Panda Express Is Making an Orange Chicken Sandwich
The most famous Panda Express dish is entering the chicken sandwich wars... kind of.
Orange Chicken is the thing. There's nothing that evokes Panda Express more than that dish, even if not everyone believes that its the best item on the menu.
That stalwart menu item is getting a makeover for the "Everyone Wants to be the Next Popeyes Chicken Sandwich" era. It's turning the dish into a sandwich. At least, it's giving it a try. On September 16, you can grab the Orange Chicken Sandwich at the Panda Express Innovation Kitchen in Pasadena, California. A representative tells Thrillist that it will be available for about four weeks.
The sandwich features a white meat chicken breast topped with the Orange Chicken glaze and a spicy aioli sauce on top of shredded cabbage, butter pickles, thick crinkle-cut bread, and set atop a King's Hawaiian bun.
In case you don't have a Panda Express Google alert hitting your inbox daily -- and you don't -- this isn't the first time there's been an unexpected twist on the classic. The Panda hub previously made an Orange Chicken Burrito way back in 2017, and, more recently, it gave a vegan Orange Chicken a test on select menus. Currently, you'll find an Orange Chicken Wrap still on the menu at the Innovation Kitchen. Unfortunately, if you're not in Pasadena, there's just the original available to you. A representative says the company hasn't made any commitment to rolling it out to other locations at this point.
The sandwich might raise eyebrows, but you're a little curious, aren't you?