Copycat Panda Express Chow Mein | Lite Cravings | WW Recipes (2024)
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Copycat Panda Express Chow Mein will help you satisfy your takeout cravings at only 82 calories a serving! You can make the perfect Chinese-style side dish in under 30 minutes with just a few ingredients.
Does anyone else out there count Panda Express as one of their guilty pleasures? Go head. You can admit it. And their chow mein? My absolute favorite. I didn’t really think about the food I was consuming at the time in my life when I would eat there pretty often (early 20s). I thought, if something has veggies in it, then it must be decent for you. Forget about all of the oil, sugar, and sodium pumped into this kind of fast food, right? Ever since I started eating much healthier, educating myself on the positives and negatives of certain ingredients, I knew I needed to make a healthier version of this Panda Express Chow Mein. Mainly so I wasn’t tempted to buy it again.
Well, this has been one of my most popular recipes! It was also one of the first I ever posted to the blog, and it needed a revamp. More pictures, more explanation, and better instructions. So here you go! I created this lightened-up version of chow mein about 5 or 6 years ago, so it has been a staple in our food rotation for a while.
You really feel like you’re eating fast food with this recipe. It’s the perfect side dish to other #fakeout favorites like Air Fryer Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken or Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef. You can get that decadent, Chinese-takeout flavor while consuming lower calories/points.
add protein and other veggies!
One of my favorite things about this recipe is using it as a base for many other iterations. You can add tons of veggies like bell pepper, mushrooms, beans sprouts, etc. Or you can make it a complete meal with some 0 SP protein, like chicken, shrimp, or tofu. It truly is versatile. Whatever you add, though–make sure to keep the cabbage in there. This is what keep the points and calories lower per serving. It bulks up the pasta to veggie ratio and makes it taste more authentic. Recipe originally posted on May 8. 2018. Updated July 10, 2019.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you make it, be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@litecravings) and use the hashtag #litecravingsrecipes. I sometimes miss a tag here or there, but I always check in on the hashtag.
Copycat Panda Express Chow Mein will help you satisfy your takeout cravings at only 82 calories a serving! You can make the perfect Chinese-style side dish in under 30 minutes with just a few ingredients.
Cook pasta according to package directions, under cooking by about a minute.
Meanwhile, in a very large skillet, saute onion and celery until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in cabbage and saute a few minutes until slightly wilted.
Mix sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Add pasta and sauce mixture to skillet with veggies until the pasta has absorbed the sauce, about a minute or so.
Notes
Click hereto determine your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe (if you are logged in to your WW app, it should calculate for you automatically). Serving size is 1 heaping cup. The recipe is calculated using regular spaghetti, so using whole wheat or GF pasta may alter your points slightly.
WW Green and Blue SmartPoints: 4 for 1 heaping cup. When you measure our your serving, make sure you get a pretty much equal ratio of pasta and veggies in that cup to ensure it is actually a 4 SP serving.
WW Purple SmartPoints: If you use whole wheat or bean-based spaghetti (such as chickpea), it will be 1 SP for 1 heaping cup. If you use any other kind, it will remain 4 for 1 heaping cup.
All you need is soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, oyster sauce, black pepper, and sesame oil. The flavor that is often missing in homemade chow mein is the tanginess.
Simple sauce: While chow mein sauce is unbelievably easy to make, it still brings a complexity of flavors to the dish. The careful combination of ingredients like soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce and sugar results in a chow mein sauce that has hints of both savory and sweet notes.
Yes, it is possible to substitute spaghetti for chow mein noodles by boiling it with a small amount of baking soda. The baking soda alters the pH level of the spaghetti, giving it a similar texture and flavor to chow mein noodles. They can then be used in any dish that calls for chow mein noodles.
3. Mix the Lo Mein stir fry sauce. Premix the stir fry sauce by combining soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, white pepper, sugar, water, cornstarch and msg if using. The oyster sauce and Shaoxing wine will the sauce that restaurant quality umami that is so delicious!
Cantonese style chow mein contains deep-fried crunchy golden egg noodles, green peppers, pea pods, bok choy, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, shrimp, Chinese roast pork (char siu), chicken, and beef, and is served in a thick sauce.
If you look at the ingredients of chow mein, you'll see typical, Chinese ingredients: dark soy sauce, noodles, green onion/scallions, spam or some other greasy meat, oyster sauce, and bok choy/Chinese cabbage. Also, traditional Chinese cooking is done via stir-fry in a wok or through steaming.
Spaghettis won't turn soggy or sticky too easily, and they can hold the sauce on its surface very well. Therefore spaghetti is a perfect substitution of chow mein to make Chinese style stir fry noodles.
There are actually two kinds of chow mein: a crispy version and a saucy version. Calling one crispy is kind of confusing because both versions should be crispy, but the main difference is how the sauce is incorporated into the dish.
Noodles are simply strands or ribbons of a flour/water dough, sometimes with other things like eggs or milk added. Chow mein is a dish that is prepared with particular types of noodles, stir-fried with various ingredients. It's a main dish that includes protein and vegetables, not just carbohydrates.
The sauce is what makes this dish so addictive. It's a simple umami filled mix of light and dark soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and a hint of ginger. It's super easy to make a batch of lo mein sauce and keep it in the fridge so you can easily make lo mein whenever the craving hits.
Chicken Broth Version: Combine 1 cup chicken broth (or chicken stock), 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or potato starch) in a saucepan. Mix evenly and make sure there are no lumps. Bring to a boil and keep stirring during cooking.
Soy sauce has been used in Chinese cooking for over 1,000 years. This classic dipping sauce is a staple in Chinese restaurants, as it is served with dim sum dishes and is used together with vinegar, ginger, and chili oil.
Chow mein is a dish of stir-fried Chinese-style noodles that can be served with proteins, vegetables or gravy. Chow mein is the English derivative of the word chau meing and comes from the Taishan dialect of Chinese. Chau means stir-fried and meing means noodles.
Chow mein: thin, dried noodles that are parboiled for 5-6 minutes, and fried alongside veggies and meat. Lo mein: fat, chewy noodles that are boiled for a few minutes, then added to stir-fry after veggies and meat is cooked.
Fish sauce is liquid, while oyster sauce is thicker. Fish sauce is fermented, while oyster sauce is caramelized. MasterClass says that when it comes down to taste, fish sauce is much saltier and deeply pungent and doesn't have the sweetness and subtleness that oyster sauce has.
Introduction: My name is Frankie Dare, I am a funny, beautiful, proud, fair, pleasant, cheerful, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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