Read this before the tables. Panda Express cooks every entrée in shared woks and shared fryers. Allergens can be present in any item regardless of what the recipe says. This page tells you what is in each dish by recipe, it cannot tell you what is safe.
The Panda Express allergen menu covers nine major FDA allergens across every entrée, side, appetiser and sauce. This page reproduces the full matrix, explains the sesame change that makes older charts incomplete, and covers the cross-contact risks the official chart does not address. Prices and calories for the same items are on our Panda Express menu.
Every item against all nine allergens. A mark means the allergen is present in the recipe as published by Panda Express. A blank means it is not a listed ingredient, it does not mean the item is free of that allergen, because of shared cooking equipment.
| Item | Wheat | Soy | Egg | Milk | Peanut | Tree nut | Fish | Shell | Sesame |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sides | |||||||||
| Steamed White Rice | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brown Steamed Rice | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Super Greens | — | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Chow Mein | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Fried Rice | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Chow Fun | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Chicken entrées | |||||||||
| Orange Chicken | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Kung Pao Chicken | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | ✓ | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Mushroom Chicken | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Black Pepper Chicken | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| String Bean Chicken Breast | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| SweetFire Chicken Breast | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Honey Sesame Chicken Breast | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Grilled Teriyaki Chicken | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Beef entrées | |||||||||
| Beijing Beef | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Broccoli Beef | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Black Pepper Sirloin Steak | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Mongolian Beef | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Seafood | |||||||||
| Honey Walnut Shrimp | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | — |
| Golden Treasure Shrimp | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Appetisers | |||||||||
| Cream Cheese Rangoon | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — |
| Chicken Egg Roll | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Veggie Spring Roll | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sauces | |||||||||
| Soy Sauce | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Teriyaki Sauce | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sweet & Sour Sauce | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Chili Sauce | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hot Mustard | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
A blank is not a safety guarantee. Every entrée is cooked in shared woks and most fried items go through shared fryers that also cook milk-containing products.Prices and calories for these items on the Panda Express menu.
If you have downloaded a Panda Express allergen menu PDF and it lists only eight allergens, it is out of date. Sesame became the ninth major FDA allergen on 1 January 2023 under the FASTER Act. Every chart published before that date lists eight, and sesame appears nowhere on them.
This matters more at Panda Express than at most chains, because sesame oil and sesame seed are used across the entrée range rather than in a handful of dishes. A 2022 chart will show a clean row for an item that contains sesame.
| Chart Version | Allergens | Sesame Listed? |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 to 2022 | 8 | No — predates the FASTER Act |
| 2023 | 8 or 9 | Mixed, depends on print date |
| 2024 onward | 9 | Yes |
| 2026, current | 9 | Yes |
Panda Express’s own website still carries both statements in different places — one naming eight allergens, one naming nine. Check the allergen count on any chart before you trust it.
Wheat is the most widespread allergen on the menu, and the reason is soy sauce. Soy sauce is made with fermented wheat, and it is a base ingredient in nearly every savoury sauce and marinade Panda Express uses. That puts wheat in almost every entrée, not just the battered ones.
Panda Express does not certify any item as gluten free. There is no gluten free menu, no dedicated preparation area, and no separate fryer. Plain steamed rice avoids wheat by recipe, but it is served with the same utensils in the same kitchen.
| Item | Wheat by Recipe |
|---|---|
| Steamed White Rice | No |
| Brown Steamed Rice | No |
| Super Greens | No |
| Sweet & Sour Sauce, Chili Sauce, Hot Mustard | No |
| All chicken and beef entrées | Yes |
| Chow Mein, Fried Rice, Chow Fun | Yes |
| All appetisers | Yes |
For coeliac disease, treat the whole menu as unsuitable. Four items avoid wheat by recipe; none avoid the shared kitchen
Fewer items contain milk by recipe than people expect, but the fryer changes the picture entirely. Cream Cheese Rangoon, Honey Walnut Shrimp and Chicken Egg Rolls all contain milk and all go through the shared fryer — which the battered entrées are then re-fried in.
Two recent changes worth knowing: Chow Fun used to be dairy free and now contains milk, and Orange Chicken is being transitioned to a dairy free recipe but the rollout is not complete. Check at your location rather than assuming either way.
| Item | Milk by Recipe | Shared Fryer |
|---|---|---|
| Cream Cheese Rangoon | Yes | Yes |
| Chicken Egg Roll | Yes | Yes |
| Honey Walnut Shrimp | Yes | Yes |
| Chow Fun | Yes, changed | No |
| Orange Chicken | Transitioning | Yes |
| Steamed rice, Super Greens | No | No |
| Most wok entrées | No | Varies |
Panda Express’s own website still carries both statements in different places — one naming eight allergens, one naming nineMost battered entrées are par-fried at the factory then fried again in store, in the same oil as the milk-containing appetisers. That second frying is the step most allergen guides miss.. Check the allergen count on any chart before you trust it.
Soy is the second most widespread allergen here and is present in almost everything savoury. Soy sauce, soybean oil and soy protein all appear across the range. Only plain steamed rice and three of the sauces avoid it by recipe.
| Item | Soy by Recipe |
|---|---|
| Steamed White Rice, Brown Rice | No |
| Sweet & Sour Sauce, Chili Sauce, Hot Mustard | No |
| Super Greens | Yes |
| All entrées | Yes |
| All sides except plain rice | Yes |
| All appetisers | Yes |
Note that refined soybean oil is exempt from FDA allergen labelling, so an item may contain soy oil without being tagged for soy.
Only two items contain nuts by recipe, which makes this the most manageable allergen on the menu — but the woks are shared, and Kung Pao Chicken is cooked in the same equipment as everything else.
| Item | Peanut | Tree Nut |
|---|---|---|
| Kung Pao Chicken | Yes | No |
| Honey Walnut Shrimp | No | Yes, walnut |
| Everything else | No | No |
For a severe peanut allergy, two items containing peanuts in a kitchen with shared woks and shared utensils is still a meaningful risk. Speak to the manager before ordering.
Shellfish appears only in the shrimp entrées. Fish is not a listed ingredient in any current item, though oyster sauce appears in some regional recipes and would be tagged shellfish rather than fish.
| Item | Fish | Shellfish |
|---|---|---|
| Honey Walnut Shrimp | No | Yes |
| Golden Treasure Shrimp | No | Yes |
| Everything else | No | No |
Both shrimp items are fried, so the shared fryer carries shellfish into anything else cooked in it.
The official Panda Express allergen menu tells you what is in a recipe. It does not tell you what ends up in your food, and at Panda Express those are meaningfully different things.
Entrées are cooked to order in woks that are used for every dish on the line. Battered items are par-fried at the factory then fried again in store, in the same oil that cooks Cream Cheese Rangoon, Chicken Egg Rolls and Honey Walnut Shrimp — all of which contain milk. Serving utensils sit in the steam table between dishes.
| Shared | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Woks | Every entrée passes through the same equipment |
| Fryers | Milk and shellfish items share oil with battered entrées |
| Serving utensils | Moved between dishes on the line |
| Steam table | Adjacent trays, splashing during service |
Panda Express states this plainly in its own materials: allergens could be present in any entrée. That is not boilerplate — it is the accurate description of an open wok kitchen.
The chart is a planning tool. What actually reduces risk is what happens at the counter, and Panda Express staff are able to help if you ask before you order rather than after.
For anaphylaxis-level allergies, an open wok kitchen with shared fryers cannot be made safe by ordering carefully. That is a judgement for you and your clinician, not a menu chart.
All nine major FDA allergens appear somewhere on the menu: wheat, soy, egg, milk, peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish and sesame. Wheat and soy are the most widespread, appearing in almost every savoury item because soy sauce contains both.
Because it predates 1 January 2023, when sesame became the ninth major FDA allergen under the FASTER Act. Charts published before that list eight allergens. Sesame is present in most entrées regardless.
No. Nothing is certified gluten free. Steamed white rice, brown rice and Super Greens avoid wheat by recipe, but there is no separate preparation area or fryer, so cross-contact is unavoidable.
Most wok entrées contain no milk by recipe. Cream Cheese Rangoon, Chicken Egg Roll, Honey Walnut Shrimp and Chow Fun do. Orange Chicken is being transitioned to a dairy free recipe but the rollout is incomplete, so check at your location.
No. Kung Pao Chicken contains peanuts as an ingredient and Honey Walnut Shrimp contains walnuts, but the frying oil is not peanut oil. Both are cooked in shared equipment.
No MSG is added. Some ingredients contain naturally occurring MSG, which is true of soy sauce, mushrooms and tomatoes generally. MSG is not an FDA major allergen and does not appear on the allergen chart.
No, it contains sesame. So do most other entrées including Orange Chicken, Beijing Beef, Broccoli Beef, Chow Mein and Fried Rice. Only seven items on the whole menu are free of sesame by recipe.
From the Panda Express nutrition page, or by asking in store. Copies on file sharing sites are often years old — check whether the chart lists eight or nine allergens before relying on it.
Yes. Cream Cheese Rangoon, Chicken Egg Rolls and Honey Walnut Shrimp all contain milk and go through the same fryers used to re-fry battered entrées like Orange Chicken. Woks and serving utensils are shared too.
Steamed white rice and brown rice list no allergens by recipe. Sweet & Sour Sauce, Chili Sauce and Hot Mustard are also clean. Everything else lists at least two.
Codes shown are based on typical U.S. Panda Express Official Website as of August 2026 and may vary by location. Check your local restaurant or Panda Express app for the latest prices.