Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Tastes just like Panda Express except it takes just minutes to whip up and tastes a million times better!
I love recreating take-out recipes at home. You know exactly what’s going into your dish, and the homemade version is ALWAYS better without a doubt. And this Panda Express copycat is no exception. Best of all, you can make this in less than 20 minutes! How easy is that?
I kid you not. This is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made. It requires such few ingredients and this recipe is practically foolproof. And there really is no comparison to Panda Express because it’s just that much better. We didn’t even have a main dish to pair this with but we still devoured this on its own like there was no tomorrow!
TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE
WHAT IS YAKI-SOBA?
Yaki-Soba is ramen-style noodles and can be found in the refrigerated aisle of your local grocery store.
Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat
Ingredients
- 2 (5.6-ounce) packages refrigerated Yaki-Soba, seasoning sauce packets discarded*
- ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 ribs celery, sliced diagonally
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling water, add Yaki-Soba until loosened, about 1-2 minutes; drain well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger and white pepper; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and celery, and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in cabbage until heated through, about 1 minute.
- Stir in Yaki-Soba and soy sauce mixture until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This is a great recipe! Super cute and made perfect bowls for the 5 of us. I will say, as my husband and son are avid chow mein lovers and constantly get it for lunch.. It did not taste anything like Panda Express. Though it was great, we couldn’t compare the two. So unfortunately it wasn’t able to satisfy their panda needs but they still ate it. So success in my eyes hah
hi
can i add plain noodles or ramen noodles. yaki soba are not available where i live. Pakistan
Yes, absolutely.
This may sound strange but I add a pinch of cinnamon- I swear I taste cinnamon in Panda Express’s version!
Hi Chungah,
I made this a while ago , I am a slow cook, but this was easy and alot of fun to make, it tasted awesome too.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, on this awesome blog.
I was wondering with that much garlic, will this dish have a over powering taste of garlic…Some times I get sick when to much garlic is used in a recipe…thanks…
Suzie, you can reduce the amount of garlic as needed to suit your preferences.
Love this recipe! I add chicken to the recipe – Saute 1 lb of ground chicken (salt, pepper, olive oil & towards end add garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger & soy sauce) remove chicken & add back in when you add the noodles. Veggies are interchangeable.Tonight I went with 1 bag of bean sprouts, 2 shredded carrots & 1 bunch f green onions.
First of all I love your website. I seem to be coming here all the time from Pinterest. I made this dish tonight. Myself and my 3 kids loved it. I added a pound of chopped and sautéed chicken breast, used green onions and Napa cabbage, and made a little extra sauce to cover the extra food. I also added 1/4 cup minced cilantro at the end. It was so delicious. I found the Yaki-soba noodles in Fry’s in the front of the store by the wonton wrappers and tofu. Thank you so much for the recipe and all the other delicious recipes I find here.
I was so excited when I found this! However, I don’t know what I did wrong making it. It’s was way too salty and spicy I could only ge through two bites! The only thing I did differently as so use powdered ginger and one less clove of garlic. Any idea what happened?!
Megan, did you add the seasoning packets from the Yaki-Soba noodles? There is nothing really spicy here in the ingredient list so I am not entirely sure what could have caused the heat. The recipe also calls for 1/4 cup soy sauce, which isn’t all that much with 2 (5.6-ounce) packages refrigerated Yaki-Soba noodles.
I love garlic, but 3 cloves is wayyy too much for this recipe!! We couldn’t even finish eating it. If I make it again, I would add 1 or 2 cloves, and saute it first.
great recipe my wife loved it
I found your website a little over a year ago. Every recipe I have made has been amazing! This one is by far my family’s favorite. They love how good it tastes and so much less greasy than grabbing Chinese food. This is a go to recipe that never fails in this house! Thank you!
This is delicious! I added thinly cut chicken after starting the celery and onions, and used up a few mushrooms and sprouts with cabbage. I used coleslaw mix to make easy. I ate it with zucchinni noodles to keep it low carb but I could have eaten it without any noodles at all… maybe just more cabbage. Thanks so much for an easy, better than a restaurant meal:)
It tasted great as leftovers too!
Just wanted to drop you a quick note and thank you for this absolutely scrumptious recipe.
I made this and it was amazingly delicious!!! The only thing I did differently was cut back on the soy sauce and add about a 1/4 cup of Hoisin sauce. This is so good that I have made it several times in the last month. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I have been wanting to try this for ages, and finally did tonight!! I have never had Panda Express, but this was so good, I love anything with soy sauce, garlic, and any sort of pasta! I had to buy the dry but they were fabulous too!!! I didn’t have any cabbage either but I wasn’t waiting any longer to make it, LOL I used lower sodium soy sauce b/c thats what I had, and didn’t have fresh ginger, but like I said it was fabulous and easy!! I can’t wait to have the leftovers tomorrow!!! Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try some of the other recipes I’ve pinned to my “Damn Delicious” pinterest page!!! 🙂
can you use oil other than olive? like veg or sesame?
Yes, you can use vegetable oil.
I made this last night using ramen noodles. Couldn’t find fresh here in Canada. What a perfect side dish to go with just about anything and so delicious.
I was wondering if you could substitute the fresh ginger with the powdered ginger in the spice isle? Thanks!
Yes, absolutely. The ratio for dry to fresh spices is typically 1:3. Hope that helps!
Well–I admit I was skeptical at first, but these were damn delicious! I didn’t even sit down and eat. I just grabbed my chopsticks and started right in. I locked the doors and pulled the blinds so I wouldn’t have to share with lurking neighbors who always seem to appear when I am cooking. They were even better the second night! We happen to have a great Asian market here, and I was wondering if I could use another Asian noodle for this recipe? They have all sorts of fresh noodles–mostly egg though. The yaki soba noodles w/pouch I purchase at the grocer’s are very expensive here ($3.99/bag). I don’t want to change the flavor of the dish–but a comparable noodle would be great. Next time I will double the recipe and share…I promise!
Sorry, I just saw the comment above. The Asian market had large bags of ramen noodles so I will try those. I am assuming no flavor changes. I am trying your honey crisp baked chicken tonight along with easy beef and broccoli for the neighbors.
I wouldn’t want to share either! 🙂
Now I have not tried using different kind of Asian noodles myself but I’m sure something like lo mein noodles would work just fine.
Morning!
This dish looks so delicious!
I am wondering about the noodles though. The yaki soba noodles that I get here in the grocery are quite thick and are a white colour.
They are like the udon noodles only with a yaki soba sauce already on them.
The noodles you use seem very thin, like something I would get a the chinese take out at the mall.
Could you recommend another noodle that would be thin like yours?
I really prefer the thin noodles.
Have a Joyful Day :~D
Charlie
Charlie, you can try ramen noodles if you cannot find yaki soba noodles.