Eating out · American Chinese
Low FODMAP at Panda Express
Panda Express is a tough chain for low-FODMAP eating: garlic and onion are blended into the marinades, wok sauces, and vegetable seasonings before anything hits the wok, so they usually can't be ordered out. The crispy bestsellers stack wheat batter, sugary sauces, and deep-frying on top of that. A workable plate exists — grilled chicken over plain white rice with a small veggie portion — but treat this menu as a least-worst strategy, not a clean one.
✅ Safest picks
White Steamed Rice
Plain steamed white rice is naturally free of onion, garlic, wheat, and lactose — the one genuinely clean item on the menu.
💬 Order it: Make it the base of your plate and use it to dilute any sauced entree; always choose it over chow mein or fried rice.
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
It's grilled, not battered or fried, and most of the trigger load sits in the sweet ginger-garlic teriyaki glaze rather than the chicken itself.
💬 Order it: Ask for it plain with no teriyaki sauce ladled on top — request the sauce in a cup on the side and skip or barely use it.
Broccoli Beef
Broccoli florets and beef are lower in common triggers in a modest serving, but the soy-based wok sauce has garlic cooked in that can't be removed.
💬 Order it: Keep it to a half-portion over extra white rice, eat mostly the beef and broccoli heads, and leave excess sauce in the tray.
Super Greens
Kale and broccoli are lower-trigger veggies, but the cabbage adds up in big servings and the blend is seasoned with small amounts of garlic and onion powder.
💬 Order it: Order it as a half-and-half side with white rice so the portion stays small — roughly half a regular serving.
String Bean Chicken Breast
Grilled-style chicken breast and green beans are a solid low-trigger base, but the sauce contains garlic and it's wok-tossed with visible onion slices.
💬 Order it: Pick out the onion pieces, keep it to a half-portion with extra white rice, and leave as much sauce behind as you can.
⚠️ Skip these
Good to know
- •Build every plate on White Steamed Rice — it's the only side without wheat, onion, or garlic; chow mein and fried rice both carry onions.
- •Garlic and onion are mixed into the marinades and wok sauces before cooking, so 'no garlic' requests can't actually remove them — choose the lightest-sauced items and keep portions small instead.
- •Grilled Teriyaki Chicken is the best protein play: ask for no sauce poured over and get the teriyaki cup on the side so you control the dose.
- •Anything crispy — Orange Chicken, Beijing Beef, Honey Sesame Chicken Breast, SweetFire Chicken Breast — is wheat-battered and coated in sugary sauce, the biggest trigger stack on the menu.
- •Skip the appetizers: egg rolls and spring rolls are wheat wrappers with onion-garlic fillings, and Cream Cheese Rangoon adds lactose on top of the fried wheat shell.
- •Half-portion the entree and double the plain rice — big, greasy servings can set you off even when the ingredient list is borderline OK.
At a different restaurant? Photograph any menu and get every dish ranked in seconds.
Scan a menu — freeMenus and recipes change; scores reflect typical preparations and published FODMAP research. Informational only — not medical advice. Always confirm ingredients with restaurant staff.