Panda Express Blazing Bourbon Chicken Review: A Fiery Fail

Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken is back, and this time, everyone has the chance to try it. This Panda Express dish is a collaboration with Hot Ones™ and, as the name would imply, aims to be the restaurant's spiciest entree yet.

As the people closest to me know, I'm a long-time Panda Express fan and probably always will be. I love having the option to sample tasty Asian-inspired entrees alongside fluffy white rice, chow mein, and freshly sauteed veggies over the typical fast-food burger fare. I also have an affinity for the bourbon chicken served up at my local mall (classy, I know), so when presented with the opportunity to try Panda Express' new Blazing Bourbon Chicken, I eagerly accepted.

So, how does Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken taste? I've got the answer to that question and more. Read on as I reveal all the answers to your burning questions about Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken, including how much it costs, how it compares to Panda Express offerings, and my honest thoughts on the menu item.

Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken features crispy breaded diced chicken breasts coated with a sauce infused with signature Hot Ones™ Last Dab Apollo hot sauce. The entree includes green peppers, onions, whole dried chili peppers, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds for the finishing touch.

Like any other entree at Panda Express, you can order the Blazing Bourbon Chicken àla carte or as a part of a meal. Meal options range in size and include the Panda Bowl (one entree and one side), the Plate (two entrees and one side), and the Bigger Plate (three entrees and one side). There are also Panda Cub options for kids, along with Panda Bundles, family meals, and more.

Sides offered with Panda Express meals vary, with options like Super Greens, white rice, fried rice, brown rice, and chow mein available. I usually order my one side split with half rice and half Super Greens, but this time around, I opted to try the new Panda Express Blazing Bourbon Chicken against the backdrop of fried rice for the best assessment of how the entree tastes.

The price of the new Panda Express Blazing Bourbon Chicken will likely vary across locations. At my local Panda Express, ordering àla carte costs $5.20 for a small, $8.50 for a medium, and $11.20 for a large. Other crispy breaded options like always popular Orange Chicken and Beijing Beef cost the same. 

Ordering the new Panda Express Blazing Bourbon Chicken as part of a meal with sides? A Panda Bowl costs $8.30, a Plate costs $9.80, and a Bigger Plate $11.30. Other options like Panda Cub Meal, Panda Bundles, and Family Meals range in price from $6.60 to $35.00 or more, depending on what you order. Note that these meal options are subject to availability; my local Panda Express, for example, does not offer bundle meals. Be sure to check with your local Panda Express to learn more about your menu options before ordering.

Panda Express' new Blazing Bourbon Chicken is available nationwide this time around, though this wasn't always the case. As you may have heard, this isn't the first time Hot Ones has collaborated with Panda Express to give the chain its spiciest item yet. This fiery entree already made quite an impression during a regional market test at only 50 out of Panda Express' 2,300 locations in states including Arizona, California, New York, and Texas. 

Because of its successful run from 2023 to early 2024, the company has since decided to afford everyone the chance to try this hot new sensation. Don't get too excited though — although the company has released the new Blazing Bourbon Chicken nationwide, it is still available for a limited time only. Thus, if you're hoping to sample the new Blazing Bourbon Chicken, you'd better do so soon; if it's anything like Panda Express' Hot Orange Chicken, it won't be here long.

After viewing the Blazing Bourbon Chicken ad, I was reminded of the chain's Spicy Orange Chicken released just a few months back. The biggest difference when it comes to Blazing Bourbon Chicken, as far as looks go, seems to be the addition of peppers and onions, which is very reminiscent of the chain's other similar offering, Beijing Beef. Of course, Beijing Beef sports red peppers, and Blazing Bourbon Chicken features green but the concept is similar. This leads me to believe the bourbon chicken rendition will have a slightly different flavor profile than both the Spicy Orange Chicken and Beijing Beef.

As any Panda Express fan knows, some menu items rank better than others. Taking this into account, I was eager to get a chance to sample the new Blazing Bourbon Chicken entree to see how it compared to the other entrees to which it seemed so similar.

Because Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken is breaded and coated in a sweet sauce, you can probably expect nutrition facts to be similar to other entrees sold at Panda Express, like Orange Chicken. For reference, Orange Chicken has 490 calories, 23 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 820 milligrams of sodium, 51 grams of carbs, 19 grams of sugar, and 25 grams of protein per 5.7 ounces.

And while the Blazing Bourbon Chicken nutrition information wasn't officially released at the time of publication, the last time it was offered, one serving garnered 300 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, 37 grams of carbohydrates, and 15 grams of protein per 5.5 ounces. Also, considering that the dish is breaded, fried, and coated in a spicy sweet sauce, I'd imagine sodium and sugar stats are quite high.

I'm a lightweight when it comes to spice, and though I've seen reviews from people who tried Panda Express X Hot Ones' Blazing Bourbon Chicken the first time it was released and claimed it wasn't very spicy at all, I wasn't convinced. I sampled Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken ready for a tongue full of fire, especially given Panda's promise that it would be its spiciest dish yet. I held my breath, took one bite and — was underwhelmed. 

 Blazing Bourbon Chicken wasn't hardly as spicy as I thought it would be. It took several bites before I felt the burn, and even then, it was still very tolerable. Secondly, the flavor of the bourbon chicken was mediocre. It was sticky and sweet but didn't have the flavor profile I thought it would. In fact, the flavor overall was pretty neutral besides the slight BBQ notes I could taste on the back end. The onions and green peppers were a nice touch, but I wish there were more of them. I kept eating more, thinking maybe I was missing something, and even sampled a couple of bites of Orange Chicken for comparison's sake. The Orange Chicken packed way more flavor, in my opinion, and I ended up eating more of it than the Blazing Bourbon Chicken.

All in all, I was super excited to try Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken, but unfortunately, it didn't quite meet my expectations.  

When composing my review of Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken, I considered several factors, including the level of spiciness, overall flavor, how it compared with other popular dishes on the menu, and the presentation. I sampled Panda Express' Blazing Bourbon Chicken alongside the Orange Chicken and Beijing Beef for the sake of comparison, since these are the two entrees I feel are most similar to the new dish. I've also sampled and enjoyed Panda Express' Spicy Orange chicken in the past, so I used it as a gauge of how well I liked the Blazing Bourbon Chicken, despite the fact that it is no longer sold in stores at the time of publication.

Although I was given a gift card to conduct this review, it did not affect my perception of the meal.