My favorite 20 Better Than Takeout Recipes 🥡🥢 are easy, ready in less than 30 minutes, and healthier than their restaurant counterparts with every bit as much craveworthy flavor! These Asian-inspired recipes will help you have dinner on the table faster than you can call for takeout!
Easy Better Than Takeout Recipes
1. Easy Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Rice
This is the recipe that started it all for me—the one that proved I could make fried rice better than any restaurant, in one skillet, in about 20 minutes. Juicy chicken, scrambled eggs, peas, carrots, and green onions all get tossed with rice in a savory soy-sesame sauce that tastes like the real deal, minus the grease. It’s become our most-requested weeknight dinner, and I love that it uses up leftover rice and tastes fresher and more flavorful than anything that shows up in a cardboard box.
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2. Easy Better-Than-Takeout Shrimp Fried Rice
When I want fried rice that feels a little lighter and more special, I reach for this shrimp version. Plump, tender shrimp, peas, carrots, corn, and eggs all come together in one skillet with tons of garlic and ginger, and the whole thing is done in about 20 minutes. It tastes cleaner and fresher than restaurant fried rice, and every bite is packed with juicy shrimp and bold flavor.
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3. Better-Than-Takeout Beef Fried Rice
If you’ve been searching for the beef in your takeout fried rice, this skillet delivers. Juicy strips of sirloin or flank steak, peas, carrots, onions, and eggs get tossed with rice in a savory blend of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and toasted sesame oil that tastes incredibly authentic. It’s a one-pan, 20-minute dinner that feels like steakhouse meets Chinese restaurant, and it’s so much better than anything I’ve ever ordered.
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4. Cashew Chicken {Better than Takeout!}
This cashew chicken is exactly what I crave when I’m tempted to hit up the food court. Juicy chicken, crisp-tender veggies, and crunchy roasted cashews all get coated in a garlicky, slightly sweet soy-based sauce with a gentle kick of heat. It comes together in about 20 minutes with pantry staples, and it tastes so much better than the mall version I used to order.
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5. Better-Than-Takeout Teriyaki Chicken
This is the teriyaki chicken my family asks for by name. Tender pieces of chicken simmer in a glossy, savory-sweet teriyaki sauce that tastes just like your favorite takeout spot, but it’s done in one pan in about 20 minutes. I love serving it over rice to soak up every drop of sauce, and it’s faster, healthier, and way more budget-friendly than ordering in.
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6. Better-Than-Takeout Sticky Chicken
This sticky chicken delivers all those ultra-saucy, sweet-spicy bites you crave from the food court, but it’s ready in about 15 minutes on your stovetop. Lightly coated chicken gets pan-fried and tossed in an addictive honey-ketchup-soy glaze with as much chili garlic heat as you like. The sauce clings to every piece and soaks into rice, and I never miss the deep-fried heaviness of the restaurant version.
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7. Kung Pao Chicken
If you love bold, spicy flavors, this kung pao chicken is a must-make. Juicy chicken, red bell peppers, and crunchy peanuts get tossed in a salty-savory-slightly sweet sauce that tastes incredibly authentic, and the whole dish is done in about 20 minutes. It scratches that better-than-takeout itch every single time, without ever leaving my kitchen.
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8. Baked Honey Sesame Chicken
This honey sesame chicken gives me all the takeout vibes without any deep frying. Bite-sized pieces bake up tender with a light cornstarch coating, then get tossed in a sticky honey, soy, garlic, and sesame sauce that clings to every nook. It’s high-protein, picky-eater approved, and delivers that sweet-savory flavor I crave, minus the grease.
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9. Better Than Takeout Beef with Broccoli
It really is BETTER than takeout and it’s definitely FASTER! This EASY Chinese restaurant copycat recipe is a family favorite that’ll go into your regular rotation! Juicy beef with crisp tender broccoli for the 20 minute weeknight dinner win!
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10. Easy Pork Lo Mein
This is the lo mein recipe that keeps me out of the drive-thru line. Juicy strips of pork, lo mein noodles, red bell peppers, cabbage, and green onions all get tossed in a savory-sweet sauce that tastes like the real deal. It’s ready in about 30 minutes, totally customizable with whatever veggies you have, and my family devours it every single time.
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10. 15-Minute Sweet and Sour Chicken
🍗👏🏻🎉 This Chinese-inspired sweet and sour chicken recipe takes just 15 minutes to make and tastes way better than takeout or what you’re getting from your local food court (Panda, here’s looking at you)! It’s a family favorite and PERFECT for busy weeknight dinners!
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11. Kung Pao Chicken Noodles
🥢🥡🌶️ This better-than-takeout 30-minute recipe features juicy pieces of chicken tossed with tender slurp-worthy Asian noodles! Everything is tossed in a sauce made with soy, ginger, chili garlic which coats everything to savory perfection! A flexible stir fry-inspired recipe so you can easily add more veggies, swap the protein, or customize the spice level.
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12. Quick Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry
🧄🍤🥦 Ready in just 25 minutes and tastes so much better than takeout! My go-to for busy weeknights, it’s made with juicy shrimp, crisp-tender veggies, and a homemade stir-fry sauce. I serve it with noodles or rice for a complete meal my whole family LOVES.
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13. Beef Chow Mein
This beef chow mein tastes like it came straight out of a takeout carton, but it’s just one skillet and 30 minutes. Tender strips of marinated steak, bouncy chow mein noodles, crisp-tender veggies, and a soy-garlic-ginger sauce that coats every strand.
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14. 15-Minute Sheet Pan Beef with Broccoli
EASY, HEALTHIER than going out for Chinese because it’s baked, and FASTER than calling for takeout!! So much FLAVOR in this family favorite! It’ll go into your regular rotation! One of my most popular Asian inspired recipes!
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15. Easy Drunken Noodles
🌶️🙌🏻🫑 Drunken Noodles are spicy, savory, saucy and tossed with sliced chicken and vegetables for a classic Thai favorite! They’re better-than-takeout, ready in 30 minutes, and full of rich flavor! This comfort food Thai noodle recipe is also known as Pad Kee Mao and if you like spicy food, it’s a must make!
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16. 15-Minute Sticky Basil Chicken
🌿🌶️🍗 Tastes like it’s from a Thai restaurant but is ready at home in 15 minutes! Quick and SO easy, it’s made with the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and plenty of fresh basil!
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17. Hawaiian Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice
When I want my kitchen to smell like a Hawaiian vacation and still give me total better-than-takeout satisfaction, I make this pineapple shrimp fried rice. Sweet, juicy pineapple bumps up against savory soy, sesame oil, shrimp, veggies, and scrambled eggs for that sweet-and-salty balance I can’t get enough of. It’s ready in about 30 minutes, uses simple ingredients, and turns into a colorful skillet meal that always disappears faster than anything I could have ordered.
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18. Healthy Kung Pao Cauliflower
🌶️😍🙌 An EASY recipe that has salty-sweet-tangy-spicy flavors all in one! Don’t call for takeout when you can make this HEALTHY dish at home in 20 minutes! You won’t believe how AUTHENTIC it tastes! Vegetarian and amazing!
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19. Copycat P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef
🤎💚🙌🏻 My copycat recipe is every bit as good as the restaurant version and my family says it’s actually BETTER! It’s ready in just 20 minutes, EASY, and makes for a great weeknight meal! The extra sauce is perfect over rice and even picky eaters will love this one!
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20. Cauliflower Fried “Rice” with Chicken
Even people who don’t like cauliflower will be amazed at how authentic and DELICIOUS this healthier version of chicken fried rice tastes!! Easy, ready in 15 minutes, and so much HEALTHIER than calling for takeout!
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21. Bonus: P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
💚😋 Skip the restaurant version and make chicken lettuce wraps at home in 20 minutes!! So EASY and they TASTE WAY BETTER! One of my most popular copycat recipes I’ve ever recreated! People RAVE about these!
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