Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.
Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp has been long overdue on the blog. Crispy, sweet and savory, these tempura battered shrimps are the perfectly balanced shrimp dish and the crunchy sweetened walnuts add a wonderful texture. Best part is they’re super easy to make and I don’t charge you the extra $1 for a shrimp entree on the blog! 😉
For months I’ve had it on the calendar and for one reason or another it would get bumped back. Because of that delay I’m writing this post so far removed from when I made these that I am now craving them again!
For shrimp recipes I tend to not be as spontaneous as I am with other proteins. If I have a craving for a steak or pork chops I have a pretty darn good chance one of my favorite grocers will have a sale price I can take advantage of. Shrimp, and seafood in general, doesn’t normally go on sale. If you’re a fan of shrimp, I highly suggest you watch for such sales and that you stock up as much as your freezer will allow so that when you’re having a craving you don’t end up paying more than you need.
Example? As I right this post today I called around to the stores I would normally buy shrimp from. The price for the 18-20 count is $13.99, $18.99 and $14.99 a pound. The shrimp I actually used? $6.99 a pound. I know that the savings isn’t a huge amount, but this dish is a really popular one in our house and we make it often for friends so I routinely make double or triple the recipe. Keeping my eye on sales saves me 20-30 dollars on food costs. Just some food for thought. Also shrimp freezes really well, I wouldn’t recommend this with all proteins but shrimp handle it well.
Keeping track of all the Panda Express copycat recipes here on the blog?
- Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Panda Express Mushroom Chicken
- Panda Express Firecracker Chicken Breast
- Panda Express Chow Mein
- Panda Express Fried Rice
- Panda Express Black Pepper Chicken
- Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken
- Panda Express Beijing Beef
- Panda Express Mandarin Teriyaki Chicken
- Panda Express Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Panda Express String Bean Chicken Breast
- Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp (you’re here!)
- Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon
- Panda Express Beef and Broccoli
- Panda Express Sweetfire Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup walnut halves
- 4 egg whites
- 2/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 pound large shrimp , 18-20 count, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
- scallions for topping , optional
Instructions
- Add the water, sugar and walnuts to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Boil for two minutes and remove the walnuts and dry on a dish to dry.
- Whisk the egg whites until they are foamy then add cornstarch and continue whisking until combined.
- Add the shrimp to the batter and one at a time using a fork or my favorite pig tail flipper pick up 1 shrimp at a time allowing it to drip off so that the shrimp has a thin coating and maintains it's shape.
- Heat your oil in a medium sized pot on medium high (350 degrees) and fry until light golden brown, 4-5 minutes.
- To make the sauce, add the honey, mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk and whisk to combine.
- Add the fried shrimp to the sauce and coat with a large spoon.
- Place into your serving plate and top with the candied walnuts.
- Serve immediately with steamed rice.
- Optionally you can top with sliced scallions.
Nutrition
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Just made this for dinner and it was absolutely delicious!! I say way better than Pandas. The flavor was fresh and amazing. We just moved to Alaska and our Asian food options are very limited and my family needed this. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lindsey! Thanks for the 5 star rating!
Hi,
My walnuts turned out soggy and not very sweet. Should I have added them after the water & sugar had cooked down to syrup? Also my shrimps turned out soggy too, what did I do wrong?
Yes, you’ll want to add the walnuts once the syrup is boiling. So sorry for the confusion. If your shrimp was soggy, it sounds like they either had too much batter or the oil wasn’t hot enough to fry them in. Hope this helps for next time.
This dish was delicious! Thank you for this recipe! I have a major sweet tooth, so I added a little more condensed milk to the sauce. Otherwise, followed the recipe as directed. So good! Thanks again!
You’re welcome, Bernadette!
just made this from your recipe, absolutely amazing! thank you very much for posting this so i can continue to make it for my family and I.
You’re welcome, Paul!
Can you say simply amazing!!! I made this for my family per my daughters request and it was an absolute hit!!!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I shell out a little more for quality shrimp always. Y’all have no idea what they coat cheap farmed shrimp with and trust me you don’t want to know. Wild gulf shrimp always!
OK, I actually made this recipe and IT TASTES EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE AT Panda Express!!! 10/10 would make again!
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars!!
This recipe is good, but a lot sweeter than the Panda shrimp. Instead of using the sweetened condensed milk, I used sweet chili sauce to taste and it’s perfect!
Thank you! So easy to make and not greasy at all. Love it.
I made this and used chicken breast in place of the shrimp …delish!! Thank you
So glad you enjoyed it Michelle!
what a good idea, thank you! It’s like 2 recipes in 1 lol.
Great recipe! My sauce was a little too creamy for my taste, but then I realized that I put in the wrong measurement for the condensed milk & added too much. Regardless it was still pretty darn good, the coating on the shrimp was so crispy! I did make sure to preheat my fryer & I also increased the temp to 375 just to make sure they were brown & crispy & I adjusted the cooking time accordingly. You definitely want to use fresh shrimp, frozen just doesn’t compare. Will absolutely be making this again very soon!
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
What can I substitute for the sweetened condensed milk? Seems a waste to buy a can and use only 1T. I never use it otherwise. Thank you.
There really isn’t a substitute for it, sorry. I would suggest finding a few other recipes that require it and make those during the week too so it’s not a waste. Enjoy!
I didn’t have sweetened condensed milk so I substituted 1tbsp of sourcream plus 1 tbsp of sugar and it tasted really good!!
So not realizing I purchased previously cooked frozen shrimp, can I still use them sine they are previously cooked or will they overlook and be rubbery?
I’m so sorry your question was caught in my spam folder 🙁 I know it’s kind of late but no, you won’t be able to use it. It would turn out rubbery and not very good.
I love this recipe and it turned out really well for me but while it is good im wondering if it could be more panda like. with that said my question is what brand honey and mayonnaise did you use for this recipe
So glad you enjoyed it! I use Kirkland Honey because of it’s authentic taste and you really can’t beat the price. For mayonnaise, I use either Best Foods or Duke’s. Though for this recipe, I used Best Food Mayonnaise. Hope this helps!
I’ve had this recipe pinned for a while now, and I finally made it last night I was skeptical being that from the comments most people only said they wanted to make it and not actually stating if they did. Also I’ve made quite a few things from Pinterest that were FAILS again not making me anxious to make this one thinking the results would be the same. Anyway this was a good copycat recipe. I did make a few tweaks to my liking, I lightly seasoned my shrimp before putting them in the tempura batter, I let the walnuts cook a little longer in the sugar mixture (2 minutes was not enough to my liking for the candied taste) and I added a little more honey and some water to the sauce to turn it into a glaze. I like mayo but the sauce was a little too tangy for my liking, adding more honey and water toned down the tang (however the sauce did taste good as is, just too tangy for me). The shrimp came out perfect I could not stop sampling them. I would make this recipe again and again, my kids and husband enjoyed the dish, great copycat recipe.
I love hearing this! I’m so glad this was a pinterest WIN for you!! It’s such a great meal!
One of my all time favorite meals since finding this recipe in March ! Have made at least 5 times since then and am making tonight !! Love it ! Why order out when u can make your favorites at home ! Thanks for sharing this recipe !
I couldn’t agree more Michele! I’m so happy that you love it!
I made a half batch of this tonight to try, and my daughter loved it. I left out the walnuts since I knew she wouldn’t eat them anyway. My husband and I only got to eat a few shrimp because my daughter ate the rest. I’ll be keeping this one in the recipe box. Thank you.
Definitely sounds like a winner, Yay!! So glad you all enjoyed it.
What am i supposed to with the water and sugar after boiling the walnuts in it?
You no longer need it so it can be discarded. Enjoy!!
Could I use frozen thawed shrimp for this recipe? I’m very nervous about using raw ones i’m no chef!
Yes, you definitely can.
Hi Sabrina, looking forward to making this recipe. I have two questions :
1 – Is the sugar/water mixture needed after the walnuts are candied? 2 – are the sauce ingredients just “added” together or are they heated, or cooked? Sorry, I am a very amateur cook.
After the walnuts have boiled for 2 minutes in the sugar/water mixture, you no longer need the mixture. For the sauce, the ingredients are just mixed together in a bowl, no need to heat or cook as the shrimp are already cooked. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. It’s such a great dish. I hope you enjoy it!
I made this tonight it was excellent, easy and delicious!
So happy to hear Patricia! Thanks for coming back and letting me know.
Made it (used a basic batter for the shrimp before I realized that was included!) and regardless it was fantastic! Will definitely make it again and again and again!! (I tried to rate it with 5 stars but it won’t let me.)
This was SO good!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Definitely a keeper. Next time I will try baking it though to reduce calories and greasiness.
You’re welcome! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how much you loved it!
Hello Sabrina. Can’t wait to try this recipe. I saw it after I stopped at Panda Express..lol. i was wondering if you have any idea on the best way to reheat. I was surprised by the mayo!
Wet paper towel over the entree in a glass bowl. Heat for 30 second increments. The hard thing about this dish to reheat is the “sauce” basically would disappear in the toaster oven. So it is either crispy and dry or more moist and soft.
I recently tried panda expresses walnut shrimp for the first time and love it! I crave it sometimes. I am looking forward to trying to make it myself. thank you for the recipe.
You’ll have to make it next time you’re having a craving and save yourself a trip out!
Just found this recipe & intend to make it soon. If you have a SPROUTS close to you, they often have 16-20 size shrimp for $7.99. I bought four lbs today.
I do, thanks! I’ll definitely keep my eye out for it there!
Made it tonight! It was my son’s favorite dish, but we discovered that he can’t have corn – corn starch, corn syrup, etc. I looked for a sauce recipe after I had already fried the shrimp. Just used tapioca starch/flour on defrosted raw shrimp and fried in palm shortening/duck fat combo. It was a huge hit. Thank you!!!
Your substitutions (especially the duck fat) are making me hungry at midnight! Sounds divine! So glad you enjoyed the recipe too 🙂
Just had this for dinner and was terrific!
Did you cook the shrimp before frying?
Sorry this comment took so long to get to, it ended up in my spam filter somehow! Sorry I just found a huge number of comments over the last three months that was snared in the spam filter and I am trying to follow up with each one now even though in your case I am way too late to help. The shrimp are raw before the battering and frying.
I loved it! My family thought the glaze was a little too heavy (I loved it though.) surprisingly making my own tempura tasted better than the store bought one, I could taste the shrimp better!
I’m so glad you guys loved the recipe!
Made this tonight and for some reason the sauce looks and tastes absolutely nothing like panda and the shrimp tastes extra shrimpy..):
Would love to trouble shoot with you. Can I ask what you mean by extra shrimpy? The sauce is a pretty normal honey walnut shrimp sauce, send me an email if you would like (and if you possibly have a photo of the outcome it would def help troubleshooting). contact @ dinnerthendessert.com
In my experience using frozen shrimp, I get the precooked. The uncooked does tend to taste “shrimpy” at times.
Thank you for posting the recipe. This is the only dish that I go to Panda Express for and I’m very excited to try it out at home. I was wondering if there was anything I could substitute the mayo in the sauce for, or if I could just omit the mayo all together.
No, the mayo is pretty essential to it unfortunately. Every recipe for walnut shrimp I’ve ever seen uses mayo as the “coating.” Perhaps you could experiment with Just Mayo if it’s an aversion to using regular mayo, I know Just Mayo is vegan but I have no personal experience how it would translate in this setting.
Follow your Heart Vegginaise works well. It alters the flavor the tiniest bit, since it’s not so “eggy” but it’s hardly noticeable!
YOU ARE A PURE MASTERMIND!!! This is such a great site for copycats!!! I found this today and made the rice, chow mein, wal nut shrimp and orange chicken!! My family live pandas being we are from cali and we now live in iowa its a 1 hour drive from us so this is great!!!
I’m so glad I could help you recreate a beloved restaurant experience! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Same here! About to try this recipe tomorrow
Hi Sabrina! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I absolutely love the honey walnut shrimp at Panda Express, and I am so excited to try the recipe out. I was just wondering what brand of white sugar you used for the recipe? Thank you!
Any regular granulated sugar is fine, like C&H or Domino. You just don’t want the grain to be too large or it won’t melt and it’ll taste grainy.
A few weeks ago my daughter and I stopped to have dinner . They had a new shrimp
Dish. I’m very allergic to chicken and I always ask if anything is fried in the same oil as the chicken is. I have always be able to get the shrimp, but the server behind the counter said everything is cooked in chicken fat now. I want to know if this is actually true
Sorry, I don’t have any information on that for you! I know that if you cook this recipe at home, you won’t have to worry about that!
Fran, a lot of chicken has garlic. My wife gets very sick to her stomach when she eat any type of garlic.
I just got done making and eating this. Cooked the shrimp in my deep fryer, it turned out really well. I think it tastes just like Panda Express. Thanks so much for the recipe, I will be making this a lot!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know about it!
Did anyone really cook this other than saying looks good and will try it? I don’t understand why it has 5 stars! The breaded shrimp didn’t come out crunchy as well as the walnut. I stopped cooking the shrimp because I wasn’t happy it came out soft.
Hey Marilyn, would love to troubleshoot with you. I make the recipe pretty often and recipe test pretty thoroughly. I’ve never had an issue with soft shrimp. It could have been an issue with your oil temperature off the top of my head. Were you using a thermometer? If you want to discuss further please feel free to email me at contact @ dinnerthendessert.com
Oh wow, I wish this would magically appear on our dinner plates tonight. It looks so good!
Thanks, Liz!
That is one of my favorite things to get at Panda Express! I need to try making it for myself!
Great! I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve always loved this as an add on to our meal- but wish Panda had a non breaded shrimp entree permanently. I’ll have to give this a try at home.
I hope you enjoy it!
Yummy! This looks amazing. I need to try this out. I already love Panda Express, so I bet I’d love this.
I love Panda too (as if you couldn’t tell from my long list of copycat recipes!)
Shrimp isn’t wildly popular with my kids, but I think it’ll come with age. This recipe, however, might be the transition they need to be on Team Shrimp!
I’m working on getting my kids to try more seafood too! It’s definitely a process!
This recipe looks so delicious and easy to make. I will have to get the ingredients i need to make this on the weekend.
Make sure to come back and let me know how it turns out!
OMG, I am drooling on my keyboard! This looks amazing and it has some of my favorite flavors. I can’t wait to try this dish.
Thanks, Christina!
You must have been reading my mind. I’ve been wanting Panda Express lately, but just can’t seem to make it there. Now I can make their dishes right at home!
Thanks, Danielle! I aim to please!
Oh my goodness, that is one of my favorite meals over there, yet I had never thought of making it myself. I will have to give it a try… Thanks so much for sharing
Thanks, Shauna!
NOW THIS is awesome! I can’t wait to try this! I am hungry so I might just eat this right off the screen!
Thanks!
This looks amazing!! I love to make copycat recipes at home like this, plus it makes Chinese food so much better for you when cooked at home.
I love making Chinese food at home too! (See: previous Panda copycat recipes 🙂 )
That looks so good! I don’t even eat seafood, and I want to try this. Om nom nom.
Thanks, Jennifer!
That looks so good. What time should I be there?
Haha! Sorry, it’s all been gobbled up, you’ll have to cook it yourself!
We are big fans of Asian food in our house. Sounds like an awesome date night dinner.
Thank you!