Last night, our kitchen magically morphed into healthy Panda Express:
I remember the exact day Panda Express showed up at our local shopping mall. I was in 7th grade—the age where girls ditch their parents, get glammed up in more makeup than kabuki performers, and hang out at the mall every single weekend, feeling incredibly cool and grown up.
After Panda Express moved in, you suddenly couldn’t set foot in the building without being hit by the addictive aroma of their orange sesame sauce. It called to us as we perused the displays of glitter eyeliner at Sephora. (Why did I ever think sparkly neon green eyeliner was a good look for me?) It beckoned to us while we debated the pink pleather pants from Wet Seal. (Sadly, I did end up buying a pair.) And then, as we purchased our much-too-short shorts at Abercrombie and Fitch, the orange sesame aroma practically screamed to us. (Perhaps it was simply trying to be heard over A&F’s ridiculously-loud music.)
Finally, we’d give in to temptation, devouring every sweet orange bite.
Last night we thought it’d be fun to make a Panda-inspired dinner, complete with chopsticks and Chinese takeout containers from Michaels. At first I thought to make tofu. But… cauliflower just seemed way more fun! For the cauliflower, I used: this cauliflower recipe.
(If you’d prefer, you can make “popcorn cauliflower” by combining 1/2 cup any type of flour with 1/2 cup water, dipping cauliflower florets into this mixture, baking 20 minutes at 425F, then pouring the sauce on top and baking another few minutes.)
To recreate Panda Express’s “secret” sauce, I first looked at the ingredients in their bottled sauce and many copycat recipes online. Then I gathered some basic ingredients common in all of the recipes (vinegar, garlic, ginger…) and played around with the proportions until the sauce tasted just as good as better than the one from Panda Express. What follows is some really, really good sauce.
You’ll want to put it on everything!
Healthy Panda Express Orange Sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (120g)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot (30g)
- 3-4 tbsp orange marmalade (45-60g)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (30g)
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 2 tbsp + 2 tsp rice vinegar (45g)
- 2 stevia packets, or 2 tbsp sugar (Liquid sweetener will work; just use a bit more cornstarch for thickening.)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or gf tamari (30g)
- optional: 1 tsp sesame oil
- optional: green onions for garnish, crushed red chilis for a spicy variation
Whisk broth and cornstarch or arrowroot until dissolved. Now turn on the heat to low-medium and add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it’s thickened, remove from heat. Makes 300g (about 1 1/4 cup). Serve over whatever you wish: rice, veggies, soba, tofu, etc. As noted above, here are the directions if you wish to make chicken-style cauliflower (it works with tofu as well): combine 1/2 cup any type of flour with 1/2 cup water, dip florets of one head cauliflower into this mixture, bake 20 minutes at 425F, then pour the sauce on top and bake another few minutes.
View Orange Sauce Nutrition Facts
LINK OF THE DAY:
OMG. Stop it. STOP.IT.
This is mind blowingly amazing. I am a panda express junkie and thought I would never again taste the sweet sweet flavor of orange chicken but holy sh** this is so damn close.
One might say better?…
I would suggest using a sweeter brand of marmalade if you want it closer tasting to the real thing. I used a non-sweet homemade jar and had to ad extra sugar to get that “authentic” panda taste but OMG this is a life saver.
You have restored my faith in my diet. Now if only you could whip me up a big mac… 😉
Oh yum. I’ve never eaten at Panda Express (do they have those in the South? haha) but this is delicious. I just made some (didn’t have broth so I used orange juice instead of the brother… and grated some orange zest at the end) and is it sooooo good! It’s a pretty sauce too! I ate it over steamed broccoli (that was very tasty but wasn’t so pretty… I want to try it with the cauliflower too!) I’ve just been thinking I should eat more Asian food and I will certainly be making this again!
I tried a vegetable broth once and it was horrible. It didn’t taste good at all. I was wondering what kind you use and how good it is?
I like Imagine “no chicken” stock. Or if I’m not so lazy, I make homemade vegetable broth. I agree with you – some of the veg broths I’ve tried are awful!
Just made this today and…it tastes better! I love this….orange chicken is totally addictive but it makes me feel sick. This sauce doesn’t make me feel sick which is why its better. More delicious and less sick.
Suggestions for storage…tuberware. I tried a bottle but it got very thick and it would be easier to spoon :).
Thank you so much for this recipe…I’ve been looking for something like this!
The Copycat Panda Express Orange Sauce is outstanding and I wholeheartedly agree that it is better than the original! I just found your blog and can’t wait to try out more recipes. THANK YOU so much for sharing!
Aw thanks for making it! 🙂
Do you think maybe I could use like a jam or a jelly instead of the marmalade? I don’t have any orange marm and I dont think I can wait until I get some to make this! haha
Hey just curious. What did you top the orange sauce with in the picture?
green onions
Thanks! By the way I praise your blog!
I’d love to hear more about your time in China! So cool!:) Thanks for this recipe, going to try it tonight!
Very yummy! I used the cauliflower, unbreaded, and it is very tasty. Your recipes never lack in flavor!
Thank you so much for trying it 🙂
Hi Katie! Just wanted to say I LOVE your blog and I also wanted to know, because you used to live in Japan and China, did you learn the language? And if you do, do you still remember it?
Aw thanks :).
I did learn a lot… definitely not enough to be fluent, though. And Japan was so long ago that I only remember maybe 30 or so words.