state is Panda Express most popular? ›

Why California Has So Many Panda Express Locations. The California origins of Panda Express aren't the only reason the chain has such a big presence there. There's the matter of scale: California is the most populous U.S. state; about 12% of the U.S. population lives there.

Is Panda Express cheaper than McDonald's? ›

Behind Panera in the top meal price spot came Chipotle at $14.34, then Shake Shack, followed by Panda Express at $10.32 per meal, then Wendy's at $9.89, Taco Bell at $9.69, McDonald's at $8.87, and Chik-fil-A at the cheapest.

Is Panda Express better than McDonald's? ›

I thought McDonald's would be a cheaper option while Panda Express is of higher quality and therefore more expensive. But from what I've found, Panda Express offers healthier food, there's more of it, and it's even cheaper! So as you can see, it's not just a matter of McDonald's versus Panda Express.

What percentage of Panda Express sales is orange chicken? ›

Panda Express first introduced its Original Orange Chicken in 1987, and now, the tangy dish makes up one-third of its business.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Msgr. Benton Quitzon

Last Updated:

Views: 6174

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (43 voted)

Reviews: 82% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Msgr. Benton Quitzon

Birthday: 2001-08-13

Address: 96487 Kris Cliff, Teresiafurt, WI 95201

Phone: +9418513585781

Job: Senior Designer

Hobby: Calligraphy, Rowing, Vacation, Geocaching, Web surfing, Electronics, Electronics

Introduction: My name is Msgr. Benton Quitzon, I am a comfortable, charming, thankful, happy, adventurous, handsome, precious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.