16 Sandwiches At Panera Bread, Ranked Worst To Best

Panera Bread is an absolute staple in the fast-casual dining scene, and with such an expansive menu, it's pretty obvious why the chain has had such long-standing success. Some go to Panera for its salads and bowls, while others go for the baked goods. Of course, I'd be remiss not to acknowledge Panera Bread's sandwiches, which range from simple tuna salad and decked-out cheesesteaks to limited-edition croissant toast sandwiches. 

Though Panera's menu changes quite often, and sandwiches are no exception, it does have some menu mainstays that you can count on being there pretty much anytime you go. To figure out which of Panera's sandwiches are the best of the best, I purchased many of them and put them to the taste test, ultimately ranking them from worst to best. In order to do so, I considered which ones simply tasted the best, had the best filling-to-bread ratios, had particularly tasty sauces or toppings, and ultimately which ones left me impressed and satisfied (or, on the contrary, those that left me utterly disappointed). 

I simply adore a good Caprese sandwich, but Panera's iteration of the classic just didn't work. I will acknowledge that this sandwich typically comes with arugula — and my store was out — though I really don't think a handful of greens would have done much in improving this disaster.

There were a few things wrong with this sandwich, and the first issue is visible in the picture: The bread-to-filling ratio is all off. This sandwich was so incredibly bready with virtually no filling, so it's a win for ciabatta lovers I suppose, but a big loss for anyone who's looking for an actual sandwich. The measly tomato slices could barely hold their own against the sheer amount of bread, and there was too much mozzarella cheese and not nearly enough basil. The proportions of this sandwich were all off, and even regardless of that issue, the flavor of the sandwich was just too bland and forgettable to be worth ranking any higher.

It's hard to beat the comforting simplicity of a grilled cheese sandwich, but I do think it's ultimately a sandwich best enjoyed at home as opposed to ordered from a restaurant. Panera's grilled cheese was super forgettable all around, and though it is pretty hard to mess up such a classic bread-and-cheese formula, this sandwich still somehow managed to just not quite get it right.

The biggest issue here is that the bread was more soggy than toasty, and the cheese had lost any meltiness by the time I got it home (not really Panera's fault, but again, a good reason not to bother with restaurant grilled cheeses that you plan on bringing home). The flavor of the sandwich was okay, but it's hard to compare a cheese sandwich to others loaded with more exciting veggies, meats, or sauces. If you were to order this grilled cheese in-store with a side of tomato soup, I could see the potential, but otherwise it's a skip.

Though I'm not someone who's necessarily obsessed with ranch dressing, I can appreciate the fact that it pairs particularly well with both chicken and bacon. So naturally, Panera's chicken bacon rancher sandwich should've been a huge success, but something went a little bit wrong somewhere in the execution.

There was virtually no bacon on my sandwich — which was my biggest grievance — though this may have been a mistake that my Panera location made as opposed to the standard for the sandwich. Otherwise, the sandwich was somehow incredibly dry despite featuring ranch dressing, and I blame that on a poor bread-to-filling ratio. The ranch flavor paired with the chicken was tasty, and this sandwich comes on a black pepper focaccia, which makes it a little more intriguing. Unfortunately, even ranch dressing and a peppery bread couldn't save this sandwich from being a little too dry and a little too lackluster.

Tuna salad can be a bit of a polarizing sandwich, though it's one that I've always been pretty fond of. Sure, sometimes tuna salad can be a little too mushy or a little too fishy, but for the most part, it makes for a pretty mild and tasty sandwich. Panera's tuna salad definitely fits into that "mild" category, and while I certainly don't think this is a bad thing, it was hard for this humble sandwich to really stack up to others on this list.

Something I did appreciate about this sandwich is that the tuna salad wasn't too fishy, but it also didn't have a whole lot of flavor all around. So, pair a bland tuna salad with fresh but plain toppings, like tomato and lettuce, throw all of that onto sourdough, and you've got a perfectly fine — but very boring and forgettable — sandwich. I appreciated that there was nothing offensively wrong with Panera's tuna salad, but with so many other tastier options, I don't really see why I'd return to this one in the future.

Closely following the tuna salad sandwich, but slightly better and tastier all around, is none other than Panera's cranberry walnut chicken salad sandwich. This sandwich is a limited-time offering, though I'm not exactly sure it's worth flocking over to your nearest Panera location to get your hands on (maybe only if you really, really love chicken salad).

Much like with the tuna salad sandwich, I found this chicken salad sandwich to be very unoffensive and tasty enough, but ultimately a little too bland. The chicken salad did, no doubt, have more flavor than the tuna, thanks to the addition of cranberries and walnuts, but a few errant dried fruits and nuts can only do so much heavy lifting. This sandwich did have a nice freshness to it, so I could see it being worth your while when you want an easy lunch that isn't super heavy or loaded with greasy ingredients. But, again, Panera simply has tastier sandwiches on its menu, so this chicken salad could realistically only rank so high.

Panera's turkey and cheddar is another example of a decent sandwich that ultimately just didn't leave a lasting impression. This sandwich was perfectly fine, good even, and especially ideal for those who want something as simple and mild as possible.

This turkey and cheddar sandwich features sliced turkey, white cheddar, lettuce, red onion, tomato, and mayonnaise on sourdough — all the fixings for a good sandwich, but ultimately a very bland one. Even a little Dijon mustard would have gone a long way in adding some intrigue to this sandwich, or maybe some acidic toppings like pickles. However, I enjoyed this plain-Jane sandwich as is, but I didn't love it. I don't necessarily see why I'd order this one again, but I can see the appeal for parents with picky kids or those who just want a mild classic for lunch.

Panera's toasted Frontega chicken sees the return of the black pepper focaccia, but the hefty bread choice overpowers the entire sandwich. I did enjoy this sandwich overall, and I appreciated the fact that it was indeed loaded with quite a few filling ingredients. And yet, after a few bites, it really just felt like a whole lot of focaccia and not a whole lot of anything else.

The everything else in question — aka the filling of this sandwich – includes pulled chicken, mozzarella cheese, basil, red onion, tomato, and a chipotle aioli. It definitely felt like the chipotle aioli was doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the flavor department, because despite having quite a few filling ingredients, the focaccia outshined everything else. This sandwich wasn't bad, but once again, the bread-to-filling ratio just didn't quite work here.

It's hard to resist a good BLT. I'd consider Panera's tomato basil BLT to be a decent one, but perhaps not a great one. I was immediately intrigued by the orange bread, which, as it turns out, accounts for the "tomato basil" part of the sandwich, as it is a tomato basil bread. I enjoyed the bread and felt like it had a nice flavor and texture, but since there wasn't actual basil in the sandwich, that flavor profile didn't really shine through.

Other than that tomato basil bread, the rest of the sandwich is just a plain old BLT, and one that could have easily been improved with more bacon. A BLT is all about the ratios, and to me, the bacon should be the largest ratio, followed by even amounts of tomato and lettuce. This sandwich had more L and T than B, which was a little disappointing. Also, ultimately, there's another, more loaded BLT on this list, so this tomato basil version just couldn't quite compare to the more stacked one.

The most successful iteration of Panera's black pepper focaccia, in my humble opinion, comes in its chipotle chicken avo melt sandwich. Truthfully, this sandwich really is quite similar to the toasted Frontega chicken, with both featuring the same bread, chicken, and chipotle aioli — but this melt had a few key differences that make it stand out just a bit more.

For starters, the chipotle chicken avo melt comes with avocado, an addition that goes a long way in adding buttery, creamy goodness that contrasts nicely with the neutral chicken. This sandwich also features zesty sweet peppers, which add a nice acidic pop along with little hints of sweetness. Ultimately, I found that this melt had a pretty decent bread-to-filling ratio, making for an overall tasty sandwich with a nice variety of toppings that touched on various flavor points, including savory, rich, sweet, and smoky.  

The spicy fiesta chicken sandwich looked like a bit of a monstrosity — a big, messy thing that was overflowing with sauce and corn. Though the messiness made this sandwich a bit intimidating, I found that the flavor made up for any mess. Additions like zesty sweet peppers and corn go a long way in making this sandwich's flavor really stand out.

If I do have one complaint about this sandwich, it's that the ciabatta was a bit overpowering. It was a huge block of bread, so certain bites did feel a bit bready, but I still found that the filling was able to hold its own. Other than the sweet peppers and corn, this sandwich also features chicken, white cheddar, cilantro, and salsa verde spread, so needless to say, there's a lot going on here. Fortunately, all of the flavors worked together well, making for a messy sandwich that I definitely enjoyed. But, I simply enjoyed a handful of others better.

Chicken and barbecue sauce go together like peanut butter and jelly (at least in my book they do), so naturally, I had high hopes for Panera's smokehouse BBQ chicken sandwich. And, for the most part, my high expectations were met, as this sandwich had a really nice, hearty chicken base with plenty of sweet-smoky barbecue sauce to keep things interesting.

Aside from the chicken and barbecue sauce, the only other ingredients on this sandwich are white cheddar and red onions, all stacked onto ciabatta bread. I thought that the chicken was able to hold its own against all of that bread, though I did find myself longing for a little more red onion for some textural contrast. Ultimately, it's hard to go wrong with a chicken-smothered-in-barbecue-sauce sandwich, and Panera's version of such a handheld was pretty good, albeit there could have been a little more red onion and a little more barbecue sauce, too.

Right off the bat, I could tell that Panera's toasted Italiano sandwich — something like a classic Italian sub — was loaded, so I knew the bread-to-filling ratio would be on point. The toasted Italiano features Black Forest ham, soppressata, provolone cheese, red onion, lettuce, pepperoncini, garlic aioli, and Greek dressing, all on a French baguette, so it's safe to say that this is one of the most stacked and filling-heavy sandwiches in Panera's entire lineup.

As for the flavor of the sandwich, it was pretty darn tasty, with the ham and soppressata doing much of the heavy lifting and the pepperoncini adding a really nice bite to contrast all the richness. My only complaint is that this sandwich was quite oily, which is to be expected given the amount of meat and Greek dressing, but even the bread was pretty bogged down by oil. Nonetheless, the toasted Italiano makes for a hearty and filling option, with an assortment of toppings that all work really well together.

Though I can't present the argument that Panera's cheesesteak sandwich was the absolute best iteration of a cheesesteak that I've ever had, I can say it's nonetheless tasty. The ciabatta cheesesteak features steak as the meaty base, along with provolone, caramelized onions, zesty sweet peppers, and garlic aioli — a winning combination of ingredients, as far as my taste buds were concerned. 

While I found the steak on this sandwich to be pretty tasty (and a nice contrast to the vast number of chicken sandwiches on this list), I really thought that the caramelized onions stole the show. It's hard not to enjoy a sandwich that's smothered in such goodness, and the onions especially paired well with the savory steak and sweet peppers. The garlic aioli provided an extra touch of richness, making this a tasty (albeit quite hefty) lunch option.

If there's one way to elevate a BLT, it would be to load it with chicken, and perhaps even some avocado for good measure. Panera's grilled chicken and avo BLT does just that, taking the tried-and-true formula of a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on good old sourdough and making it a little heartier with the addition of grilled chicken, avocado slices, and even a slice of white cheddar cheese.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of this sandwich, and the reason it managed to come in third place overall, is that it felt incredibly balanced. Had this sandwich been on something like focaccia or ciabatta, it might not have worked as well. Sourdough really is the perfect bread for a BLT, and it stood up well against all of the toppings that this sandwich had to offer. The sandwich is simple, hearty and loaded with complementary flavors and toppings, and is a great go-to for those who want something that's both filling and still pretty fresh overall. 

It's no secret that I've enjoyed those Panera sandwiches that were nice and meaty, like the Italiano and the grilled chicken BLT. However, I also appreciate having a nice vegetarian option, and I was more than impressed with Panera's Mediterranean veggie sandwich, an option that is leaps and bounds better than the only other vegetarian option on the list: the grilled cheese.

Just from looking at it, you can tell that the Mediterranean veggie is absolutely loaded with goodies. There's hummus, cucumber slices, zesty sweet peppers, red onion, mixed greens, sliced tomatoes, and feta cheese in this sandwich, all stuffed into slices of Panera's tomato basil bread. My favorite aspect of this sandwich was how crunchy and fresh it tasted, and despite being loaded mostly with just veggies, this sandwich still felt super filling and wholesome, with a wonderful blend of juicy, savory, tangy, and subtly sweet flavors.

We've seen many, many sandwiches on this list — some good, some bad, and some simply forgettable. Coming in first place, however, is none other than Panera's staple bacon turkey Bravo. This simple yet satisfying sandwich comes on the tomato basil bread, and at first glance, it really just looks like an elevated BLT. The bacon turkey Bravo is quite similar to a BLT, but it does have a few key components that set it apart from the rest.

For starters, this sandwich throws sliced turkey and white cheddar cheese into the mix, along with classic BLT ingredients like bacon, lettuce, and tomato, making for a stacked sandwich that tastes familiar yet unique at the same time. The real star, however, is the Bravo sauce: a delicious concoction that packs the creamy punch you'd hope for from mayonnaise, with the added tanginess that you might expect from ketchup. All together, the bacon turkey Bravo is one tasty and stacked sandwich, and one that you simply can't go wrong with at Panera.

The most important factor I considered in ranking these Panera Bread sandwiches was simply how good each sandwich tasted. I'd argue that none of the sandwiches tasted bad. However, certain ones definitely had ingredients that worked better together, or additions that were particularly special or stood out.

I frequently mentioned a bread-to-filling ratio, and this really was an important factor in determining which sandwiches were better than others. Obviously, a sandwich that mostly just tastes like bread isn't going to fare higher than one that has a nice balance between bread and fillings. Also, I considered how loaded a sandwich was and how well those filling ingredients worked together or stood out against the competition. For example, the grilled cheese sandwich ranked pretty low, and that's not necessarily because it tasted awful, but rather because it was just too simple compared to other higher-ranked sandwiches, like the Mediterranean veggie or the bacon turkey Bravo.