Panda Express Vs. P.F. Chang's: Which Chain Makes The Best Orange Chicken?

Orange you glad someone invented orange chicken? I'm sorry, I had to. But seriously, it's a downright delicious invention, and we have Panda Express chef Andy Kao to thank for giving us what has become an Asian American staple.

According to fast-food lore, an orange light bulb went off above Kao's head in 1987. After experimenting with an earlier bone-in variation, he created what we know today as orange chicken — which is also known to be an adaptation of General Tso's chicken. The secrets? Dark meat chicken, oil from orange peels, and a mix of sweet and sour flavors aided by just a touch of chili spice. Orange chicken has since become synonymous with Panda Express. But that doesn't mean other restaurants haven't tried their hand at recreating that zesty magic. P.F. Chang's is one of them. With its own menu of Asian-inspired cuisine, the sit-down chain overlaps with Panda Express on plenty of dishes, including the beloved orange chicken.

Like I'm sure many people have, I've enjoyed both versions plenty of times over the years. But I've never actually thought to sit down and compare them side by side to see which one truly comes out on top. Well, now seemed as good a time as any. Orange chicken took the top spot in our ranking of Panda Express menu items, so expectations were high going into this taste test. I ordered both and weighed everything from flavor and texture to price and overall value. Then, I made the call. Does the original creator still do it best? Or does a higher price tag mean a better dish?

I'm well aware that these two chains do things very differently. Even though Panda Express evolved from a sit-down restaurant, it is now very much a player in the quick-service industry, where speed is the name of the game, and meals are served in oyster pails. P.F. Chang's, on the other hand, is more about a slower dining experience with a side of Asian-inspired ambiance. I mean, its entrances are guarded by giant gold horse statues, for crying out loud. This all naturally leads to higher prices at P.F. Chang's. But I tried to focus most of my comparison energy on the chicken itself.

At Panda Express, I kept things simple by ordering a small bowl with The Original Orange Chicken for $8.50. It comes with a carb base of your choice, and I selected fried rice. At P.F. Chang's, the orange chicken only comes in one form: a full-blown main entrée for $19. That comes with either white or brown rice. You can also opt for fried rice or lo mein noodles for an upcharge, but I stuck with white rice.

After treating myself to both chains' versions, I took note of how they compared when it came to ingredients, the quality of the chicken, the breading, and, of course, the all-important orange sauce. It's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison given the starkly different price points, but that didn't stop me from finding a favorite in terms of all-around taste.

Panda Express is not overly concerned with presentation. My rice and chicken were slopped haphazardly into a bowl not even two seconds after I had revealed to the employee what I wanted. The entire experience is certainly fast, but also a little bit frightening.

Once I settled in with my bowl, though, I was much more pleased with what I saw. The chicken comes in all shapes and sizes, but every chunk is covered in the same sticky, reddish-orange sauce. It's sweet before anything else, with just a touch of tang and virtually no spice whatsoever. The orange flavor is certainly present, but it doesn't pack much of a punch. The dark meat chicken, on the other hand, makes itself known through its rich, savory flavor. And when I cut into one of the chunks to investigate, the inside was almost entirely dark.

The breading-to-chicken ratio was respectable, too. I didn't munch on any hollow shells of just breading, which is always a win. The downside is that the breading itself didn't have much crunch to it. That could have been a result of the cooking or frying process, or perhaps the chicken had simply been sitting under a heat lamp for a little too long. The pieces hadn't turned entirely mushy under the sauce, but a little bit of crisp would have gone a long way.

Going from the bustle of a mall food court to the dim lights and leisurely pace of P.F. Chang's was quite the change-up. As was this plate of orange chicken compared to what Panda Express offered.

The first thing I noticed about it — and likely the first thing anyone would notice — was that it came served alongside a few fresh orange slices, which turned out to be foreshadowing for the strong orange flavor to come. The fruity taste was about 10 times more potent here than it was in Panda Express' version, almost like the chicken had been directly splashed with orange juice. Even the lighter orange color of the sauce was a pretty good hint at what was coming. My husband and co-taster thought it was a bit too heavy on the citrus. Personally, I appreciated this level of commitment to the dish's name. I also liked how that bold flavor helped the glossy sauce strike a really nice balance between candied sweetness and tang.

What really sells it, though, is the crispness and the chicken underneath. The batter is light, but its texture makes it seem fresh from the wok — probably because it was. The poultry itself is juicy white meat, giving the dish a cleaner, brighter flavor compared to that from Panda Express. Scooped onto a bed of white rice, it's a meal that's indulgent without being too heavy.

Forget reading tea leaves or cracking open fortune cookies, I should have guessed that P.F. Chang's higher-priced, ritzy orange chicken recipe would come out on top. I honestly think what we have here is two different recipes for two different reasons.

Panda Express' OG orange chicken is a quick Asian-inspired comfort food fix. It's the kind of meal you scarf down while binge-watching a show on the couch and never regret ordering. But every culinary inclination I have tells me that P.F. Chang's simply makes the better dish. It feels more elevated, with freshness on its side. It's built better, too, with juicy white meat chicken, crispier breading, and a bold citrusy sauce that stays true to orange chicken's whole shtick. Did I enjoy both? Absolutely. But there had to be a winner, and that winner is P.F. Chang's.

I will say that if there's one thing missing from either plate, it's more of that chili spice for the perfect sweet-meets-heat pairing. Both chains let me down in this area. But P.F. Chang's has an answer to that too. Its menu gives you the option to give your orange chicken a spicy makeover. I didn't try it, but I'm willing to bet that a little extra kick would take care of my last complaint.