Panda Express Chow Mein Copycat
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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
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This dish was absolutely delicious and so easy! Before his second bite, my husband asked if there was enough for leftovers. The only change I made was adding chicken for protein.
I used whole wheat spaghetti pasta because I do not have access to Soba and it came out yummy. Thank you.
Thank you so much! I made this for dinner for my family. It was my first time cooking, so I was nervous about how my family would like it (some are picky). All of my family gave a 5 out of 5!
i want to 5 stores today looking for yaki-soba I found just soba, and will be using it for dinner tonight but for next time I would like to know if there is a difference??
Soba is a completely different kind of noodle made from buckwheat flour.
My hubby said this was good as panda. I thought about adding some water chestnuts for some crunch?
Yes, that sounds great!
Love your recipes!
Just tried Panda Express for the very first time today in Canada. I’m hooked BUT it’s an hour away.
I know for a fact I will not be able to find the refrigerated noodles in my area so dried it is. Would you recommend cooking them earlier in the day and refrigerating or cooking fresh and adding to the dish hot?
I recommend cooking fresh and adding while it’s still hot.
Is it ok to use vegetable oil?
Yes, vegetable oil should be just fine.
we only have yakisoba but it’s not refrigerated. They are next to the top ramen. I will just use the microwaveable one and just boil it?
This was great! I wanted it to be our main dish, so I sauteed chicken in a mix of sesame and canola oils before adding in the veggies and made it “chicken chow mein.” Like others, I couldn’t find the refrigerated noodles, so I used dry and just cooked them according to package directions. I added in the cooked noodles after my veggies and before the sauce. My husband says this dish is better than restaurant food. Thanks so much!
I have to eat gluten free…do you think vermicelli noodles would work in this dish? (rice noodle, gluten free)
You can certainly substitute vermicelli noodles but I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish as further recipe testing is needed. Please use your best judgment for this substitution.
Amazon has gluten free ramen noodles!! They are good!
I found Yakisoba refrigerated noodles in my supermarket but they were 7.7oz. packages, not 5.6oz. like you have listed in the recipe. I’m just wondering if I got the wrong ones? Mine say teriyaki but I assume that’s just the seasoning packet that comes with it.
Unfortunately without seeing the package, I cannot tell if you purchased the wrong noodles, but I suspect that it can come in different sizes.
These are the ones I bought, and the only ones I could find at any supermarket:
http://doclibrary.com/MFR3007/PRD/sku_pri_image_RT-1021_iuee.jpg
These should work just fine.
Re Noodles, Safeway and Fred’s (plus many others) carry them in the cold section in the VEGGIE area by the dressings and packaged salads, not with the dairy/egg area.
OMG this is really good. I will be making it again for sure
thanks for sharing it
so Carley, you didn’t cook the noodles, you just soaked them. I have the yaki soba dry noodles and was going to prepare them minus the seasoning packet as per the package. Do I cook them or not. Thanks for your input, I really want to make these
Have made this recipe a few times now. I love it and so does my family! So easy and delicious. I used Ramen noodles and soaked them in water, instead of using yaki soba noodles because my grocery didn’t have any. And it turned out great!! Thanks for the amazing recipie
For those unable to find the noodles in the refrigerated section, try Walmart. I got a 2-pack of yakisoba noodles in the nonrefrigerated Asian foods section. I think the brand was Hokkaido. Very good. They weren’t dried noodles, either.
This recipe was OUTSTANDING! I found you last week while looking for dairy free recipes and more healthy foods. My kids and I love Panda Noodles but I hate the greasy heavy feeling they leave. I added some mung bean sprouts to mine and my kids said they are better than the ones at the restaurant. I will be making this meal over and over!
I00% in agreement on your dislike of the amount of oil in fast food Chinese. It’s supposed to make you feel full, despite diminishing portion size.
Very grateful that now I can make my own version, reducing the fat, and increasing the number of vegetables. I might even add leftover chopped chicken.
So I looked at all my local grocery store and none of them carried the noodles. I called around to my local Asian markets and one store carried them but they were frozen. I made this before and didn’t taste quite right due to the extra water from the noodles that weren’t completely thawed. I am gonna try and make this again and completely thaw the noodles first!
In a pinch one day but craving this, I made it using a package of top ramen noodles that I had at home. (minus the seasoning) It was pretty tasty and we all enjoyed it.
My husband & I tried these noodles last night. They turned out great! I love being able to make these Asian-inspired recipes at home without having to spend a ton going out to eat.
I couldn’t find any refrigerated yaki-soba noodles in my area, so we did use the dried yaki-soba. It turned out great using th dry.
Thanks for all your great recipes!