Vegan Lemon “Chicken” (Panda Express-Inspired!)

Vegan Lemon “Chicken” inspired by Panda Express’ lemon chicken! This takeout-inspired recipe has a delicious tangy sauce with a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. This goes perfectly with rice or even noodles for a hearty meal.

NOTES FOR THIS VEGAN LEMON CHICKEN RECIPE

I use vegan mock ‘chicken’ from the brand Heura, but you’re free to use other alternatives like tofu, seitan, or even soy curls.
You can double the sauce for a much saucier dish, since the sauce for this recipe is enough to just glaze the pieces.

LEMON SAUCE

For the sauce, I mixed together the following:

1/4 cup lemon juice from 1 large lemon
3-4 tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
1 tbsp soy sauce
Pinch salt
Pepper
1/2 tbsp neutral oil
2 cloves garlic minced

Like most, if not all of my recipes, feel free to adjust everything to your desired taste! If you want this dish extra saucy, feel free to double the sauce.

VEGAN ‘CHICKEN’

For this recipe, I used Heura’s original chicken chunks

COATING THE ‘CHICKEN’ PIECES

Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add some oil to submerge at least half of the “chicken” chunks or protein of choice. While your pan is heating, add the corn starch into the “chicken” pieces. Mix to evenly coat well. Add more corn starch, as needed, to fully coat the pieces.

HOW TO COOK THE LEMON CHICKEN

Test out the heat of the oil by adding a small piece. It should immediately bubble when placed.
Add in the coated “chicken” chunks and leave to cook in the oil for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Flip over, if needed, to cook the remaining side. Once golden brown and crispy throughout, remove the pieces from the oil. Drain any excess oil.
Remove the oil from the pan/wok, but leave some to coat the pan.
Pour in the lemon sauce over medium low heat. Allow the sauce to come to boil. Once it bowls, lower the heat. You can add additional lemon slices, if desired.
Add in the fried “chicken” pieces. Pour in the cornstarch slurry. Mix well until the sauce thickens from the slurry and glazes the pieces. Turn off the heat.

SERVE AND ENJOY

Serve your lemon “chicken” and enjoy with steamed rice, if desired.

OTHER VEGAN RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE

Vegan Lemon “Chicken”

5 from 5 votes

Vegan Lemon "Chicken" inspired by Panda Express' lemon chicken! This takeout-inspired recipe has a delicious tangy sauce with a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. This goes perfectly with rice or even noodles for a hearty meal.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese, Fusion

Servings people

Calories 360 kcal

Ingredients

“Chicken”

6 oz vegan 'chicken' chunks , thawed at room temperature (see notes)
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or other rice wine like sake or mirin (optional)

Lemon Sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice from 1 large lemon
3-4 tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
1 tbsp soy sauce
Pinch salt
Pepper
1/2 tbsp neutral oil (like avocado, rice bran, vegetable, etc)
2 cloves garlic minced

Cornstarch Slurry

1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water

Coating and Cooking

2 tbsp corn starch
Neutral oil for frying
Thinly sliced lemon

Instructions

In a bowl, place the vegan “chicken” chunks or other protein of choice (see notes). Add in the rice wine (if using) and mix well. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the lemon sauce by mixing everything into a bowl. Feel free to adjust the sauce to your desired taste.
If you want this dish extra saucy, you can double the sauce recipe.
In a small bowl, mix together the corn starch and water until you have a slurry. Set aside.
Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add some oil to submerge at least half of the “chicken” chunks or protein of choice. While your pan is heating, add the corn starch into the “chicken” pieces. Mix to evenly coat well. Add more corn starch, as needed, to fully coat the pieces.
Test out the heat of the oil by adding a small piece. It should immediately bubble when placed.
Add in the coated “chicken” chunks and leave to cook in the oil for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Flip over, if needed, to cook the remaining side. Once golden brown and crispy throughout, remove the pieces from the oil. Drain any excess oil.
Remove the oil from the pan/wok, but leave some to coat the pan.
Pour in the lemon sauce over medium low heat. Allow the sauce to come to boil. Once it bowls, lower the heat.
Add in the fried “chicken” pieces. Pour in the cornstarch slurry. Mix well until the sauce thickens from the slurry and glazes the pieces. You can add additional lemon slices, if desired.
Turn off the heat.
Serve your lemon “chicken” and enjoy with steamed rice, if desired.

Notes

Vegan “Chicken” and other protein

I used 1 pack of Heura original ‘chicken’ chunks for mine.
You can also use rehydrated soy curls or extra firm tofu for this recipe.

If using extra firm tofu, I recommend to use 1/2 lb or around 220g tofu for the same amount of sauce. Add a pinch of salt to the tofu cubes before coating 2-3 tbsp corn starch or more as needed. If using more tofu, you can double the sauce.

If using soy curls, you can rehydrate 1/2 cup soy curls in hot water for 15-20 minutes or until doubled in size. Squeeze out any excess liquid. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce along with the rice wine to season the soy curls before coating the corn starch. You can double the sauce if you want this dish with more sauce.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please leave a rating or comment and share a photo on Instagram, and tag me @thefoodietakesflight or use #thefoodietakesflight 🙂

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This Post Has 4 Comments

Charisse 10 Jan 2022 Reply

Tried this last night. It was a hit on our table. Thanks for the recipe 😊
1. Jeeca 12 Jan 2022 Reply
  
  Hope you all enjoyed an thanks too!! ◡̈
Melissa 27 Feb 2022 Reply

This was delicious and super easy! Definitely a winner that we will be making again.
1. Jeeca 28 Feb 2022 Reply
  
  Thanks so much Melissa!! ◡̈

Hello there!

I’m Jeeca, a food content creator and recipe developer passionate about creating easy yet tasty and flavour-packed vegan recipes. I share a lot of Asian recipes inspired by my travels and those I grew up enjoying.

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