10 Panda Express Tips You Need To Know Before Your Next Order

There's more to ordering at Panda Express than meets the eye. Knowing some of the finer points about how and even when to order can help you get better value for the price you pay, fresher food, or even free food the next time you stop by. Plus, you'll end up with exactly what you want and often more of it.

Whether you're a die-hard orange chicken lover or a firm Beijing beef fan, the main goal here is to optimize what you get for the price you pay for your favorite Panda Express menu items. We have a lot of secret tactics for you to consider; one of our tips could even save you enough that you could get an extra bowl for the same price. After all, who doesn't like to save money? Once you've got these tips down, you'll be ordering like a pro and probably enjoying your meal more, as well.

One tip you need to know when you're ordering at Panda Express is that you can save money by getting your appetizer as part of your order instead of separately. If you order your appetizers separately, you're paying more money than you should for them. The difference isn't huge, but if you're ordering food and appetizers for multiple people, then the savings definitely start to add up.

Here's what to do: Order one size up and ask for one of your entrees to be an appetizer. If done that way, you save $0.50, depending on the location. Now let's assume you want to get one entree, a side, and an appetizer. Rather than ordering a bowl plus an appetizer, order the plate. The plate comes with two entrees and a side, but you can ask to substitute one of the entrees for an appetizer. The savings are the same if you want two entrees. Rather than get a plate and an appetizer, you can get a Bigger Plate for $0.50 less. Just substitute the third entree in the Bigger Plate for an appetizer.

There are a couple of catches here. You can't make this type of substitution order in the app — only in person. Also, some managers supposedly don't allow this substitution. So, if it doesn't work, at least you've tried.

If you're looking for the freshest food and the best availability, the timing of your order matters. Basically, it boils down to getting food when it's being made fresh and before the location stops cooking for the night.

For the freshest food, plan your order for soon after Panda Express opens. While 10 or 10:30 a.m. may not be your normal lunch hour, everything's going to be piping hot and fresh. However, many locations only have their top five most popular dishes ready at opening. So, you're likely to have to wait longer if you order outside the top five. It's also good to visit when the location is super busy because employees are constantly cooking to keep up with demand. Conversely, the food is less fresh when the location isn't busy. Employees on social media say this tends to be between 3 and 4 p.m. and after 8 p.m., but you can check Google Maps' popular times to note trends in your area.

If you order at night after your location is no longer cooking, you're more likely to find that the item you want to order isn't available. According to employees on social media, some places will cook an item to order after it's run out if the customer is willing to wait for it, while other places stop cooking altogether about an hour or so before closing.

While most items are freshest right after opening, there is one item that generally is not, and that's the fried rice. So, if you only like fresh fried rice, consider ordering something else for your side if you're doing an early order.

The reason that the fried rice isn't usually fresh right at opening is that the employees are still using up the rice they had left over from the night before. The same isn't true for the white steamed rice, which is made fresh. However, one Panda Express employee on social media says that their location specifically makes extra rice to use for the next day's fried rice to get the right texture. The older rice is drier and doesn't end up being as mushy as when it's made fresh. In fact, most fried rice recipes start with rice that has at least been chilled before turning it into fried rice to prevent it from becoming mushy.

Later in the day, you're more likely to get fried rice with rice made the same day rather than the day before. So, if the idea of eating yesterday's rice doesn't sound good to you, you're going to have to make different mealtime choices or different choices for your sides.

If you want to be frugal, forget the rice altogether and make it at home instead. This strategy makes a lot of sense if you're eating at Panda Express for menu items that you can't easily replicate at home.

Ordering individual entrees a la carte is always cheaper than ordering them with a side. For example, at the time this article was published, an a la carte order of Beijing beef cost $5.40. Ordering it as a bowl, you'd end up paying $8.70, which meant you'd paid $3.30 for your rice side. Meanwhile, a serving of rice that you make at home only costs mere pennies per serving.

Not everyone on social media agrees about this strategy, thinking that the whole point of going out is to avoid cooking. However, you can easily put the rice on to cook in an Instant Pot or rice cooker with minimal effort and only about three minutes of prep time before you head out the door. Then, you'll have hot rice waiting for you by the time you get home with everything else. Some people go as far as to prepare broccoli or other veggies at home, too, adding to their Chinese feast spread. After all, it only takes about a few minutes to throw a cheap package of frozen broccoli to steam in the microwave. Plus, it makes everything you purchase from Panda Express go that much further.

If you need a delivery service, it's better to shop around with different third-party delivery services in your area rather than assuming that getting delivery directly from Panda Express is the cheapest. While we've seen some people on social media stating that Panda Express delivery is the more affordable option, this isn't always the case, depending on which services are available, how far you live from the restaurant, and what promotions may be available. Also, keep in mind that you can only get rewards points if ordering delivery through Panda Express.

To see which service would be cheapest, we tried looking at several delivery options to see how much each would cost. We input an address about seven miles away from the restaurant and found that delivery through the Panda Express website and app was often, but not always, cheaper. At the time of publication, direct delivery of a single item through Panda Express came to $3.95 for a distance of about seven miles. Grubhub's delivery fee was $5.49. Meanwhile, the same delivery charge through DoorDash was $9.99.

However, we did find two delivery services that were cheaper than going through Panda Express, making it worthwhile to shop around. Uber Eats only had a $2.49 delivery fee for a small order but would charge $0 for an order that was $15 or more. Postmates was also $0.50 cheaper than ordering from Panda Express directly, since it cost just $3.49.

Fast food chains' loyalty rewards programs can help save money, which is especially true at Panda Express if you eat there often. The rewards start with a welcome gift. When we signed up, we got 20% off an order up to $10 (although the percentage used to be 25%). The good news is that you can sign up and manage your rewards either through the Panda Express app or on the company's website.

Once you're a member, you earn 10 points for every $1 spent on qualifying orders at participating locations. Once you've accumulated enough points, you can redeem them for rewards. You'll find rewards starting with a premium entree upgrade for 200 points and going all the way up to a five-person family meal for 5,000 points. As long as you make at least one qualifying purchase each year, your points won't expire. Also, if you add your birthday to the app, you'll get a gift during your birth month. You'll also occasionally receive special offers.

There are several ways to make your order count toward your rewards. If you're in the store, you can either scan the QR code in your app or give your phone number to the cashier so your order will count toward your rewards points. If you order online, you'll need to make your order through the Panda Express website or app for it to count. As mentioned previously, you can't get points if you order through a third-party delivery service.

As is often true when you buy a combo meal or buy in bulk, getting the Bigger Plate is the better deal for one person. You'll find it to be a better deal, regardless of whether you compare it against getting the items individually or getting meals with smaller portions.

First of all, let's look at how much it would cost to get everything on the Bigger Plate separately, using the prices from the time of publication. The Bigger Plate comes with the equivalent of a medium side and three small entrees. Let's say you ordered a medium white rice and small portions of orange chicken, broccoli beef, and Beijing beef by themselves. A la carte, they would cost $20.80. However, ordering them together in a Bigger Plate is only $12.50, which saves you a whopping $8.30.

Now, let's compare it to the other available meals for one person. Bowls start at $8.70 and come with one side and one entree, which comes to $4.35 per item. Plates have one side and two entrees, and they start at $10.50, which is $3.50 per item. Then, there's the Bigger Plate that has a side and three entrees. While it costs $12.30, that comes out to only $3.12 per item. You're getting more bang for your buck out of the Bigger Plate anyway you look at it. Even if you can't eat it all at once, who doesn't like Chinese leftovers?

If you don't want a surprise at checkout, be sure to pay attention to the costs of your drink, especially if you're ordering in the store. If you pick up a bottled drink on a whim, that whim can end up costing more than you think. Beyond that, the Panda Crafted beverages cost more than the fountain drinks or any of the bottled ones.

We found the price of the most expensive drink to be $1.10 more than the cheapest option, meaning that your drink cost could easily catch you off guard. The most inexpensive options are fountain drinks. Plastic-bottled soft drinks like Coca-Cola are $0.30 more. The bottled Powerade and Bai Coco Fusion add $0.30. Then, you have glass-bottled Mexican Cokes that go up another increment of $0.30. And, finally, the Panda Crafted beverages, which only come in large sizes, are $0.20 above the Mexican Cokes.

Something else to note is that, if you're ordering through a third-party delivery service, the drink prices are much higher. We noticed on DoorDash that the drinks were $0.15 to $0.70 higher than ordering in person or with the Panda Express app or website, going up as high as $4 each for the Panda Crafted beverages. Add in the disappointment of melted ice watering down your drink by the time the delivery person gets it to you, and you might just be better off drinking what you already have available.

We wouldn't blame you if you've never really looked closely at the receipt that you get from Panda Express, but if you haven't, you've been missing out on free entrees. Granted, there are some catches to getting them, but free food is free food.

Next time you order, you'll want to look at the bottom of your Panda Express receipt, where you'll find both a website and a QR code that will take you to a survey about how your visit went. The receipt also has a unique survey code that's specific to your order.

The first important thing to note is that you only have two days to redeem the offer. So don't save it for later, thinking you can use it next week. To get it, the order also has to include a two-entree plate. If you manage to get back to the restaurant that quickly and make that specific order, you'll get a small a la carte entree free. With all those restrictions, you can probably banish the idea of a never-ending stream of free entrees unless you're a Panda Express super fan who goes there fairly often.

There are various strategies that people on social media have shared for getting larger portions when they eat at Panda Express. So, if you want to maximize your order to have more food for now and later, you'll want to take note.

Several strategies involve eating in rather than ordering carryout or delivery. If you're getting your food to go, the server has to make your order fit in a to-go package. So, the portions aren't usually as generous as they would be on an open plate for dining in. Another strategy that goes with the previous one involves using a bit of observation before making your order inside. Simply watch to see which employee is giving bigger servings and pass your turn to order until that person is available to help you.

Other strategies work no matter how you get your food. If you really just like one item more than others, go ahead and order a Bigger Plate with all three entrees the same, so that you have a mega order of that item. Although some people say that the best strategy is not to tell your server you're ordering all the same item at first, ordering each serving individually. Another person said they always get more food when they order their sides half and half and choose items such as kung pao chicken, orange chicken, and teriyaki chicken that don't have bulky ingredients that take up more space than usual.