13 Panda Express Recipes for Chinese Food Fans (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular dish at Panda Express? ›

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.

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.

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.

The best part of this Panda Express Chow Mein is it isn't even hard to make. There are only a few ingredients and really just a couple of steps. The one thing you want to do is be sure to use Yakisoba noodles. They are the same in texture and flavor and when looking for an exact copycat, that is pure gold!

"Panda Express's Orange Chicken and Chow Mein are considered unhealthy due to their high levels of sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fats," says Young. The Chow Mein and Orange Chicken is packed with: Calories: 1,000. Total fat: 43 grams.

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.

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.

Over the course of 45 years, college sweethearts Andrew and Peggy Cherng have grown Panda Express from a single restaurant in a southern California mall to a 2,000-location empire around the world. The married couple founded the company in the early 1980s and continues to own and operate every Panda Express themselves.

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.

How does Panda Express get their chicken so tender? ›

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.

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.

Panda Express primarily cooks their dishes in soybean oil. Soybean oil has a mild flavor with no strong taste of its own, making it a versatile choice for cooking and baking as it doesn't overpower the spices, sauces, and aromatics used in a dish.

The biggest difference between chow mein and lo mein lies in the translations of their names: chow mein is fried, and lo mein is tossed. The experience is somewhat different between the two. Lo mein tends to be saucier and more toothsome, with a texture some describe as “slippery” because of the noodles' softness.

Orange Chicken

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.

At the other end of the scale, there's one U.S. state that dwarfs all others when it comes to the number of Panda Express locations: California.

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.

Two options to order: bowl or plate. If you eat a lot, the plate is recommended for you as it goes with 2 entrees and one side. I just get the bowl, for one entree and one side, just enough for me. Whether you order bowl or plate, it is priced just right.