Road Trippers, Don't Trip: These Panda Express Options Are the Healthiest Items on the Menu

Published on Aug 29, 2016 at 7:05 PM

If you're headed on a road trip and don't have a bounty of health-food options on hand, it's all good — you CAN eat healthy at a fast food restaurant (to an extent).

If you're craving Panda Express but don't want to let the orange chicken and chow mein do damage to your waistline, then don't fret, because today we have for you the healthiest items at Panda. The Wok Smart menu covers many healthier, lighter options that help you navigate the menu when you're on the go; we threw in a few recommendations of our own, too.

String Bean Chicken

A staple on the Wok Smart menu is Panda's String Bean Chicken. Green beans offer tons of fiber, as well as essential vitamins, calcium, potassium, and iron, while the chicken offers up 14 grams of satiating protein. Plus, it's only 190 calories.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken is a simple, tasty entree dish offering a whopping 36 grams of protein at only 300 calories. The lean chicken also only has four grams of fat and would pair nicely with Panda's steamed veggies and brown rice.

Mixed Veggies

This 80-calorie bowl base or side dish complements the protein-based entrees with nearly zero fat and healthy carbohydrates. The Mixed Veggies includes cabbage, carrots, string beans, zucchini, and broccoli and even has four grams of protein per serving.

Eggplant Tofu

The spicy Eggplant Tofu vegetarian dish is not on the Wok Smart menu but still offers a decent amount of plant-based protein (seven grams from tofu) with under 350 calories per serving. Be mindful that it's slightly higher in fat, with 24 grams.

Broccoli Beef

At only 150 calories, Broccoli Beef offers nine grams of protein. A healthy serving of broccoli complements the beef, offering vitamins, fiber, protein, omega-3s, and potassium.

Brown Steamed Rice

The Fried Rice rings in at 520 calories with 16 grams of fat, 850 milligrams of sodium, and only one gram of fiber. Swap it for Brown Steamed Rice; you'll save 100 calories and 12 grams of fat (brown rice has only four) while cutting down on the sodium (only 15 milligrams!) and adding in a few grams of fiber. And you get more food, too — the serving size of steamed rice is over an ounce more than the fried rice serving.

Black Pepper Chicken

Although the Black Pepper Chicken has a high sodium count (1,140 mg compared to the average dish's 500), it's still on the Wok Smart menu for a few reasons: it's low calorie (280), low carb (14 grams), and low sugar (seven grams), and it provides 13 grams of protein.