Walmart's Orange Chicken Is Nothing Like The Iconic Fast Food Original

When grocery shopping at Walmart, you may notice a number of products from its Great Value line that look suspiciously similar to those served at your favorite fast food chains. But don't be fooled. Just because the name or the picture on the packaging looks almost exactly like what you see at the drive-thru, that doesn't necessarily mean these items will be a direct match in terms of taste. Take, for example, Great Value Orange Chicken.

An apparent attempt at mimicking Panda Express' orange chicken, the frozen entree fell more than a little short of expectations in Mashed's ranking of Walmart's fast food dupes. In fact, it landed last on the list. Our reviewer came to the decision after tasting a dozen fast food dupes from Walmart and evaluating each one on how closely it resembled the restaurant version based on memory.

Given that Panda Express is credited with the invention of orange chicken, it might not be too shocking that Walmart wasn't able to create an exact replica of the restaurant's signature dish. Yet, it seems that Wally World's knockoff didn't even come close to the real thing. The frozen version differs in multiple ways, but a lack of citrusy flavor in the sauce truly made this dupe a dud.

The fact that Walmart's take on Panda Express' signature orange chicken fell flat doesn't mean there aren't any suitable alternatives when a trip to the restaurant itself is out of the question. Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken has long been a hit with fans, not to mention that it also topped the list in our ranking of frozen orange chicken brands. A member of the grocer's Product Hall of Fame, this store-bought option more closely resembles the orange chicken at Panda Express due to its use of dark meat. By comparison, Walmart's Great Value Orange Chicken features white meat at its base, which is generally considered less flavorful than the alternative. However, even with this shared similarity, some TJ's shoppers on Reddit say the frozen entree is overrated.

That being said, making orange chicken from scratch using a recipe such as our copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken recipe may be the best way to re-create this fast food favorite at home. Even if you just re-create the sauce and drizzle it over your favorite frozen chicken, the result will probably be better than Walmart's lackluster orange chicken dupe.