Does Panda Express Serve Fresh Or Frozen Meat?

Sizzling woks are as much a Panda Express signature as its famed Orange Chicken. They're always stacked with meat and veggies when you walk into the restaurant, creating the impression that you're getting the freshest ingredients possible — even though your plate is filled from cafeteria-style basins of hot food at the counter. Panda Express frequently uses the word "fresh" on its website to describe its menu items and philosophy, which combines Chinese and American cooking for a meal you can get in just a few minutes. With all its talk about freshness, however, the meat in dishes such as Honey Walnut Shrimp or Broccoli Beef comes from the freezer.

The meat for all Panda Express dishes is shipped frozen, then thawed before it is cooked and sold. That doesn't mean it's lower quality meat or lacking in flavor, of course. Freezing is a cost-effective choice that helps reduce food waste and streamline operations, while also ensuring consistency for customers looking to satisfy their specific Panda Express cravings (vegan Orange Chicken, anyone?).

The meat at Panda Express has faced scrutiny before, with some dubious customers questioning whether the fast food chain uses fillers, low-quality meats, or other shortcuts to prepare its dishes. On its website, a page called "Panda Promise," concerning various commitments to quality and food safety, states that Panda Express "serves chicken raised without antibiotics for select items" but doesn't specify which items or discuss any of the chain's other meat products, including beef, pork, shrimp, and fish. The chain does specify it uses fresh, hand-cut vegetables and that its food won't contain artificial flavors and colors by 2025. Panda Express moves an extraordinary volume of meat, and using frozen cuts is one of the factors behind its meteoric rise from a family-run Chinese restaurant to a worldwide success.

In 2022, NBC News reported Panda Express makes 115 million pounds of Orange Chicken every year — and that figure only accounts for just the chicken thigh meat in its signature dish. It doesn't include the amount of meat used in other menu items, not to mention the additional chicken thighs required for the 2025 rollout of Hot Orange Chicken, a spicier version of the longtime favorite. With all the demand for Panda Express' Angus Steak and Kung Pao Chicken, and everything else coming out of its innovation kitchen, using frozen meat allows the company to meet customer demand while maintaining consistency and quality.