Panda Express Chow Mein

Chow Mein is the side that defines a Panda Express order: wheat noodles stir fried with cabbage, onion and celery in a soy based wok sauce, 600 calories a serving, priced at $4.60 for a medium a la carte and included in every format from the $8.50 Bowl. It outsells every other side, and for most regulars the question was never rice or noodles; it was always noodles.

The appeal is texture and seasoning doing steady work. The noodles pick up wok char in spots, the cabbage and celery stay just crisp, and the sauce seasons everything evenly without pooling. It is savory in the way that keeps forks moving, salty enough to make the drink earn its place, and reliable to a degree the entrees never quite match: Chow Mein tastes the same in Sacramento and in Orlando, and that consistency is half its reputation.

Chow Mein calories run to 600 per serving, second only to Fried Rice at 620 among the sides, with 94 g of carbs and 1,000 mg of sodium. That sodium figure is the number worth reading twice, a real share of the 2,300 mg daily reference before any entree lands. Fiber comes in at 7 g, better than the rice options manage. The half and half trick applies here at no charge: half noodles, half Super Greens keeps the flavor and roughly halves the load.

How much is Chow Mein? The published price is $4.60 for a medium and $4.60 territory across the sides, one of the few corners of the menu with national numbers. Inside formats it costs nothing extra over any other side, which is exactly why it anchors most orders.

It suits every sauced entree in the store, which is its job. Pair it with Orange Chicken for the order most people mean by Panda Express, or under Mushroom Chicken when the entree is light enough to afford the noodles. The 2019 recipe change took the chicken broth out, so it is prepared with vegetarian ingredients, wheat, soy and sesame flags standing.