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    You are at:Home»Dining Out»Fast Food Restaurants»Panda Express – Stirring Up a Whole Menu of Dairy-Free Dishes

    Panda Express – Stirring Up a Whole Menu of Dairy-Free Dishes

    19
    By Alisa Fleming on January 9, 2023 Fast Food Restaurants

    Updated January 2023! Panda Express is the largest Asian fast food chain in the U.S., specializing in American Chinese cuisine. They used to have some very odd menu labeling for milk, but we helped them get it fixed, so now every section of their menu is filled with dairy-free options, as noted below. This information is for the U.S., but their menu only varies slightly in Canada.

    Panda Express Dairy-Free Menu Guide with egg-free, soy-free, and vegan options and allergen notes. Now with Vegan Options too!

    Panda Express Dairy-Free Menu Guide with Allergen Notes & Vegan Options

    Availability: Please note that not all menu items listed below will be available at each Panda Express location. The entrees and sides can rotate, or some locations might choose not to order certain items. They do have a limited number of options that they can offer at any given time.

    Allergen & Special Diet Notes: All items listed below are also egg-free by ingredients, except the Fried Rice and Hot & Sour Soup. The only item below that contains peanuts is the Kung Pao Chicken, and the only one with tree nuts is the Honey Walnut Shrimp. However, almost every menu item contains wheat and soy. There are no gluten-free entrees, appetizers, or sides (aside from plain rice) at Panda Express. We have labeled the few soy-free, dairy-free options below. For vegan options, see the Vegan Menu Guide at the bottom of this post.

    Appetizers

    • Chicken Potstickers
    • Vegetable Spring Rolls

    Heads Up! The Chicken Egg Rolls and Rangoons do contain milk.

    Soup

    • Hot & Sour Soup

    Sides

    • Chow Fun
    • Chow Mein
    • Fried Rice
    • Super Greens
    • Brown Steamed Rice (soy-free)
    • White Steamed Rice (soy-free)

    Veggie Entrees

    • Beyond the Original Orange Chicken (limited time)
    • Eggplant Tofu
    • Super Greens

    Chicken Entrees

    • Asian Chicken
    • Black Pepper Chicken
    • Grilled Asian Chicken
    • Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
    • Honey Sesame Chicken Breast
    • Kung Pao Chicken
    • Mushroom Chicken
    • Potato Chicken
    • String Bean Chicken Breast
    • Sweet & Sour Chicken Breast (soy-free)
    • Sweetfire Chicken Breast (soy-free)
    • Teriyaki Chicken

    Heads Up! The Orange Chicken at Panda Express does contain milk.

    Beef Entreees

    • Black Pepper Angus Steak
    • Broccoli Beef

    Heads Up! The Beijing Beef at Panda Express does contain milk.

    Seafood Entrees

    • Golden Treasure Shrimp
    • Wok-Fired Shrimp

    Heads Up! The Honey Walnut Shrimp and Steamed Ginger Fish at Panda Express do contain milk.

    Cub Meals

    • Broccoli Beef Cub Meal
    • Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Cub Meal

    Sauces

    • Chili Sauce (soy-free)
    • Hot Mustard (soy-free)
    • Plum Sauce (soy-free)
    • Potsticker Sauce
    • Soy Sauce
    • Sweet & Sour Sauce (soy-free)
    • Teriyaki Sauce

    Dessert

    • Fortune Cookies
    • Tree Top Apple Crisps

    Panda Express Vegan Menu Guide

    To accommodate the ordering style at Panda Express, we broken the vegan menu items down by category.

    Vegan Appetizers

    • Vegetable Spring Rolls

    Vegan Sides

    • Chow Fun
    • Chow Mein
    • Super Greens
    • Brown Steamed Rice
    • White Steamed Rice

    Vegan Entrees

    • Beyond the Original Orange Chicken (limited time)
    • Eggplant Tofu
    • Super Greens

    Vegan Sauces

    • Chili Sauce
    • Hot Mustard
    • Plum Sauce
    • Potsticker Sauce
    • Soy Sauce
    • Sweet & Sour Sauce
    • Teriyaki Sauce

    This Post is for Informational Purposes Only

    Menus, ingredients, kitchen procedures, management, food sourcing, and restaurant protocols are subject to change at any time. Always read the menu and discuss your dietary needs with the staff before ordering. Make sure they can accommodate your situation. This post is for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as advice.

    There is always a risk for potential cross-contamination of allergens in any commercial kitchen. If cross-contamination is an issue for you, always speak with the manager to ensure that your meal can be safely prepared. Listings here do not guarantee that a restaurant is safe enough for your individual needs. Only you can make that decision.

    Each location of a chain restaurant has different management and staff, and some might have different owners. This means differences in processes, ingredients used, menu options, and food sourcing can occur. Always verify the safety of your order for your needs at your current location.

    Panda Express Dairy-Free Menu Guide with egg-free, soy-free, and vegan options and allergen notes

    Where to Find Panda Express

    There are over 2000 Panda Express locations in the U.S., with a smattering in other countries around the world. See the website below for addresses, hours, and online ordering.

    Website: www.pandaexpress.com

    Average Reader Review

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    What Others Are Saying ...

    Very Happy with Panda service and taste of food.

    Rated 5 out of 5
    March 15, 2023

    Hi.

    I get fried rice and Orange chicken. I cannot take too much dairy but I take Lactaid OTC. Before every meal if I feel there is milk so I wont get a reaction or ask your dr if there is anyother medications you can take with milk foods. I have lupus and trying to have a normal life.

    I eat healthy foods fried rice has veggies in it that makes it easier for me because It is harder for me to cook at home with my Osteoperosis so the egg veggies and rice has some nutrition value I can have in my meals with the Orange chicken and Panda has other vegan options we can ask:)

    Thank you kindly for your services!

    Joanne K

    Avatar for Joanne
    Joanne

    I have a deadly dairy allergy

    Rated 5 out of 5
    August 11, 2022

    This website helps so much with dairy free foods when i’m not sure! i do occasionally ask the workers to double check but 100% of the time it is accurate.

    Avatar for Daisy Saunders
    Daisy Saunders

    Great Food!

    Rated 5 out of 5
    May 29, 2022

    I love Panda! Great food at a good price. They always give you lots of food in your order. Thanks Panda!!!

    Avatar for Trinityrose
    Trinityrose

    Truly Appreciate The Vegan Options

    Rated 5 out of 5
    May 15, 2022

    Really hard to find quick and easy vegan options for take out. This was an excellent quick review of possible choices to make.

    Avatar for Barb
    Barb

    Wow! Thanks

    Rated 5 out of 5
    April 28, 2022

    Thanks for this info. One question – how do you know about the Honey Sesame Chicken? I’ve been on the allergen website and cannot find any information about this. Thanks again.

    Avatar for Lauren
    Lauren

    Response from Go Dairy Free

    We’re proactive and get as much information as possible! We can’t rely solely on allergen charts because they quickly become outdated and are often incomplete. So we reach out to restaurant contacts to fill in information that’s missing, get custom order details, find out ingredients where possible, etc. Glad it is helpful for you!

    Appreciate the "Heads Up" sections!

    Rated 5 out of 5
    March 31, 2022

    My go-tos were always the orange chicken and honey walnut shrimp with cream cheese rangoons, but I had to cut out dairy while breastfeeding because my son has a dairy allergy. This was super straightforward and helpful in knowing what to get, and what not to! I’ve had Panda express several times now and he hasn’t had any negative reactions

    Avatar for Kwil
    Kwil

    always good experiences

    Rated 5 out of 5
    March 6, 2022

    plenty of dairy free options. never had an issue of exposure. only thing i’ve noticed is they sometimes use same tongs to egg rolls and spring rolls

    Avatar for Sarah
    Sarah

    thank you

    Rated 5 out of 5
    February 15, 2022

    👍

    Avatar for angel
    angel

    Thank you

    Rated 5 out of 5
    February 7, 2022

    I appreciate you also adding the soy free options

    Avatar for Kassondra
    Kassondra

    Great info

    Rated 5 out of 5
    July 6, 2021

    You have always had correct information

    Avatar for Marsha
    Marsha

    Site Reviews navigation

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    Alisa Fleming
    • Website

    Alisa is the founder of GoDairyFree.org, Food Editor for Allergic Living magazine, and author of the best-selling dairy-free book, Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living, and the new cookbook, Eat Dairy Free: Your Essential Cookbook for Everyday Meals, Snacks, and Sweets. Alisa is also a professional recipe creator and product ambassador for the natural food industry.

    19 Comments

    1. Laura on September 21, 2018 9:06 am

      https://s3.amazonaws.com/PandaExpressWebsite/files/pdf/Nutrition.pdf This is the link to the 2018 nutritional information

      • Alisa Fleming on September 21, 2018 9:16 am

        Yes, we have that link above! I hope it worked for you. I know it is an odd internal pdf.

    2. Colleen Harris on July 7, 2018 8:43 am

      You listed some non dairy items in the first bullet point (sides) and then below it says you were surprised to see some items that have dairy and they are some of the same items that were listed as dairy free…,I looked on the allergen menu from Panda Hut to clarify what u can get but this is confusing and I would hate would hate someone to go off just this…

      • Alisa Fleming on July 7, 2018 8:48 am

        Hi Colleen, I’m sorry if my update wording was confusing! I added a sentence in italics to clarify what I was saying.

    3. ronald on June 18, 2018 3:08 am

      awesome food served at Panda Express and i love it, nice information shared thank you Alisa Fleming.

    4. Mary on March 24, 2018 8:06 pm

      I can always count on you! Thanks for this!!

    5. Megan on February 23, 2018 7:08 am

      An ingredient list would be a wonderful thing. I have an allergy to corn and assume that cornstarch is probably in most if not all the dishes but would love to know since it’s my daughter’s favorite place to eat.

      • Alisa Fleming on March 16, 2018 2:52 pm

        Yes, that would be nice. I’ve tried to get one, and they won’t even email it, let alone share it online.

        • Vicki Bohnhoff on May 31, 2018 4:25 pm

          Had the Orange Chicken from their outlet inside Pavillions in Culver City, CA and had a reaction. I thought I was safe since Chinese people usually don’t cook with milk. Also had the spring rolls so perhaps that was another contributor. This is disappointing since it tasted so good. It’s not worth it.

          • Alisa Fleming on May 31, 2018 5:59 pm

            Yeah, unfortunately Panda Express is very Americanized Chinese food – so dairy does get used a little.

    6. Lottie Drake on December 7, 2017 12:27 am

      It’s so weird, but my daughter is very sensitive to milk protein but eats the orange chicken all the time with no issues. I chalked it up to a mistake in their ingredient listing, but now, I don’t know how to explain it. Do you know what type of dairy product is in the orange chicken?

      • Alisa Fleming on December 7, 2017 9:58 am

        It is strange, but it’s possible that it is a very small amount. The Sweet & Sour Chicken doesn’t contain milk, so my guess is that it isn’t the batter. It could be a very small amount of whey or lactose in the sauce. They don’t have ingredient info available, but I’ve contacted them to see if they can provide any additional info on this one.

    7. A on July 7, 2016 10:49 pm

      Panda Express Orange Chicken now contains milk powder! My daughter has eaten it for years without a problem. Staff have re assured me that it has no dairy in it. Six weeks ago my daughter had a bad reaction after eating it which ONLY happens after eating small amounts of milk protein. I called and they said it didn’t contain dairy. So we put it off as a cross contamination as we ordered it from a different restaurant than normal.
      Last night she ate it at our local restaurant and had a bad reaction again. Called and was told once again no dairy..made them go read the box and they then realized it had dairy. Corporate office assured me that the ingredient have never changed and that it always had milk powder in it! I disagree! My daughter is anaphylactic to milk protein, so she always would have a bad reaction!

      • Alisa Fleming on July 9, 2016 7:53 am

        I’m so sorry that this happened to you and your daughter! As of our last update, when they posted an allergen chart, we do have that it contains milk, but I’m not sure before that.

    8. Dj on May 13, 2016 7:39 pm

      Has the ingredients in Shanghai Beef changed from containing asparagus to green beans? I have purchased at two restaurants in Mansfield TX and they still charge the extra $1.25 and sell it with green beans?

    9. Dawn Parrish on November 1, 2015 10:44 am

      To Whom It May Concern,
      I was wondering in the near future if an ingredient list would be available to the public? I have a rare allergy to mononitrates, thiamine mononitrate, nitrate/nitrite. It is found in white rice, white flour among many other foods. Having an ingredient list would help me determine if I could eat and what I could eat at your restaurant. For instance my favorite dish before my allergy was the orange chicken, it would be helpful for me to know what the chicken was breaded with.
      Tank you for your time,
      Dawn Parrsih

      • Alisa Fleming on November 1, 2015 3:45 pm

        Hi Dawn, you should be able to contact Panda Express or that information.

    10. Lisa on August 31, 2012 10:40 am

      The nutrition site is up and lists fried rice with no dairy. Does that mean it is safe now? was the milk in the egg comment above just a fluke? thanks

      • Alisa Fleming on September 2, 2012 9:27 am

        Hi Lisa,

        Thanks for the update. We’re going to be updating the fast food listings this month, so I’ll look into this. Panda Express’s allergen info posted was outdated for years. I’ll be checking to see if it is current.

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