Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast (Copycat)

by Sabrina Snyder

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Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast is a healthier twist on Orange Chicken with white meat, green beans and bell peppers. An authentic copycat from Panda Express!

We love food court Chinese Food Recipes like Sesame Chicken and General Tso’s Chicken and this crazy popular twist on a Sesame Chicken recipe from Panda Express is finally back for it’s time in the sun again!

Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken BreastPANDA EXPRESS HONEY SESAME CHICKEN BREAST

It’s not often that Panda Express comes out with an amazing new entree (remember that General Tso’s disaster?), so when the Sesame Chicken Breast entree came and went last year and I missed out on making a copycat version I felt like I may have missed out on a golden opportunity for you all. I got dozens of emails asking for a copycat version.

Don’t forget too, we have ALL the Panda Express Recipes available here on the Panda Express Recipes Index.

About a month ago I got a new flood of emails saying it was back! So off I went to the restaurant and I have been ordering full sized entrees daily as I test against the official recipe they released to be sure this is a good copycat for you all.

The good thing about Panda Express is they do often release recipes when they come out with new entrees. So doing a bit of digging I was able to find a great base recipe they released. This makes this recipe an authentic copycat for the sauce. I took the chicken breading recipe from my Orange Chicken copycat recipe which has almost 300 comments and a 4.91 rating on the site, so you know it’s awesome.

Most Popular Panda Express Recipes:

How to Make Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast

  • To coat the chicken breast add the egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil into a medium bowl.
  • In a second bowl, add corn starch and flour and mix.
  • In a large dutch oven or a wok, heat oil to 375 degrees..
  • Dip chicken pieces in the egg mixture, then dredge in the flour mixture.
  • Fry the chicken in batches until golden and crisp.
  • To make the sauce combine the sweet chili sauce, honey, water, white vinegar, lemon juice, salt, soy sauce and cornstarch.
  • Bring to a boil and cook until it thickens (don’t make the sauce in your chicken pan).
  • Stir fry the string beans and bell pepper strips for 30 seconds.
  • Add in the cooked chicken, sesame oil and the honey sesame sauce and toss quickly to combine.
  • Remove from heat and garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

Honey Sesame Chicken Breast Panda Express Copycat Recipe

 

Making Chinese Food Healthier

This Sesame Chicken recipe is slightly healthier because it uses white meat chicken breast instead of chicken thighs like Panda Express uses in their most popular entree, Orange Chicken. Since this dish is still deep fried, it isn’t very healthy, just as healthy as a classic Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe.

When Sesame Chicken Breast leaves the Panda Express menu again you guys can continue to make it anytime you want! And if you want to take a shortcut and use your favorite frozen breaded chicken you can make the sauce and vegetable stir fry in no time!

  • Quick pro tip, buy a frozen Orange Chicken bag for the chicken alone then make your own sauces for a quick semi-homemade version, I like the Trader Joe’s Sweet and Sour Chicken one as it is white meat chicken. You can also use the popular Orange Chicken from Trader Joe’s but the sauce is already so good in that product why waste it?

Want to make this even healthier? When looking for the flavor of your favorite fried entrees, there’s nothing to say you can’t simply stir fry the chicken without breading and deep frying it. This cuts down the vast majority of the fat and leaves just the sweetened sauce as the only unhealthy part. We also love using ground meat as a variation.

Recipe Variations:

We love taking classic recipes and mixing things up! Try using ground chicken and making this healthier like in our Ground Chinese Food Recipes!

Tips for Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast:

  • Fresh vegetables are best in any stir fry. If you can’t find a yellow bell pepper, use another sweet variety like red or orange vs buying a frozen blend that includes yellow.
  • Don’t make your sauce in the same pan you cook the chicken in. It’s important to cook the vegetables tender crisp, and the sweet sauce will prevent that.
  • If you are determined to make the sauce in the same pan, you can remove your vegetables after cooking them, and keep them near the chicken. Then make the sauce in that pan, then when thickened and the vegetables and chicken and sesame oil back into the pan all at once.
  • With crisp-tender vegetables and chicken making your sauce after cooking chicken will slow you down and Chinese stir fries are best done quickly so your final result won’t be quite as good as if you thickened the sauce on the side while your chicken was frying.

Shortcuts/Make Ahead tips for this Honey Sesame Chicken Breast Recipe:

  • As with any stir fry, prep EVERYTHING ahead of time. Vegetables should be cut before needed, your pan is hot and the final process once the chicken is done goes very quick.
  • Buy pre-sliced bell peppers and cleaned bags of green beans (you can simply just chop these in half)
  • If you love this recipe consider making the sauce ahead of time and keeping it in your fridge for quicker meal times.
  • If you have an aversion to frying chicken, you can make baked crispy chicken like my Baked Orange Chicken and use this sauce and stir-fry method once the chicken is done baking.

More Delicious Chinese Food Recipes You NEED to make:

How to Store Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast:

  • Serve: Don’t leave the chicken out for longer than about 2 hours without refrigerating it.
  • Store: Place leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. The chicken will not remain crispy, so if you are not enjoying this dish right away, consider just stir frying the chicken instead of breading and frying it.
  • Freeze: Always allow the chicken to cool down to room temperature before sealing it up or you’ll just store bacteria in with it. You can freeze chicken for up to 3 months.

WHEN IS CHICKEN SAFE TO EAT?

According to the USDA, chicken is considered safe to eat when the insides reach 165 degrees F (73.8 degrees C).

Honey Sesame Chicken Breast from Panda Express with steamed rice and broccoli in white bowl

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Dinner, then Dessert

Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast (Copycat)

Honey Sesame Chicken Breast is a healthier twist on Orange Chicken with white meat, green beans and bell peppers. An authentic copycat from Panda Express!
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Author Sabrina Snyder
Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

For the Chicken:

  • 1 pound chicken breast , boneless skinless, cut into 1" chunks
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • vegetable oil for frying

Honey Sesame Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

To Finish:

Instructions

  • To coat the chicken breast add the egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil into a medium bowl and whisk together well.
  • In a second bowl, add ½ cup corn starch and ¼ cup flour and mix.
  • In a large dutch oven or a wok, heat oil to 375 degrees (about 2 inches of oil).
  • Dip chicken pieces in the egg mixture, then dredge in the flour mixture.
  • Fry the chicken in batches for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp then remove with a slotted spatula, draining the oil well.
  • To make the sauce combine the sweet chili sauce, honey, water, white vinegar, lemon juice, salt, soy sauce and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil and cook until it thickens (don't make the sauce in your chicken pan).
  • When you are done with the chicken, drain most of the oil from the pan (leave about 2 tablespoons).
  • Stir fry the string beans and bell pepper strips for 30 seconds, then add in the cooked chicken, sesame oil and the honey sesame sauce and toss quickly to combine.
  • Remove from heat and garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 502mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 635IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg
Keyword: Panda Express Honey Sesame Chicken Breast

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Honey Sesame Chicken Breast

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 upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being 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. Thanks Sabrina. Can you please please make New copycat recipe for Pandas brand new Crispy Almond Chicken with that delicious Honey Soy Ginger sauce topping that just came out in Aug? I just tried it for the first time this weekend abs is DA BOMB. my all time new fave from Panda even better than the Honey walnut shrimp.!!!! Please please. Thanks

    Reply

  2. is there a video on how to make this?
    That would be awesome.
    Seems pretty easy, but i’m a noob at cooking…
    Thanks!

    Reply

  3. Hi Sabrina,

    I will be making this as well as your chow mein and sweet and sour sauce recipes for dinner tonight. By chance, is distilled white vinegar and white vinegar the same? Or similar enough to where I can just use distilled white vinegar? That’s all I have on hand.

    Thanks! 🙂

    Reply

    1. Yep go for it, it won’t hurt it much. Some white vinegar can be the kind it is calling for and some is white wine vinegar which is different but again it won’t change too much.

      Reply

  4. Wow! This was delish!
    I didn’t have sesame oil in the house, but it didn’t take away (used a tiny splash of avocado oil instead). Otherwise I cooked it exactly as mentioned and the family LOVED it! I have never posted a review, but because we enjoyed it so much I thought I should 🙂 . Well deserved… bravo!

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much, Jennifer! I love it when someone enjoys the dish that they want to leave a review. I’m honored.

      Reply

  5. This turned out amazing. Definitely keeper for when craving Panda but want a fresher flavor. Whole family loved it (including a 6 and 9 yr old girls). YUM!

    Reply

  6. OMG…….the honey sesame chicken was just like getting it at Panda. Awesome. Thank you for posting that. I send them emails several times every year asking them to keep it on the regular menu. I dont have to do that a anymore!!!!

    Reply

    1. I’ve not tested it but if it already has a breading, you might be able to just make the sauce and go from there.

      Reply

  9. Absolutely the best can’t believe it finally found the recipe of one of my husband’s favorite dish from Panda… And don’t my goodness I never thought it would taste this good…

    Reply

  10. I’ve made several of your recipes and have enjoyed them all. I have never been to a Panda Express so I can’t speak to authenticity but I can speak to amazing taste. This is my favorite yet. It tastes incredibly similar to my favorite take-out place’s version and got the wonderful stickiness I love so much. Thank you. We will probably make this regularly

    Reply

    2. I have to agree with you because You took the words right out of my mouth! you’ve put in words, which described it Best, thumbs up & out of five stars I give it six stars. It was my first time that I cooked from her recipe and I just had to bookmark her and added to my home screen… Thank you and thanks for sharing.

      Reply

  11. What is meant by white vinegar?
    Did you mean the plain vinegar or rice vinegar? Sorry if this is an dumb question to ask!
    I cannot wait to make this for Christmas

    Reply

    1. Also, In step 4, you said to put dip chicken pieces in egg mixture? Is there a small bowl where we should have a whisked egg in? It wasn’t specified earlier? Thanks again in advance.

      Reply

    1. I can definitely add it to my list, what is the stir-fry that they discontinued (hopefully I’ve had it so I can recreate it!)

      Reply

      1. I make every Panda Express copycat recipe you publish. They are always better than the drive thru and we have a Panda Express across the street from our home. Haven’t been out since St. Patty’s Day so just asking did they discontinue the Honey Walnut Shrimp? That’s ok as you published that recipe and it is a favorite at our home. Keep up bringing us the best food that is so simple to make!!!!!

        Reply

        1. I don’t think they’re discontinued it but I haven’t really been out either. So glad you’re enjoying all the recipes.

          Reply