Panda Express Just Launched Its Spiciest Dish Ever
What happens when you combine Panda Express with the legendary spicy flavor of Buldak? Perhaps Panda’s most delicious—and spicy!—menu item yet. The Chinese-American chain just partnered up with Samyan to launch the Dynamite Sweet & Sour Chicken, available from today until October 7 at participating locations.
“We all know and love sweet and sour chicken – it’s a classic for a reason. But we asked ourselves: What if we cranked up the flavor a notch? From there, our Dynamite Sweet & Sour Chicken was born,” Evelyn Wah, Vice President of Brand Innovation at Panda Express, tells Eat This, Not That!. “We teamed up with our friends at Buldak to create the ultimate ‘swicy’ experience, combining our perfectly balanced sweet and sour sauce with Buldak’s legendary heat. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and spicy that our Gen Z fans have been craving. This dish is all about bringing people together with a fun, fiery twist on a favorite, and we can’t wait for you to try it.”
So what exactly is this new Dynamite Sweet & Sour Chicken? Panda Express describes it as the perfect combination of traditional sweet and sour sauce and Buldak’s delicious spicy heat: We’re talking crispy marinated chicken breast bites coated in a light puffed rice batter, wok-tossed with red bell peppers, onions, and a custom-formulated Buldak sauce, all created by Panda Express and Buldak chefs.
This is Buldak’s first-ever U.S. partnership with a restaurant brand and they picked a good one. “Buldak and Panda Express believe food is a universal language that connects us all,” said Youngsik Shin, CEO of Samyang America. “We’re so excited to make this bold move with Panda Express to craft a dish that’s a delightful, shared experience, overflowing with innovation, creative spirit, profound cultural respect, and that undeniable spice of life.”
The new Dynamite Sweet & Sour Chicken is available in select locations including New York, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Phoenix (Prescott), Denver, Atlanta, Seattle-Tacoma, Washington D.C. (Hagerstown) and Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne. Check if your local Panda Express has the new item here.
Chicken lovers also celebrated the recent return of Panda’s Hot Orange Chicken, a fan-favorite menu item, available nationwide until September 30 (while supplies last). “Recently I tried the Hot Orange Chicken for the first time and oh man. I typically eat Panda Express once a month or maybe once every 2 months. Since Hot Orange Chicken has re-released for a limited time I’ve had it 4 times this week alone,” one very happy customer said. “Had it yesterday and was actually pretty bomb. Besides the spice being good I feel like it was more crunchy vs normal orange chicken,” another agreed.
Even Panda express employees are obsessed with the Hot Orange Chicken, both for cooking and consuming. “Every time I have my employee meal, I get it for one of my entrees! It’s the perfection of Orange Chicken, a balance for the overwhelming sweetness of the original,” one Redditor said. “It’s also my favorite to cook. Flipping a wok with only one bag of orange is so refreshing compared to the two and three bag arm workouts I’m used to… and it’s satisfying to watch the sauce actually get tossed into the batch too lol,” another agreed.
Grab your Dynamite Sweet & Sour Chicken before October, and enjoy!
