The well-known fast-food restaurant chain was founded in California in 1983. Panda Express grew pretty quickly, and nowadays, there are more than 2,200 restaurants with more than 4,500 employees all across the country. The fast-food chain specialises in American-Chinese cuisines. Since it’s an Asian-styled restaurant, we would expect some naturally vegan meals with tofu, just like at Pei Wei. So, we visited the restaurant with huge expectations.
Panda Express Vegan options
While Panda Express wasn’t a great place for vegans a few years ago, it now has pretty decent plant-based options. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should expect vegan heaven; still, we can find many tasty bites.
Appetizers
Let’s start with wonderful news! Veggie spring rolls are totally vegan. They don’t contain eggs or dairy. They consist of cabbage, celery, carrots, green onions, and Chinese noodles wrapped in a crispy wonton wrapper.
Entreés
Unfortunately, Vegan orange chicken couldn’t become permanent, so the main course options are pretty limited. But hey, at least there are tofu dishes here, which is more than avarage among the fast-food restaurants.
Eggplant tofu
Lightly browned tofu, eggplant, and red bell peppers are tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. To be honest, it is pretty good.
Sides
Do not expect much, but at least there are choices. Attention, the fried rice, unfortunately, contains eggs.
Mixed vegetables – aka Super Greens
A healthful medley of broccoli, zucchini, carrots, string beans and cabbage.
Chow mein
Stir-fried wheat noodles with onions, celery, cabbage, and definitely no eggs.
Steamed White and Brown rice
Nothing to add to it. Plain rice without any animal ingredients.
Sauces
At least there are plenty of different sauces to spice up the plain sides a little bit.
- Teriyaki
- Sweet & Sour Sauce
- Chili Sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Potsticker Sauce
- Hot Mustard
- Plum Sauce
Desserts
The best part comes last: the desserts. All of the desserts at Panda Express are vegan. Yeah, you heard it right. However, it doesn’t mean much since there is only one. But hey, at least the Fortune Cookies are totally plant-based. They do not contain dairy or eggs, which is a pleasant surprise.
