Updated April 2022! 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 Allergen Notes & Vegan Options
Allergen 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 ones with tree nuts are the Crispy Almond Chicken Breast and 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.
Appetizers
- Chicken Potstickers
- Vegetable Spring Rolls (vegan)
Heads Up! The Chicken Egg Rolls and Rangoons do contain milk.
Soup
- Hot & Sour Soup
Sides
- Chow Fun (vegan)
- Chow Mein (vegan)
- Fried Rice
- Super Greens (vegan)
- Brown Steamed Rice (vegan, soy-free)
- White Steamed Rice (vegan, soy-free)
Veggie Entrees
- Beyond the Original Orange Chicken (limited time; vegan)
- Eggplant Tofu (vegan)
- Mapo Tofu with Beyond Beef (limited time; vegan)
- Super Greens (vegan)
Chicken Entrees
- Asian Chicken
- Black Pepper Chicken
- Crispy Almond Chicken Breast
- 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
- Shanghai Angus Steak
- Wok-Seared Steak & Shrimp
Heads Up! The Beijing Beef at Panda Express does contain milk.
Seafood Entrees
- Golden Treasure Shrimp
- Firecracker 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 (vegan; soy-free)
- Hot Mustard (vegan; soy-free)
- Plum Sauce (vegan; soy-free)
- Potsticker Sauce (vegan)
- Soy Sauce (vegan)
- Sweet & Sour Sauce (vegan; soy-free)
- Teriyaki Sauce (vegan)
Dessert
- Fortune Cookies
- Tree Top Apple Crisps
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.
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
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What Others Are Saying ...
Truly Appreciate The Vegan Options
Really hard to find quick and easy vegan options for take out. This was an excellent quick review of possible choices to make.
Wow! Thanks
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.
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!
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
always good experiences
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
thank you
👍
Thank you
I appreciate you also adding the soy free options
Great info
You have always had correct information
🙏 thank you
I appreciate being and to find all the information I need – I didn’t have a reaction eating the chow mein and black and pepper chicken. My allergies are egg and dairy.
Exactly what I needed
This info is exactly what I needed! Thank you!
Response from Go Dairy Free
Happy to help!
Well Researched and Easy to Read
Great article! Thorough research and easy to read dairy free menu options. Thank you for doing the research for me! ?
For More Dairy-Free Guidance, Get Go Dairy Free!
19 Comments
https://s3.amazonaws.com/PandaExpressWebsite/files/pdf/Nutrition.pdf This is the link to the 2018 nutritional information
Yes, we have that link above! I hope it worked for you. I know it is an odd internal pdf.
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…
Hi Colleen, I’m sorry if my update wording was confusing! I added a sentence in italics to clarify what I was saying.
awesome food served at Panda Express and i love it, nice information shared thank you Alisa Fleming.
I can always count on you! Thanks for this!!
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.
Yes, that would be nice. I’ve tried to get one, and they won’t even email it, let alone share it online.
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.
Yeah, unfortunately Panda Express is very Americanized Chinese food – so dairy does get used a little.
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?
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.
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!
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.
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?
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
Hi Dawn, you should be able to contact Panda Express or that information.
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
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.