Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.
Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp has been long overdue on the blog. Crispy, sweet and savory, these tempura battered shrimps are the perfectly balanced shrimp dish and the crunchy sweetened walnuts add a wonderful texture. Best part is they’re super easy to make and I don’t charge you the extra $1 for a shrimp entree on the blog! 😉For months I’ve had it on the calendar and for one reason or another it would get bumped back. Because of that delay I’m writing this post so far removed from when I made these that I am now craving them again!
For shrimp recipes I tend to not be as spontaneous as I am with other proteins. If I have a craving for a steak or pork chops I have a pretty darn good chance one of my favorite grocers will have a sale price I can take advantage of. Shrimp, and seafood in general, doesn’t normally go on sale. If you’re a fan of shrimp, I highly suggest you watch for such sales and that you stock up as much as your freezer will allow so that when you’re having a craving you don’t end up paying more than you need.
Example? As I right this post today I called around to the stores I would normally buy shrimp from. The price for the 18-20 count is $13.99, $18.99 and $14.99 a pound. The shrimp I actually used? $6.99 a pound. I know that the savings isn’t a huge amount, but this dish is a really popular one in our house and we make it often for friends so I routinely make double or triple the recipe. Keeping my eye on sales saves me 20-30 dollars on food costs. Just some food for thought. Also shrimp freezes really well, I wouldn’t recommend this with all proteins but shrimp handle it well.
Keeping track of all the Panda Express copycat recipes here on the blog?
- Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Panda Express Mushroom Chicken
- Panda Express Firecracker Chicken Breast
- Panda Express Chow Mein
- Panda Express Fried Rice
- Panda Express Black Pepper Chicken
- Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken
- Panda Express Beijing Beef
- Panda Express Mandarin Teriyaki Chicken
- Panda Express Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Panda Express String Bean Chicken Breast
- Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp (you’re here!)
- Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon
- Panda Express Beef and Broccoli
- Panda Express Sweetfire Chicken Breast
Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup walnut halves
- 4 egg whites
- 2/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 pound large shrimp , 18-20 count, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
- scallions for topping , optional
Instructions
- Add the water, sugar and walnuts to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Boil for two minutes and remove the walnuts and dry on a dish to dry.
- Whisk the egg whites until they are foamy then add cornstarch and continue whisking until combined.
- Add the shrimp to the batter and one at a time using a fork or my favorite pig tail flipper pick up 1 shrimp at a time allowing it to drip off so that the shrimp has a thin coating and maintains it's shape.
Heat your oil in a medium sized pot on medium high (350 degrees) and fry until light golden brown, 4-5 minutes.
- To make the sauce, add the honey, mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk and whisk to combine.
- Add the fried shrimp to the sauce and coat with a large spoon.
- Place into your serving plate and top with the candied walnuts.
- Serve immediately with steamed rice.
- Optionally you can top with sliced scallions.
This was totally delicious!! We all loved it and I will make it again! But will dry off my shrimp before dipping them in batter to deep fat fry!
Hi Sabrina,
Honey Walnut Shrimp is my favorite Panda Express dish, but I agree with the other person who mentioned their quality has gone down. Sad, really, but probably cutting corners to save money. Anyway, I’m thrilled to try this recipe. I’ve read through the comments and was so pleased to see all the 5 star reviews, but I must say, some of the comments were plain downright rude. Wonder if it’s because you are a trained chef that people can feel free to show the ugly side of their posteriors. Anyhow, off to try this recipe and hope ill manners are just a fluke. (Doubt it)
I hope you enjoy it, Jackie!
Made this tonight for my mom since she misses take out! It’s so great. Made as directed, no changes. Will be adding this to our family recipes!
Next time might add some scallions and maybe some balls of honeydew melon but it certainly doesn’t need it! Excellent!!!!!
Thank you so much for the 5 stars, Jessica. I’m glad to know it was such a hit.
Could you fry these in the air fryer instead of oil?
I’ve not tested it before but if you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out.
Honey shrimp
When you put the honey and mayonnaise and condensed milk in the pan do you warm it up
The heat of the shrimp should be enough to melt it. If it doesn’t the shrimp cooled down too much.
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for awhile and finally tried it. Fantastic! The only thing I did differently was I used kikoman’s tempura batter instead. Delicious! Well definitely add to my frequently used recipes. Thanks!
Thanks for the suggestion, Vanessa.
I was surprised. This was mediocre at best. Will not use this recipe again.
Made this today and it is amazing. The only thing I did differently was I only added about a third of the sauce to the shrimp as I was afraid they would become too soggy. Served the remaining sauce on the side and we added sauce to our own plates as we needed. Thank you for a fabulous recipe that will now be a staple in our house.
Thanks for coming back to let me know, Marci.
actually my sauce tasted mostly like mayonnaise. i tried adding another tablespoon of condensed milk to mask the mayo and make sweeter but somehow still only tastes mayo. help?
I mean, it is mayo based but it sound like the shrimp wasn’t hot enough to melt it. If it’s still goopy, you can add it back to the pan to melt but not too long. Hope this helps for next time.
I used kewpie (Japanese mayo). Try that.
Add more honey! I had to do this because I used miracle whip and it gave a very strong vinegar taste, but adding more honey covered that taste really well!!
am i supposed to keep the sugar water from the walnuts ? my sauce was very thick and seemed unflavorful and not sweet enough
No need to keep the sugar water. If it was too thick, it sounds like the shrimp weren’t hot enough to melt down the sauce.
I made this tonight and oh my goodness it was AMAZING I made some fried rice with it and it was so much better than panda!! 100% going to make this again!! But next I’m going to try the orange chicken