Copycat Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp is one of the most popular menu items at Panda Express. You can recreate this dish at home with this copycat recipe.
Do you love Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp? You really can make it at home. Best of all you can double or even triple this recipe so everyone has the portion they wished was served in the restaurant.
If you have never tried this the dish before you have been missing out on a wonderfully sweet and crunchy batter-dipped recipe that you are going to love. Candied walnuts add a really nice touch to the batter-dipped shrimp in a sweet and creamy sauce.
The ingredients are all easy to find at your local grocery store, so in no time at all, you can enjoy this shrimp recipe tonight.
Table of Contents
What’s in Honey Walnut Shrimp?
The ingredients in the Honey Walnut Shrimp are pretty easy, and in a pinch, if you wanted to leave the walnuts out the shrimp would stand well on its own. First, let me say, the ingredients are not at all traditional Chinese cooking ingredients.
You will need some sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, honey, mayonnaise, tempura mix, sugar, walnuts, and shrimp. The sauce is made with sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, honey, and mayonnaise. The sauce is super simple to make!
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The shrimp are battered with a standard tempura mix. You can use a store-bought mix or my tempura batter recipe.
I personally fry my shrimp in vegetable oil. For frying most dishes I typically use vegetable oil. You could use peanut oil or another oil for frying. My preference tends to be generic vegetable oil.
I use a deep fryer for this, but you can use a large pot and a candy thermometer to cook your shrimp. Fry your shrimp at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a great temperature for delicate shrimp to cook.
Some recipes are great to make and enjoy the next day, this one is not one of those. I do not like the way it behaves when reheated. I find the sauce soaks into the shrimp, and it just isn’t my favorite way to enjoy this Panda Express favorite.
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Copycat Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnut pieces
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 10 ounces tempura mix
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 pound medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
Instructions
- Place the walnuts in a saucepan with water and sugar. Cook over medium to medium-high heat until the sugar begins to brown. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and pour the walnuts onto the paper or the foil and let dry for 20 to 25 minutes, spreading them out with a fork so they don’t touch each other. When the walnuts are almost dry, begin to prepare the tempura according to the package directions.
- Add enough oil to a pan to cover the bottom 2 to 3 inches; heat the oil to 350 ºF. Dip the shrimp into the tempura batter, covering the shrimp completely. Drop into the hot oil a few at a time and gently toss to make sure the shrimp cook evenly on all sides and they don’t stick together. Scoop out any batter that floats away from the shrimp to keep the oil from breaking down. Remove the shrimp after about 2 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to drain.
- To make the sauce, whisk together the honey, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. When all the shrimp are cooked, place it in a bowl and drizzle on the sauce. Stir to coat the shrimp, but be careful not to break off the crust. Sprinkle the candied walnuts over the shrimp and serve immediately. This recipe should be eaten in one sitting – this recipe does not reheat or freeze well.
Tina
Haven’t even gotten to the point of combining all the ingredients but I know for certain you will receive a 5 star rating and beyond if it were possible ☆☆☆☆☆+ … and btw your tempura kicked a** as well! You’re a freaking Rockstar sister girl! Thanks a ton😘
Esther
I would like to try this recipe for Valentine’s Day but I’m trying not to have any grains and refined sugars for a period of time. Is there a substitute for the sweetened condensed milk and the 3/4 cup sugar that you would recommend? Monkfruit sweetener? If not I can wait to make this recipe until I reach a certain weight.
Stephanie Manley
To be honest, I wouldn’t know without having to rework the recipe. I am unfamiliar with working with monkfruit. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
Suri
Made this recipe and came out delicious, better than Panda Express. I loved it!
Rivka
What’s the mayonnaise for? I’m not a chef and already know that this recipe tastes great but the fact that mayonnaise is part of the sauce has always thrown me. What does it do to/for the sauce?
Stephanie Manley
It acts to combine everything together.
Kim
Absolutely our favorite ever!
Thalia Grinch
Not very experienced, I just came here for the sauce recipe and was surprised by the weird ingredients. I was thinking: ‘will it taste like mayonnaise?’ ‘that seems like a lot of lemon,’ and ‘most of it is made from cream-colored ingredients; isn’t it supposed to be clear.’ It all came together well though. It was a little cloudy, which is different than Panda Express, but was harder to notice while on the shrimp. The main thing is that it was delicious and tasted just like Panda Express’.
Zack
I wanna try this so much. My mouth started salivating after seeing this. Cause shrimps are my favorite. And if u will give me anything made of shrimp I will be ready to eat without any limits guys!
martin garix
Gosh golly this was good.
HoustonFit
Tasted better than it does at Panda Express! Yum! I used jumbo shrimp.
MarkD
I loved this recipe, it’s very close to the recipe.
superfighters
I love making Dutch Oven Recipes ,its good.
NunyaBusiness
I didn’t know that I could make Chinese food that tasted just like it in at Panda Express. My wife was impressed, an then she made me do the dishes. Thanks, I think.
Roll the ball
thanks for your sharing. Let’s see if I can make it like that.
mangafox
Can’t wait to make this. My family will love this.
Debra Caraballo
This is my absolute favorite thing from Panda! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Foodiewife
Bless you! I LOVE this dish from Panda Express. I can’t wait to make this. I’ll report back to you.
Sandta Maccagnan
I am looking for the Beef Tips with Mushrooms recipe that Brannigan’s Restaurant had on their menu (no longer open). I believe it was part of a chain of restaurants. This recipe was so delicious and unbelievable. I’m not fond of beef but loved this particular dish. The gravy was so rich and flavorful and thick, it was wonderful. Whatever you can do would be appreciated Thanks for your good works, Sandy
Stephanie
Thank you for your request. Those recipes are the most difficult for me to recreate, as I can not taste them. I wish I could be more helpful.
Baltisraul
I just must stop reading about all these great shrimp recipes. If we were not 45 min from the Gulf I would go broke trying them all. Thanks Stef. keep ’em coming.
Stephanie Manley
I love gulf shrimp or other US-based shrimp. Unfortunately, I am starting to develop a small allergic reaction to seafood that comes from certain areas. So I never do farm-raised shrimp/fish.
I hope you enjoy this one, I think it would work well with chicken if you salted the chicken or enhanced it a bit before battering.
Baltisraul
I have a reaction to either brown, red or white shrimp. My doctor could not break it down any further than that. I take my chances and if I get the wrong one the hives only last about 30 min. The browns are probably the culprit as they have the very best taste and are the hardest to find.
christopher kates
I can’t wait to try this. My mouth started salivating by seeing this only. shrimps are my favorite and anytime you give anything made of shrimp I will be ready to eat without any limit. And this is kind of different flavor especially its sweet which i haven’t tried yet. Because I saw some extra ingredients in the recipe. So I’m definitely going to try this soon and will definitely let you know, how it turned out.
Stephanie Manley
Sure, let me know how you like this one!
Tencha
Can someone tell me if you can sub the walnuts to pecans? I have everything except the walnuts to make this recipe ughhhh.
Stephanie
You could omit them, I think almonds or pecans would give a different flavor.