Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat

4.58 from 57 votes
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Panda Express Chow Mein - BEST copycat recipe ever that tastes EXACTLY like Panda Express. So good and easy, healthier, cheaper, and takes 15 mins!!

A delicious Panda Express copycat chow mein in a bowl with assorted vegetables.
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Chinese Takeout

When it comes to Chinese food in the United States, no restaurant is more iconic than Panda Express, who has over 1650 stores here.

How does it sound if you could make all the things you get at Panda Express for a fraction of the price, and even healthier as well?

Look no further, as I am going to share a series of popular and super easy Chinese recipes with you all.


Getting The Best Panda Express Copycat Recipe

Healthy homemade Panda Express stir fry noodles in a bowl.

Panda Express is famous for its Chow Mein and I am sharing the copycat recipe with you today. Everyone loves Chow Mein, greasy Chinese noodles tossed with lots of vegetables, stir-fried over very high heat in a wok.

Furthermore, to make sure that I do justice to the real deal, I recently went to Panda Express twice. I made sure to talk to the cook and drill down the recipe, and I got it down to a T.


Ingredients To Make This Copycat Recipe

Panda Express Chow Mein close up in a bowl, ready to be eaten.
  • Noodles
  • Onion
  • Cabbage
  • Celery
  • Soy sauce
  • Oyster sauce
  • Oil

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.


Tips For The Best Chow Mein

Panda Express copycat recipe Chow Mein picked with a pair of chopsticks.
  • A perfect chow mein should be loaded with lots of wok hei (breath of wok)—the ingredients should be flash cooked over high heat in a wok, so the noodles and vegetables are slightly burned and charred
  • I am sure you have seen the cook at Panda Express tossing and cooking the noodles behind the counter, all done in a matter of minutes. To get good wok hei, you need lots of oil and a wok (but skillet will do).
  • The chow mein should never be soggy or wet, and no water should be added during the cooking process.

See It For Yourself

Comparison of Panda Express Chow Mein and homemade copycat recipe Chow Mein.

So, below is the real Panda Express on the left and my version on the right. The chow mein tastes exactly like Panda Express, the only difference is the noodles used.

Panda Express noodles are specially made for them only and not available at the stores. For the closest replacement, use yakisoba.

This is a super easy recipe to make at home and you can get all ingredients from regular stores. Make a big batch of Panda Express Chow Mein—it’s so good, so easy, healthier, cheaper, and you can have as much as you want!


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 362 calories per serving.

Panda Express Chinese take out stir fry noodles in a bowl ready to serve.

What To Serve With This Recipe

For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on FacebookPinterest, and Instagram for new updates.


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4.58 from 57 votes

Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat

Panda Express Chow Mein – the BEST copycat recipe ever that tastes EXACTLY like Panda Express. So good, so easy, healthier, cheaper, and takes 15 mins!!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2 people
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Ingredients  

  • 1 lb. (500g) yakisoba
  • 3-4 tablespoons oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
  • 8 oz. (230g) cabbage, sliced
  • 2 oz. (60g) celery, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Instructions 

  • Discard the seasoning packages of the yakisoba noodles. Loosen up the yakisoba and set aside.
  • Heat up a wok or skillet over high heat, add the oil when it's heated. Add the onion, cabbage, and celery into the wok, stir fry and toss continuously until the vegetables become soft and some of them are slightly charred.
  • Add in the noodles and stir a few times before adding the soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir continuously to combine all the ingredients in the wok. Dish out and serve immediately.

Notes

You can also use Chinese chow mein or egg noodles. Follow the cooking instructions on the packaging before stir-frying.

Nutrition

Serving: 2people, Calories: 362kcal, Carbohydrates: 36.5g, Protein: 6.5g, Fat: 22.1g, Saturated Fat: 2.9g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Sodium: 1732mg, Fiber: 5.5g, Sugar: 8.4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Bee Yinn Low

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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Recipe Rating





96 Comments

  1. Yeh Ximin says:

    5 stars

  2. Mi Li Hong says:

    5 stars
    The down side of Asian cooking is, thereโ€™s usually a ton of sodium in the recipes making them NOT heart heathy and bad for anyone with high blood pressure/ on BP medications. You can substitute coconut aminoโ€˜s.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks for your suggestion, appreciate it!

      1. Dee says:

        Arenโ€™t you suppose to cook the noodles first

        1. Rasa Malaysia says:

          No, if you cook the noodles and then stir-fry they will be mushy. During the stir-fry the noodles will be cooked completely!

  3. Sue says:

    Is the cabbage you use Chinese bok choy or napa cabbage?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      It’s neither. It’s regular cabbage.

  4. Jessica says:

    WHAT KIND OF OIL DO YOU USE TO MAKE THIS?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Any cooking oil is fine.

  5. Chandra D says:

    I couldn’t find Yakisoba noodles, so I bought Philippine style noodles (pancit kanton). Do you think they will work?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes!

  6. Chrissie Baker says:

    5 stars
    This recipe looks super easy and full of ingredients my family loves. Looking forward to trying soon.

  7. Busymom says:

    Hi Rasa, may I ask which brand and variety of soy sauce did you use in this recipe? I canโ€™t wait to try. Thanks!

  8. David Neely says:

    5 stars
    Thanks for sharing this, spot on to the original. I used frozen (but thawed) Yakisoba noodles and they were perfect.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks David, for trying my Panda Express Chow Mein recipe.

  9. David says:

    Thank you so much for publishing your recipes, I’ve enjoyed reading them and your notes about each one. It’s obvious you have a love for food and for teaching others. For this particular recipe, which I’ve made my own version of a few times (always looking for Panda Express clones), I was surprised you didn’t have some type of thickener for the sauce. In the restaurant the sauce definitely has something (most likely corn or potato starch) to tighten things up, doesn’t the sauce as you make it stay too watery?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      There is no sauce in Chow Mein. Chow Mein is supposed to be dry. Panda Express Chow Mein is also dry, there is no sauce and there is no need to have thickener.

  10. Madeline says:

    I can’t wait to try this. Do you think you can re -create mushroom chicken from panda express? One of my fave that i always get when im craving for panda. Thanks!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Of course, it’s very easy! I will try.