She has also had 16 wellness books published by major publishers including the bestselling Easy GI Diet, The Macro Method, Quit Alcohol (For a Month) and Eat 5. Her books have sold over one million copies.
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The Absolute Lowest-Calorie Entree at Panda Express
If you’re looking for a quick answer on what to order, here goes: the lowest-calorie entrees at Panda Express are the Super Greens at 45 calories and Broccoli Beef at just 150 calories.
Add this to a half-and-half side of more Super Greens and Steamed White Rice (more on those in a minute), and you’re looking at 430 calories for a double combo meal – which is pretty excellent. Who’d have thought you could eat a substantial meal at Panda Express for under 500 calories?
And as you’ll find out, it’s not the only way to do that…
10 Next Lowest-Calorie Entrees at Panda Express
If you don’t feel like Broccoli Beef, there are a lot more low-calorie dishes at Panda Express to choose from, and these are the next lowest ten.
| Dish | Calories |
| Wok-Fried Shrimp | 190 calories |
| Potato Chicken | 190 calories |
| Steamed Ginger Fish | 200 calories |
| String Bean Chicken Breast | 210 calories |
| Chili Crisp Shrimp | 210 calories |
| Black Pepper Angus Steak | 210 calories |
| Mushroom Chicken | 220 calories |
| Grilled Asian Chicken | 275 calories |
| Grilled Teriyaki Chicken | 275 calories |
| Black Pepper Chicken | 280 calories |
To check the exact calories in your favorite, though, head to the Panda Express Nutritional Information.
Low-Calorie Side Dishes at Panda Express
Sides matter at Panda Express, as you must add one to each meal. This adds to your calories, so you need to factor in the calories within them- and here are the best choices…
| Side Dish | Calories |
| Super Greens | 90 calories |
| White Rice & Super Greens | 235 calories |
| Chow Fun & Super Greens | 250 calories |
| Brown Rice & Super Greens | 255 calories |
| Chow Mein & Super Greens | 300 calories |
| Fried Rice & Super Greens | 305 calories |
| White Steamed Rice | 380 calories |
5 Other Calorie-Counting Tips for Panda Express
Normally, at this point in these posts, we use this section to adapt the foods in ways that make them able to fit into a low-calorie eating plan – but, with so many low-calorie options at Panda Express, you don’t have to do that, so we’ll use it for other tips instead.
Start with Soup
At 120 calories, the Hot and Sour Soup is the lowest calorie way to start your meal – and, as a bonus, people who start a meal with soup tend to eat fewer calories later in their meal as well.
Choose Beef
If you’re in a hurry, generally, the beef or steak-based entrees are the lowest calorie choices – this might surprise you as chicken tends to have a reputation as the lowest calorie choice, but it’s not always the case.
Add Greens to the Orange Chicken
Orange Chicken is Panda Expresses’ most famous meal – and at 490 calories a serving, you can eat it on a low-calorie plan – but to stick to under 600 calories, you’ll want to want to it as a bowl meal and pick the Super Greens as a base.
If You Want a Double Combo
Pick the Super Greens Base, and then you can combine almost any two of our top 10 low-calorie meals and still come in under 600 calories. Or, even under 500 calories if you pick, say Wok Fried Shrimp and Potato Chicken.
If you choose the next lowest base – White Rice and Super Greens you can pick Broccoli, Beef, and any dish under 215 calories as your second choice and be under 600 calories.
If You Want a Triple Combo
You can’t quite do it for under 600 calories – unless you double up your greens, but you can pick a Super Greens base, Broccoli Beef, Potato Chicken, and Wok Fried Shrimp for 620 calories. We won’t tell anyone about the extra 20 calories if you don’t!
Low Calorie, Healthy Options at Panda Express
If you’re watching other parts of your diet as well as calories, working on what to offer can be tricky – so let us make it easy with our guide to low-calorie and healthy choices in Panda Express.
The Lowest Sodium-Lowest Calorie Choice
The best choice for those watching both sodium and calories at Panda Express is the Sweet and Sour Chicken Breast – this has 300 calories, which is a little higher than many other choices, but it has just 260mg of sodium – considerably less than most other dishes.
Combine it with a Half and Half White Rice and SuperGreens base, which has 130mg of sodium, for a meal with a healthy 535 calories and just 390mg of sodium.
If you want to see what else you can order on the menu when cutting salt, check out our longer guide to eating low sodium at Panda Express.
The Lowest Fat-Lowest Calorie Choice
The lowest calorie and saturated fat choice to order is the Wok Fried Shrimp, which has just 190 calories and 1g of saturated fat.
Pick Steamed Brown Rice, Steamed White Rice, Super Greens, or Chow Fun, and your meal will still be under 600 calories – and contain no more than 2g of saturated fat.
The Lowest Sugar, Lowest Calorie Choice
A few dishes in Panda Express pack in sugar, but the Chilli Crisp Shrimp is not one of them – it has just 1g of sugar and only 210 calories.
When ordering your side dish, pick the Steamed White Rice, which has no added sugar, or the Brown Steamed Rice, which has just 1g of sugar but more fiber.
The Lowest Calorie Veggie Options at Panda Express
There are a couple of veggie options at Panda Express. But, for the lowest calorie choice pick, the Eggplant Tofu (240 calories) on a Super Greens Base – that’s 430 calories.
Obviously, to make things more filling, you could also pick any half-and-half base that still comes under 600 calories.
Lowest Calorie Gluten-Free Choice at Panda Express
Unfortunately, there are no gluten-free entrees at Panda Express.
What to Read Next
If you love Asian food, you might also want to check out our Noodles and Company calories guide. We’ve found the 37 lowest-calorie choices to order.
Or, to find calorie counts on all your other favorite chains, like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Subway, or Taco Bell, head towards the full list of our guides to counting calories while you’re eating out.
If you’re looking for a bit more weight loss advice, then you might want to check out some of our weight loss articles – for example, did you know that yoga can enhance your weight loss efforts (and not because it burns lots of calories), or that the healthier you think a food is, the more of it you might consume. See why that is in our article on the health halo -and how not to fall for it.
Who is The Wellness Nerd?
My name is Helen Foster, and I’m a health journalist and wellness author. Publications I’ve written for include Women’s Health, Reader’s Digest, Body and Soul, Good Health at the Daily Mail, and more. I have also written 16 books on health and nutrition.
