Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp

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--2

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 Honey Walnut Shrimp are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.

Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.
4.93 from 42 votes
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Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp

Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp (Copycat), Panda Express recipes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 625 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

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

  1. Add the water, sugar and walnuts to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Boil for two minutes and remove the walnuts and dry on a dish to dry.

  3. Whisk the egg whites until they are foamy then add cornstarch and continue whisking until combined.
  4. 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.
  5. Heat your oil in a medium sized pot on medium high (350 degrees) and fry until light golden brown, 4-5 minutes.

  6. To make the sauce, add the honey, mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk and whisk to combine.
  7. Add the fried shrimp to the sauce and coat with a large spoon.
  8. Place into your serving plate and top with the candied walnuts.
  9. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
  10. Optionally you can top with sliced scallions.
Nutrition Facts
Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp
Amount Per Serving
Calories 625 Calories from Fat 243
% Daily Value*
Fat 27g42%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 293mg98%
Sodium 1032mg45%
Potassium 222mg6%
Carbohydrates 66g22%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 45g50%
Protein 29g58%
Vitamin A 15IU0%
Vitamin C 4.6mg6%
Calcium 193mg19%
Iron 2.9mg16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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 are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.
Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp are fried with a tempura batter and quickly tossed in a honey sauce and sweetened walnuts.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. 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!

  2. 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)

  3. 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!!!!!

  4. 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!

  5. 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.

  6. 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?

    1. 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.

    2. 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!!

  7. am i supposed to keep the sugar water from the walnuts ? my sauce was very thick and seemed unflavorful and not sweet enough

    1. 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.

  8. 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

  9. First time I made this with cooked shrimp I had in the freezer. I didn’t do the batter. Turned out great. Now I’m making it with chicken. I am sure it will be great!

  10. This recipe is the real deal for all of you Panda Express lovers! I also made it with chicken thighs and it was awesome too! Thanks for sharing this!!! Being able to make one of my favorite restaurant dishes makes me feel great! Youre Awesome Sabrina!

  11. The recipe is good, tasty. But the sauce comes out very think and I had a lot of left overs. Could easily make half the sauce next time.

  12. This was amazing!! My hubby eats this every time we go to Panda Express and he says it’s spot on!!

  13. I am obsessed with Panda’s honey walnut shrimp, but their quality has gone down and there’s never enough of the honey walnut part… now I get as much as I want and its even better than Panda 😀 at first I thought the glaze sounded weird, but was actually ON POINT! And now that I found your blog, YAAAY, I can’t wait to try all your other copycats!

  14. Omg this tasted amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe, it’s identical to Panda Express! I will never buy it again 🙂

  15. Hi! I’m so excited to make this! Question, am I supposed to be adding my whisked egg whites and cornstarch to sugar water left over from the walnuts? Sorry if it’s a stupid question, I am horrible reading recipes lol. TIA

    1. Not a stupid question at all. You’ll be adding the whisked egg whites with just the cornstarch. The sugar water is discarded after the walnuts are done in it. Enjoy!

  16. Oh my goodness! This taste just like the food at Panda Express! I will never buy again at Panda Express because I can make my own. It was soooo DeLish! Thank You!

  17. Just cooked this. Followed the recipe to the letter. It was perfect. Thanks!
    I’ll be back to your site again.
    My son had a taste for Panda and since we are safe at home, I made this. It’s all going in a matter for 20 min.

  18. I plan on making this tonight but with chicken breast pieces instead of shrimp. Do you think it will come out ok? Have you tried this with chicken?

  19. This recipe misses the mark. The sweetened condensed milk has no place here. Should replace with a tablespoon of the leftover liquid from glazing the walnuts.

    1. The sweetened condensed milk DOES have a “place” — the sauce would be too runny otherwise. If you’re making a point because you’re a Vegetarian then you should probably not be eating the shrimp either.

  20. I love honey walnut prawns (shrimp) but I just want to referred chicken mushroom and zucchini with steamed white rice at Panda Express. Next Saturday night, I will cook this for my family dinner at home.

  21. I have made Copycat Honey Walnut Shrimp before and the shrimp came out nice and crispy. With this recipe, the coating was soft and chewy. I let the excess drip off and the oil was nice and hot, so not sure what went wrong but I’m going to find the other recipe. Also, the mayo mixture was thicker than Panda and the last recipe I used, though the flavor was good.

    1. So sorry it didn’t turn out for you! I haven’t had that happen in the past. If you want to troubleshoot, feel free to email me at contact @ dinnerthendessert . com

  22. Absolutely delicious!! My daughter loves this and can no longer eat Panda Express because of tummy issues. This is perfect! No upset tummy, and it’s quick and easy to make. Thank you so much!!

  23. Not sure where the cook time came from on this recipe, but this is not a 30 minute or less recipe. For the amount of time and effort needed for this recipe – I’ll just pay extra at Panda Express.

  24. Absolutely perfect! I personally made like 50% more sauce because I like my stuff to have more sauce (1/3 cup mayo, 1/4 cup honey, 2 tbsp s.c. milk). Love this recipe and I’m so impressed with how accurate it is!

  25. Hi! Looks delicious but what would you recommend as a replacement for walnuts?? Used to love ordering this when I was younger but I’m allergic to walnuts now :,(

        1. Your comment doesn’t really make sense. Peanuts are NOT tree nuts and some people are allergic to those too, so…

  26. I haven’t tried the recipe yet, so my “5 star Rating” is probably not completely legit, but I didn’t want to bring down the average, and I am sure that it will taste great. The reason I am commenting is that the grocery store Sprouts often has Jumbo (16-20) or even Colossal (13-15) for either $5.99 or $6.99 per pound. Sometimes it is just over the weekend, but often it is all week. Sold in two pound bags. And they taste GREAT. Just thought I would share. I really enjoy your blog, and I am looking forward to trying more of the recipes.

      1. Typing this as I sit in the grocery store parking lot. So is the egg whites & cornstarch what makes up the tempura batter? And the mayo, honey and swt. Cond milk is to glaze the shrimp, correct? Thanks for your quick response in advance. 🙂

    1. I’ve made this recipe twice so far and it just knocks my socks off, the only thing I changed was instead of do the Mayo honey milk mixture I just used to excess sugar water walnut sauce with honey. To die for!!!

  27. Is there any way i could substitute the mayo? I know its silly but i just cant bring myself to willingly add mayo to my food. The thought of it makes me sick. (Had a bad experience as a child).

    1. I’ve not tested this recipe using it so if you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!

  28. this recipe totally rules dude!! honey walnut shrimp has been my favourite food all my life and i cant find it where i currently live so im glad im now able to make it whenever i want!!

  29. Just made this for dinner and it was absolutely delicious!! I say way better than Pandas. The flavor was fresh and amazing. We just moved to Alaska and our Asian food options are very limited and my family needed this. Thank you!

  30. Hi,

    My walnuts turned out soggy and not very sweet. Should I have added them after the water & sugar had cooked down to syrup? Also my shrimps turned out soggy too, what did I do wrong?

    1. Yes, you’ll want to add the walnuts once the syrup is boiling. So sorry for the confusion. If your shrimp was soggy, it sounds like they either had too much batter or the oil wasn’t hot enough to fry them in. Hope this helps for next time.

  31. This dish was delicious! Thank you for this recipe! I have a major sweet tooth, so I added a little more condensed milk to the sauce. Otherwise, followed the recipe as directed. So good! Thanks again!

  32. just made this from your recipe, absolutely amazing! thank you very much for posting this so i can continue to make it for my family and I.

  33. Can you say simply amazing!!! I made this for my family per my daughters request and it was an absolute hit!!!

  34. I shell out a little more for quality shrimp always. Y’all have no idea what they coat cheap farmed shrimp with and trust me you don’t want to know. Wild gulf shrimp always!

  35. OK, I actually made this recipe and IT TASTES EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE AT Panda Express!!! 10/10 would make again!

  36. This recipe is good, but a lot sweeter than the Panda shrimp. Instead of using the sweetened condensed milk, I used sweet chili sauce to taste and it’s perfect!
    Thank you!  So easy to make and not greasy at all. Love it. 

  37. Great recipe! My sauce was a little too creamy for my taste, but then I realized that I put in the wrong measurement for the condensed milk & added too much. Regardless it was still pretty darn good, the coating on the shrimp was so crispy! I did make sure to preheat my fryer & I also increased the temp to 375 just to make sure they were brown & crispy & I adjusted the cooking time accordingly. You definitely want to use fresh shrimp, frozen just doesn’t compare. Will absolutely be making this again very soon!

  38. What can I substitute for the sweetened condensed milk? Seems a waste to buy a can and use only 1T. I never use it otherwise. Thank you.

    1. There really isn’t a substitute for it, sorry. I would suggest finding a few other recipes that require it and make those during the week too so it’s not a waste. Enjoy!

    2. I didn’t have sweetened condensed milk so I substituted 1tbsp of sourcream plus 1 tbsp of sugar and it tasted really good!!

  39. So not realizing I purchased previously cooked frozen shrimp, can I still use them sine they are previously cooked or will they overlook and be rubbery?

    1. I’m so sorry your question was caught in my spam folder 🙁 I know it’s kind of late but no, you won’t be able to use it. It would turn out rubbery and not very good.

  40. I love this recipe and it turned out really well for me but while it is good im wondering if it could be more panda like. with that said my question is what brand honey and mayonnaise did you use for this recipe

    1. So glad you enjoyed it! I use Kirkland Honey because of it’s authentic taste and you really can’t beat the price. For mayonnaise, I use either Best Foods or Duke’s. Though for this recipe, I used Best Food Mayonnaise. Hope this helps!

  41. I’ve had this recipe pinned for a while now, and I finally made it last night I was skeptical being that from the comments most people only said they wanted to make it and not actually stating if they did. Also I’ve made quite a few things from Pinterest that were FAILS again not making me anxious to make this one thinking the results would be the same. Anyway this was a good copycat recipe. I did make a few tweaks to my liking, I lightly seasoned my shrimp before putting them in the tempura batter, I let the walnuts cook a little longer in the sugar mixture (2 minutes was not enough to my liking for the candied taste) and I added a little  more honey and some water to the sauce to turn it into a glaze. I like mayo but the sauce was a little too tangy for my liking, adding more honey and water toned down the tang (however the sauce did taste good as is, just too tangy for me). The shrimp came out perfect I could not stop sampling them. I would make this recipe again and again, my kids and husband enjoyed the dish, great copycat recipe.

  42. One of my all time favorite meals since finding this recipe in March ! Have made at least 5 times since then and am making tonight !! Love it ! Why order out when u can make your favorites at home ! Thanks for sharing this recipe !

  43. I made a half batch of this tonight to try, and my daughter loved it. I left out the walnuts since I knew she wouldn’t eat them anyway. My husband and I only got to eat a few shrimp because my daughter ate the rest. I’ll be keeping this one in the recipe box. Thank you.

  44. Could I use frozen thawed shrimp for this recipe? I’m very nervous about using raw ones i’m no chef!

  45. Hi Sabrina, looking forward to making this recipe. I have two questions :
    1 – Is the sugar/water mixture needed after the walnuts are candied? 2 – are the sauce ingredients just “added” together or are they heated, or cooked? Sorry, I am a very amateur cook.

    1. After the walnuts have boiled for 2 minutes in the sugar/water mixture, you no longer need the mixture. For the sauce, the ingredients are just mixed together in a bowl, no need to heat or cook as the shrimp are already cooked. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. It’s such a great dish. I hope you enjoy it!

  46. Made it (used a basic batter for the shrimp before I realized that was included!) and regardless it was fantastic! Will definitely make it again and again and again!! (I tried to rate it with 5 stars but it won’t let me.)

  47. This was SO good!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Definitely a keeper. Next time I will try baking it though to reduce calories and greasiness.

  48. Hello Sabrina. Can’t wait to try this recipe. I saw it after I stopped at Panda Express..lol. i was wondering if you have any idea on the best way to reheat. I was surprised by the mayo!

    1. Wet paper towel over the entree in a glass bowl. Heat for 30 second increments. The hard thing about this dish to reheat is the “sauce” basically would disappear in the toaster oven. So it is either crispy and dry or more moist and soft.

  49. I recently tried panda expresses walnut shrimp for the first time and love it! I crave it sometimes. I am looking forward to trying to make it myself. thank you for the recipe.

  50. Just found this recipe & intend to make it soon. If you have a SPROUTS close to you, they often have 16-20 size shrimp for $7.99. I bought four lbs today.

  51. Made it tonight! It was my son’s favorite dish, but we discovered that he can’t have corn – corn starch, corn syrup, etc. I looked for a sauce recipe after I had already fried the shrimp. Just used tapioca starch/flour on defrosted raw shrimp and fried in palm shortening/duck fat combo. It was a huge hit. Thank you!!!

    1. Your substitutions (especially the duck fat) are making me hungry at midnight! Sounds divine! So glad you enjoyed the recipe too 🙂

    1. Sorry this comment took so long to get to, it ended up in my spam filter somehow! Sorry I just found a huge number of comments over the last three months that was snared in the spam filter and I am trying to follow up with each one now even though in your case I am way too late to help. The shrimp are raw before the battering and frying.

  52. I loved it! My family thought the glaze was a little too heavy (I loved it though.) surprisingly making my own tempura tasted better than the store bought one, I could taste the shrimp better!

  53. Made this tonight and for some reason the sauce looks and tastes absolutely nothing like panda and the shrimp tastes extra shrimpy..):

    1. Would love to trouble shoot with you. Can I ask what you mean by extra shrimpy? The sauce is a pretty normal honey walnut shrimp sauce, send me an email if you would like (and if you possibly have a photo of the outcome it would def help troubleshooting). contact @ dev.dinnerthendessert.com

    2. In my experience using frozen shrimp, I get the precooked. The uncooked does tend to taste “shrimpy” at times.

  54. Thank you for posting the recipe. This is the only dish that I go to Panda Express for and I’m very excited to try it out at home. I was wondering if there was anything I could substitute the mayo in the sauce for, or if I could just omit the mayo all together.

    1. No, the mayo is pretty essential to it unfortunately. Every recipe for walnut shrimp I’ve ever seen uses mayo as the “coating.” Perhaps you could experiment with Just Mayo if it’s an aversion to using regular mayo, I know Just Mayo is vegan but I have no personal experience how it would translate in this setting.

    2. Follow your Heart Vegginaise works well. It alters the flavor the tiniest bit, since it’s not so “eggy” but it’s hardly noticeable!

  55. YOU ARE A PURE MASTERMIND!!! This is such a great site for copycats!!! I found this today and made the rice, chow mein, wal nut shrimp and orange chicken!! My family live pandas being we are from cali and we now live in iowa its a 1 hour drive from us so this is great!!!

    1. I’m so glad I could help you recreate a beloved restaurant experience! Thanks for coming back to let me know!

  56. Hi Sabrina! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I absolutely love the honey walnut shrimp at Panda Express, and I am so excited to try the recipe out. I was just wondering what brand of white sugar you used for the recipe? Thank you!

    1. Any regular granulated sugar is fine, like C&H or Domino. You just don’t want the grain to be too large or it won’t melt and it’ll taste grainy.

  57. A few weeks ago my daughter and I stopped to have dinner . They had a new shrimp
    Dish. I’m very allergic to chicken and I always ask if anything is fried in the same oil as the chicken is. I have always be able to get the shrimp, but the server behind the counter said everything is cooked in chicken fat now. I want to know if this is actually true

    1. Sorry, I don’t have any information on that for you! I know that if you cook this recipe at home, you won’t have to worry about that!

    2. Fran, a lot of chicken has garlic. My wife gets very sick to her stomach when she eat any type of garlic.

  58. I just got done making and eating this. Cooked the shrimp in my deep fryer, it turned out really well. I think it tastes just like Panda Express. Thanks so much for the recipe, I will be making this a lot!

  59. Did anyone really cook this other than saying looks good and will try it? I don’t understand why it has 5 stars! The breaded shrimp didn’t come out crunchy as well as the walnut. I stopped cooking the shrimp because I wasn’t happy it came out soft.

    1. Hey Marilyn, would love to troubleshoot with you. I make the recipe pretty often and recipe test pretty thoroughly. I’ve never had an issue with soft shrimp. It could have been an issue with your oil temperature off the top of my head. Were you using a thermometer? If you want to discuss further please feel free to email me at contact @ dev.dinnerthendessert.com

  60. That is one of my favorite things to get at Panda Express! I need to try making it for myself!

  61. I’ve always loved this as an add on to our meal- but wish Panda had a non breaded shrimp entree permanently. I’ll have to give this a try at home.

  62. Yummy! This looks amazing. I need to try this out. I already love Panda Express, so I bet I’d love this.

  63. Shrimp isn’t wildly popular with my kids, but I think it’ll come with age. This recipe, however, might be the transition they need to be on Team Shrimp!

  64. This recipe looks so delicious and easy to make. I will have to get the ingredients i need to make this on the weekend.

  65. OMG, I am drooling on my keyboard! This looks amazing and it has some of my favorite flavors. I can’t wait to try this dish.

  66. You must have been reading my mind. I’ve been wanting Panda Express lately, but just can’t seem to make it there. Now I can make their dishes right at home!

  67. Oh my goodness, that is one of my favorite meals over there, yet I had never thought of making it myself. I will have to give it a try… Thanks so much for sharing

  68. NOW THIS is awesome! I can’t wait to try this! I am hungry so I might just eat this right off the screen!

  69. This looks amazing!! I love to make copycat recipes at home like this, plus it makes Chinese food so much better for you when cooked at home.