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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 Panda Express' most popular dish? ›

There's a reason why this dish is Panda's claim to fame. The restaurant's most popular entree is made with crispy boneless pieces of meat combined with the chain's secret sweet yet spicy orange sauce. Almost everyone who walks through Panda's doors orders orange chicken.

What iconic dish was invented by Panda Express? ›

The most famous dish at Panda Express is the Orange Chicken. Inspired by flavors of the Hunan Province in China, Chef Andy Kho developed it in 1987, and it has been a consistent part of the menu ever since.

Is Panda Express Healthy Chinese? ›

"Panda Express can be unhealthy due to the high amount of sodium found in their meals as well as added sugar," says Roxana Ehsani, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Miami, Florida. "Some meals can also be high in total fat, too."

What is Panda Express signature dish? ›

ORANGE CHICKEN

Our signature dish. Crispy chicken wok-tossed in a sweet and spicy orange sauce.

Is Panda Express owned by McDonald's? ›

Is Panda Express owned by McDonald's? No. Husband and wife co-founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng still own and run their privately-held company, The Panda Restaurant Group.

Is orange chicken a real Chinese dish? ›

Orange chicken is called Chinese food in North America, but orange chicken is rarely found in Chinese restaurants in China. Andrew Cherng, owner and founder of Panda Express, said that orange chicken is just a variation of General Tso's chicken, another dish that is almost unknown in China.

What is the original chicken from Panda Express? ›

Why order takeout when you can make your own orange chicken at home? This recipe features crispy chicken coated in a zesty orange sauce, and it's easy to make in your own kitchen!

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.

Can diabetics eat Panda Express? ›

A healthier option from Panda Express includes the nutritious 'Mushroom Chicken' that has just 170 calories and 11 g of total carbs and just 1 teaspoon (4 g) of sugar. Another choice is their 'Black Pepper Chicken' that weighs in at 280 calories and 14 g of total carbs.

What is the healthiest side at Panda? ›

1. Add a side of mixed vegetables (super greens): - A great low-calorie source that is loaded with fiber, vitamins and minerals. 2. Substitute Chow Mein and Fried Rice with Brown Rice: - Brown rice contains extra nutrients, fiber and protein.

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's healthier, chow mein or fried rice? ›

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.

Is fried rice from Panda Express healthy? ›

Not: Fried Rice

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.

What is Panda famous food? ›

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.

What is the highest grossing Panda Express? ›

As of 2007, the company's highest revenue location, bringing in over US$4 million annually, was located at the Ala Moana Center food court in Honolulu, Hawaii. On the ABC News TV program Nightline, April 18, 2011, there was a feature segment on Panda Express and its success.

Why is Panda Express so popular? ›

In 1987, the chain's chef, Andy Kao, introduced the famous Orange Chicken. The first version was served bone-in but nowadays you will find that the dish is boneless. The combination of its good food quality, financial discipline and the boom in the Asian restaurant category brought Panda Express to new heights.

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.

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