Panda Express Has Good News For Honey Sesame Chicken Fans

"They say absence makes the heart grow fonder," Panda Express said, appropriating Propertius for their announcement. "Your favorite crispy, sweet entree is now back at Panda Express for a limited time." The entree this refers to is the Honey Sesame Chicken Breast. More importantly, Panda Express should update their website because, as Brand Eating reported on October 17, the dish, the return of which was revealed in August, will instead become a permanent fixture of Panda Express menus. Since its first appearance in 2013, the Honey Sesame Chicken Breast has become a fan favorite, reappearing on occasion since its initial run.

The dish, as described by Panda Express on their website's menu, centers around thin strips of chicken meat tossed about with string beans and yellow bell peppers. Then the mixture is doused in their "new delicious honey sauce" and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

The reintroduction of Panda Express' Honey Sesame Chicken Breast was more of an event than non-fans may realize at a glance. In addition to the dish itself, Panda Express released an entire Honey Sesame Chicken Breast line of merchandise in their Swag Shop to compliment the meal's renewal. These range from the more obvious, such as patterned socks, a T-shirt, and a cap, to the more timely, like the face mask. On the more out-there end of the spectrum lies the Honey Sesame Scented Candle: "Candles are so romantic. Especially when you're in love with Honey Sesame Chicken Breast." Okay.

If you count yourself as one of the Panda Express stans who would buy a candle scented with an American-Chinese fast food chicken, then you should be ecstatic to learn — if you don't know already — that Panda Express is hosting a sweepstakes. Until October 25, anyone who is over the age of 18 and is unaffiliated with Panda Express can enter on their promo website for a chance to win the grand prize of a year's supply of Honey Sesame Chicken Breast. The specific definition of a year's supply is a $365 prepaid gift card meant to cover 52 orders of the $7 dish — so, one per week.

However, here the question of how much Honey Sesame Chicken Breast you should indulge in arises. At a glance, the dish doesn't look so bad. After eating its sized serving of 5.3 ounces, you will have consumed 420 calories and 480 milligrams of sodium, or about a third of the daily amount that the American Heart Association recommends. The problem, of course, is that no one goes to Panda Express to only eat 5.3 ounces, which amounts to about a third of a pound. As Is It Bad For You comments, Panda Express works with an a la carte style, meaning you pile multiple entrees into one meal, thereby easily going over any healthy amount. Still, if you want to finally savor your Honey Sesame Chicken Breast as an occasional indulgence, that isn't the worst decision.