Panda Express Chow Mein (Copycat)

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

269 Comments

4.77 from 65 votes
6 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
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Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you’re sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!

Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!Panda Express Chow Mein has been a popular recipe on the blog since the beginning and with good reason. Cabbage, celery and onion sautéed and tossed with Yakisoba noodles in a soy and oyster sauce mixture make for a perfectly recreated food memory. You can take it a step further too and enjoy with my Panda Express Mushroom Chicken (my favorite). Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!zx I think it was a rite of passage as a teenager of the 90s to enjoy a styrofoam container full of this Panda Express Chow Mein, Orange Chicken and Beef and Broccoli. The oily residue on your lips and all over your napkin meant you had just gone for it and gotten the chow mein instead of the healthier white rice or veggies (seriously, who would get the white rice there?)

My go to used to be Potato Chicken, but that got taken off the menu and for the life of me I cannot find a good copycat recipe and I haven’t had it recently enough to try to recreate it from memory. If you want a fan for life, you could point me in the direction of a good copycat recipe of their Potato Chicken! I would seriously love you for it!Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!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!

Sautee veggies, add noodles and add in the soy sauce and oyster sauce. I mean even bottled sauce stir fries take as much work and this is a dish you’ll enjoy much more than that!

About the only place this recipe could go wrong would be with the vegetables. Make sure you slice the onions, cabbage and celery thinly. Put the oil in the pan, set to high. If you have a wok, this would be a perfect time to break it out because woks are made for high heat, fast cooking. The angled sides of a wok help to increase the surface area for browning which speeds up the process significantly!A perfect Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat recipe! The only difference you will find is that it is about half as much oil, so you don't feel so heavy after your meal! Enjoy with my Panda Express Mushroom Chicken Copycat dish!
Let cook for a couple of minutes until it is caramelized a bit. Stir and let more of it caramelize. Add the noodles and toss together. Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce and toss together.

Keeping track of all the Panda Express copycat recipes here on the blog?

As more Panda Express dishes get added to their menu you’ll find the Panda Express Recipe Index that I’ve made of all the recipes on one page updated to reflect new menu items. Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!

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. There are more authentic versions, like these Chow Mein noodles, but for the money and the ease, buy the packages and ditch the spice packets.
Oyster Sauce: This is a unique flavor and ingredient. If you avoid seafood and want another option I recommend Vegetarian Oyster Sauce (made from mushrooms) but I don’t recommend you swap this out for something else altogether. I know sometimes people recommend Hoisin Sauce as a replacement, it would not give you the authentic flavor here if you do that though.
Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except Kikkoman has the best flavor overall and I always recommend reduced sodium.
Wok: Great for high heat, quick cooking. This wok is a great addition to your kitchen if you love cooking Chinese food or stir fries in general.

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Dinner, then Dessert

Panda Express Chow Mein (Perfect Copycat)

Perfect Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat with about half the oil! It tastes exactly like you're eating a combo plate with your favorite side.
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Chinese (sort of...)
Author Sabrina Snyder
Panda Express Chow Mein in bowl with chop sticks
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Ingredients
 

  • 2 packages dry Yakisoba noodles , (cooked without spice packets and drained)
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion , sliced
  • 8 oz cabbage , sliced
  • 2 oz celery , cut into small pieces
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoons oyster sauce

Instructions

  • Slice the onions and cabbage thinly.
  • Cut the celery on a bias thinly as well.
  • Put the oil in the pan, set to high and when the oil is hot add the veggies.
  • Let cook for a couple of minutes until it is caramelized a bit.
  • Stir and let more of it caramelize.
  • Add the noodles and toss together.
  • Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce and toss together.
  • Enjoy with
    Panda Express Mushroom Chicken.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Sodium: 348mg | Potassium: 111mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 14.8mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Keyword: chow mein, copycat recipes, Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat, Panda Express recipes

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Dinner then Dessert TIPS If you are making this Panda Express Chow Mein and you want to recreate more of your favorites but want to take a bit of an easier route, you can look in the grocery store near the soy sauce for pre-packaged Panda Express sauces. I haven’t tried them but I mean they come straight from Panda Express so I would imagine they would be an easy way to have an authentic Panda Chicken dish with these delicious noodles.  Just an idea. I would still make my Mushroom Chicken instead though! 😉

In case you’ve read down this far, here is an original shot of this dish from when it was first pictured on the blog… ah memories! A perfect Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat recipe! The only difference you will find is that it is about half as much oil, so you don't feel so heavy after your meal! Enjoy with my Panda Express Mushroom Chicken Copycat dish!

Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!
Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!
Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!
Panda Express Chow Mein that tastes exactly like you're sitting down at the restaurant eating your combo plate except half the oil and it just takes a few minutes to make!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I made this tonight, but used whole wheat spaghetti noodles and cut the oil by about half. It was very yummy and even my super picky teenage son approved. I did end up basically tripling the sauce because the noodles really soaked it up. 

    Reply

    1. Winning over a super picky teenager is no joke! I take that as a huge compliment!! So glad you all enjoyed it!

      Reply

    1. You can of course use different noodles if you prefer them but it would not be an authentic copycat. The flavors would still be delicious though!

      Reply

  3. TRIED IT!
    I also went through the comments looking for reviews and found that most people that commented were just excited to try it.
    I decided to give it a try because I’ve been obsessed with panda Express chow mein for the past couple months. Idk why lol.
    First try, it came out a little sour. I’m pretty sure I added a smidge too much oyster sauce.
    This last one was better. I was very precise about the sauce measurements and it came out good. It’s not exactly like panda but it’s a good cheaper version of panda chow mein. It didn’t have as much flavor but I am definitely making this again.I mean I ate it all lol. I’d say give it a try?

    Reply

  4. Hello love your website. I haven’t had a chance to try any of the dishes yet but plan to soon as hubby and I are big Panda express fans.

    I just had a few questions. Have you ever tried to make these recipes and freeze them? We are big crock pot and freezer meals and while I understand some of these might not be as good in the crock pot I wouldn’t mind defrosting in the fridge overnight and then cooking it in my Wok later but I wanted to see if you’ve tried it or know anyone who has because I’d love to make some of these in bull and freeze them for some yummy Chinese nights 🙂

    Reply

    1. I haven’t tried any of these in a slow cooker version as I think they would lose a lot of their authenticity to Panda Express but keep your eyes open on the site because I do have quite a few slow cooker versions coming that would fit exactly what you’re looking for.

      Reply

  5. My family loves chow mein and I have tried other more complicated recipes but this one beat them all! I added shrimp to the recipe and it was great, everyone loved it! My only advice is to undercook the noodles a bit since they will continue to cook when you mix them with the other ingredients.

    Reply

  6. so I need to make this dish gluten free. What noodle do you suggest a rice noodle or gluten free spaghetti? Thank you! Btw I made your slow cook pineapple chicken last week it was awesome.

    Reply

    1. Barilla makes a gluten free spaghetti that I know a lot of my GF friends love. You really only need to cook it al dente as it’ll cook the rest of the way after it’s drained. Glad you enjoyed the Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken!

      Reply

  7. Hi, I tried the recipe but it didn’t turn out well, the noodles were a little sticky and it didn’t taste much like Chow Mein at all. Do you know what I could do to make it better? I boiled the noodles first, it didn’t say to but I assumed you did. Also I used mushrooms instead of onion, celery and cabbage but I don’t think that would change much, the noodles were thin and stretchy even though I used Yakisoba noodles. Any suggestions?

    Reply

    1. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out. Did you change the ingredients to the sauce at all? If you’d like, you can email contact @ dinnerthendessert.com and we can try and figure it out.

      Reply

    2. I think the onion adds a lot to the flavor. The mushrooms would alter the outcome as well. I microwaved the noodles. They’re instant noodles so maybe they’re not meant to be boiled? I’m not sure if that would affect the consistency.

      Reply

  8. I couldn’t find the noodles that you specified so I bought the brand “Sun Luck” chuka soba chow mein noodles. They come in a 6oz package. Should I still use two?

    Reply

    1. So sorry this message got snagged in my spam filter! I am sure you made this by now, I hope it worked out! I would use those noodles without concern 🙂

      Reply

  9. Recently made and taste very close to the panda noodle dish. I bought the fresh yakisoba noodles (found in freezer section) and they worked out great. Definite keeper.

    Reply

    1. So sorry, this comment got snared in the spam filter!

      Nope, But they do make vegetarian oyster sauce made with mushrooms if you’d like to experiment with veg options :/

      Reply

  12. This was so good and tastes exactly like Panda Express, but for 1/2 the price! Thank you for posting! Delicious!

    Reply

  14. I just made this and I loved it! It’s really close to the one from Panda Express. Thank you for the recipe :).

    Reply

  15. I made this today and followed the recipe exactly. Its pretty close to panda express’ chow mein and it was delicious! It was very easy and next time I think I will try the chow mein noodles in the Asian aisle at the grocery store. I also made the copycat mushroom chicken recipe and had them together. Yummy! Thanks for the recipes!

    Reply

  16. I have a quick ingredient question. The directions say oyster sauce, but the link takes you to hoisin. Is it really just oyster sauce and the link is an error? Thanks! Can’t wait to try it!

    Reply

    1. Yes! The link changed on me, thank you so much for catching that! 🙂 It is supposed to link you to oyster sauce. I am off to change that now. Using hoisin would be a totally different flavor.

      Reply

      1. OK great! I figured that was what happened. Just wanted to make sure before I ruined it. I just always like to see the brands people use. 🙂 Thanks so much! On the anniversary menu tonight since we’re snowed in!

        Reply

        1. And here I am with a heated blanket on and it is 50 degrees out. I officially won’t complain at all anymore! I hope you have a fantastic anniversary dinner!

          Reply

  17. Sorry folks, but It is really annoying sifting through all of the ‘it looks good’ and’I’m going to try it’ comments. I want to see replies from people who have actually made the posted recipe!!! At least wait until you’ve tried it. Some have said ‘it’s in the oven and smells great. You can’t wait a few more minutes until it’s OUT of the oven to leave a comment. Makes me wonder about comments, period.

    Reply

    1. I have to say I sort of scan comments on blogs too looking for reviews of those who made them. I wish there was a way to sort those! Also I am pretty guilty of responding to all comments because I get so excited people want to talk about the recipe so I made it twice as long. Sorry 🙁 I hope you do try the recipe though, we actually had it for dinner last night with some potstickers and Hoisin chicken. 🙂

      Reply

    2. I had this exact frustration! Also from those who have absolutely no point of reference since this is a “copycat” recipe from a restaurant. I’m sure this is great but not helpful for those who actually want to know if this tastes like the real thing.

      Reply

      1. Yep, my only other option would be to delete them. Then people would be hurt their comments are getting deleted. It’s sort of a catch 22. I want to be inviting and welcoming and of course love hearing people love how the recipes look but getting people to come back and comment after the fact is pretty hard. The best I can offer is that you look on Pinterest for this recipe. Here is a link to one of the pins: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/238831586469839734/activity/tried They have a button for people who have tried it to comment. Also here is the older pin for it before I reshot the pictures with more commentary: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/238831586466147041/activity/tried and if you want a different chow mein recipe I also have this one: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/238831586467332559/activity/tried Hope that helps 🙂

        Reply

  18. I cooked this and the suggested chicken recipe for dinner yesterday And I loved it. I can’t compare it with Panda Express because we don’t have here in Portugal but I couldn’r care less. This was delicious, very easy and quick to prepare and cook and with few ingredients! I jsust didn’t add the celery to the noodles nor the sesame seeds to the chicken because I forgot to buy them. I think regular dry chinese noodles would work fine, no need to buy those yakisoba/ramen noodles. I loved this and surely keep on doing it! I’ll rate 5 stars the chicken recipe too. Só smooth and tasty!

    Reply

    1. Yes regular Chinese noodles would be great, they aren’t the easiest to source in grocery stores here so the yakisoba noodles are an easy substitution. I am so glad you enjoyed them! We make these noodles frequently!

      Reply

  20. This recipe looks amazing! I love that you can use the packets from Panda Express to help make it taste just like it from the restaurant. Yum!

    Reply

  21. We do not have Panda Express around here, but this recipe looks great and makes me wish I did! I love Asian-inspired dinner time meals.

    Reply

  26. That looks delicious. Will be adding that to my menu rotation. It’s always fun to be able to eat the same things we like when we dine out, but save the money and make it ourselves.

    Reply

  27. This looks like a delicious copy cat recipe. I will have to try it on the weekend. I am sure my family will love it.

    Reply

  28. I love love love Panda, so being able to make it at home would be awesome. You need to do the orange chicken next!

    Reply

  32. I’m with you on wishing I had still had my teenage years metabolism. Geez, those were the days weren’t they? This looks fantastic and even better than restaurant dining!

    Reply

  33. This sounds so scrumptious. I like chow mien, and will be glad to make some with less oil. Thanks for the great recipe.

    Reply

  37. Panda Express has surprisingly good chow mein. I’d love to try making this healthier copycat recipe for my family!

    Reply

  40. Panda Express is one of my weaknesses so I can not wait to try this chow mein. I even craved it when I was pregnant with my third child and was known to load up the other two just for a drive thru run!

    Reply

    1. I have to say the first time I saw a Panda drive thru I thought it was a gift the universe for me! Haha. So many times I would have gotten Panda except for the long lines in the store. The drive thrus are awesome!

      Reply

  43. Okay, this is SO weird! I was just searching for a good chow mein recipe when I can across yours!! This is too good to be true. Thank you for the recipe, you just made tonights dinner, super easy for me 😉

    Reply

  44. You pretty much just wrote my teenage years in this post. Sub broc beef for Mandarian chicken. I too miss Suncoast. If this recipe tastes half as good as Panda tastes in my memories, then I shall kiss you.

    Reply

  45. Love this! Panda Express is one of my guilty pleasures, and their chow mein is a must every time. I’ve seen this floating around Pinterest for awhile now, why have I not made it yet?! Your pictures are wonderful, looks even better than what you get at the restaurant!

    Reply

  48. Holy moly! That IS a perfect copycat. It looks just like the stuff I get from Panda Express. Yummo!

    Reply

  50. I’ve never had Panda Express chow mein, but I bet yours would win hands down – looks so, so good!

    Reply

      1. Tried the chow mein and simply added chicken… brilliant. I did, however add slightly more of the sauces.
        Going to try more Sabrina recipes now. Well done girl!!

        Reply