Panda Express Turns Its Rangoon Into a $2.55 Chocolate Dessert

Panda Express is launching Triple Chocolate Rangoons on Tuesday at $2.55 for a two-piece order, turning one of its top-selling appetizers into a dessert in 10 test markets. The limited-time run lasts through Jan. 11 and includes a 48-piece catering tray priced from $34 to $40.

The Rosemead, California-based Asian fast-casual chain developed the item with Ghirardelli Chocolate Company — a first for the San Francisco chocolate maker in the Asian quick-service space. The build stays close to the original Cream Cheese Rangoons: the filling swaps savory seasonings for chocolate cream cheese blended with Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and Ghirardelli Chocolate & Cocoa Sweet Ground Powder. The rangoons are fried until golden, then finished with a drizzle of Ghirardelli Black Label Chocolate Sauce and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Which markets are getting it?

The test covers Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area and West Palm Beach. That's a deliberately wide geographic spread — coast to coast, warm and cold weather markets — which is the standard way a chain this size reads regional demand before any national decision. The company has not said what would trigger a wider rollout.

Why dessert, and why an existing item?

The economics here are straightforward. Rangoons already run through Panda's fryers, use existing prep labor and require no new equipment. Layering a branded chocolate partner on top of a proven format keeps food costs predictable while adding a dessert occasion the chain can attach to nearly every entrée order. At $2.55 for two pieces, the item sits in the impulse-add range where dessert attach rates live or die.

Adrian Lok, director of culinary innovation at Panda Express, framed the product logic in a statement. "Rangoons are one of our top-selling items because they're crispy, comforting, and instantly recognizable. We wanted to take that fan-favorite format and reimagine it into an unexpected dessert," he said.

He described the texture target in unusually specific terms: "The breakthrough was crafting a warm, gooey chocolate center that is the sweet spot between a fudgy brownie and a lava cake. It's a comforting, indulgent treat you didn't know you needed at the end of a Panda meal."

What does this change for operators?

The Ghirardelli deal follows a pattern Panda has used before. A recent partnership with Buldak, the Korean spicy-sauce brand, produced the Dynamite Sweet & Sour Chicken limited-time item. For suppliers, chain co-branding is a low-risk way into foodservice channels; for the chain, a recognized ingredient brand gives an LTO built-in credibility it wouldn't earn with a house-labeled chocolate item.

The timing also matters. Limited-time dessert tests frequently anchor the fourth quarter, when catering orders and larger family bundles lift average check. A $34-to-$40 tray format puts the item squarely in that catering stream, not just the à la carte one.

For a segment under pressure — chain restaurant sales broadly slowed in 2025 as consumers pulled back on dining — dessert attach is one of the cheaper levers for growing check without raising entrée prices. Whether Triple Chocolate Rangoons clear the test bar and move national will likely hinge on attach rate and tray sales through the holiday window, not on the chocolate itself.