I tried all 17 Panera Staff of life sandwiches, and ranked them from worst to best

Panera Bread storefront NYC

Panera Bread is known for its sandwiches.
Andrew LaSane for Insider

Insider
  • Panera Bread is a popular fast-casual chain that's known for its sandwiches.
  • I tried every sandwich available at my nearest Panera and ranked them from worst to best.
  • The salary love apple grilled cheese was my to the lowest degree favorite selection because its flavors weren't that heady and it didn't have enough cheese.
  • The toasted steak and white cheddar sandwich was my favorite because information technology had the perfect balance of flavors.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Panera Bread Company — Panera, for brusk — is a fast-casual chain with over ii,000 locations across the United states of america and Canada.

The chain has soups, salads, and bakery items only is most known for its sandwiches. I'd never been to a Panera Bread, so what better way to feel the chain than by ordering every sandwich to effigy out the best 1?

At the fourth dimension of writing, the Panera closest to me had 17 different sandwiches on its menu. I ordered the half-size of each, and it cost just over $130.

Here's every sandwich from Panera Staff of life, ranked from worst to best.

Editor'due south Note: Some bread substitutions were fabricated throughout based on availability. Pricing and availability are based on a Brooklyn Panera Bread location and are subject to change. This gustation examination was completed in early March.

Bacon tomato grilled cheese (toasted) — $7.59/one-half

Salary tomato grilled cheese.
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It'due south hard to completely mess up a grilled cheese sandwich, but this wasn't the strongest menu selection.

Panera used American cheese and added succulent-sounding salary and tomato confit, but the ingredients were non evenly distributed.

The cheese barely registered with my taste buds, probably considering there was so little of it compared to the corporeality of staff of life.

This would definitely be better with more cheese or if paired with a hearty bowl of soup.

Bacon Turkey Bravo — $7.59/one-half

Bacon Turkey Bravo.
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This sandwich has 2 types of meat in its name, but it didn't taste like either of them.

The listed ingredients include turkey chest, Applewood-smoked bacon, smoked Gouda, emerald greens, tomatoes, and signature sauce with common salt and pepper.

The coldness of this sandwich stood out more than any flavor did, and I recollect this dish needed more than of the signature sauce and/or more bacon.

Roasted turkey, apple, and cheddar sandwich — $7.99/half

Roasted turkey, apple, and cheddar sandwich.
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This sandwich had roasted turkey, Vermont white cheddar, apple tree and cabbage slaw, arugula, and mustard horseradish sauce — all on cranberry staff of life.

Sadly, the apple overpowered the other components of the sandwich, especially the turkey. The sandwich was also messy to consume since the slaw kept falling out and I had to go on putting it dorsum inside the bread.

In such a stacked contest, this was not my favorite.

Roasted turkey and avocado BLT — $viii.19/half

Roasted turkey and avocado BLT.
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This sandwich consisted of turkey, salary, greens, tomatoes, and mayonnaise.

My initial thought while eating the roasted turkey and avocado BLT was that it was only slightly above what I could make at habitation, save for the avocado, which I never buy.

That might sound similar an insult, just I don't hateful information technology that way — the bootleg gustation was nice.

The sandwich wasn't bad, but it was a bit uninteresting compared to the other options on this list.

Turkey sandwich — $half dozen.29/one-half

Turkey sandwich.
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This sandwich was overpowered by the distinct gustatory modality of raw onion.

The turkey was forgettable and the other ingredients (greens, tomatoes, cherry onions, mayonnaise, and spicy brown mustard) only couldn't compete with the strong, layered vegetable.

Mediterranean veggie sandwich — $6.29/one-half

Mediterranean veggie sandwich.
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If y'all simply desire a compact salad that doesn't require a fork, this is the option for you.

With sweet Peppadew piquant peppers, feta, cucumbers, greens, tomatoes, reddish onions, hummus, salt, and pepper, this sandwich had a lot going on.

Ultimately, the effort and the many ingredients paid off. I would pick this over an bodily salad, simply it was only OK compared to most of the other sandwiches I tried.

Heritage ham and Swiss sandwich — $6.29/half

Heritage ham and Swiss sandwich.
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For this decent card item, Panera combined ham, Swiss cheese, greens, and maple mustard sauce.

I preferred the ham over a lot of the turkey sandwiches I tried, but it still wasn't mind-bravado enough to grab the height spot.

Sierra turkey sandwich — $vi.69/one-half

Sierra turkey sandwich.
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Panera's roasted turkey breast was its all-time cocky in this sandwich. Its sidekicks were emerald greens, cherry onions, and chipotle mayo, which made for a satisfying combination.

This sandwich was supposed to come on the Asiago cheese focaccia, but that bread was unavailable at my location. Fortunately, the baguette was a solid alternative.

Chipotle chicken avocado melt — $seven.79/one-half

Chipotle craven avocado melt.
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I'm not the biggest avocado fan, but when paired with pulled craven, smoked Gouda, cilantro, sweet Peppadew piquant peppers, and chipotle mayo, it wasn't terrible.

The sandwich was both sweet and a fiddling spicy, and the avocado added a shine texture in the middle.

The sense of taste of the chicken was stronger than it was in some of the other sandwiches that I tried, but information technology was slightly overpowered by the cheese and peppers.

Cuban sandwich (toasted) — $7.99/half

Cuban sandwich.
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In that location was ane small just crucial thing about the Cuban that I did non love, and it was the flavor of the sweetness and spicy pickles.

This sandwich also independent a tasty mix of ham, spicy mustard, shredded pork, and Swiss cheese, but the pickles and lack of mustard did this sandwich a disservice.

Steak and arugula sandwich — $eight.nineteen/half

Steak and arugula sandwich.
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According to Panera'south online carte, this sandwich is made with steak, arugula, tomatoes, pickled onions, garlic and herb cream cheese spread, and mustard horseradish sauce.

The arugula was fresh and the tangy, slightly sweet onions went well with the salty steak and focaccia. Sadly, the first few bites were well-nigh ruined by very cold tomato slices.

Tuna salad sandwich — $6.29/half

Tuna salad sandwich.
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Tuna salad often gets a bad rap, but as one of the cheaper options on the menu, information technology'south worth a try.

The usual suspects of greens, tomatoes, and ruby onions were back again and worked to balance out the fishy salad.

This moist and succulent sandwich was a hit and, cheers to the business firm focaccia, it stayed together quite well as I ate it.

Napa almond chicken salad sandwich — $six.69/one-half

Napa almond chicken salad sandwich.
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My main gripe here is that the sliced bread only wasn't strong enough to concord the contents, which included chicken, diced celery, seedless grapes, almonds, a "special dressing," greens, and tomatoes.

The chicken salad itself was peppery and moist. Much to my surprise, I would club this again.

Tuscan grilled chicken sandwich (toasted) — $7.99/half

Tuscan grilled chicken sandwich.
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Fabricated with chicken, mozzarella, Parmesan, arugula, lycopersicon esculentum confit, and pesto mayo, this sandwich was perfectly toasted and had great flavor.

The tomatoes had an interesting smoky sense of taste that complimented the moist chicken, cheese, and fresh spinach.

If y'all're looking for a lighter repast that withal tastes great, a half (or whole) lodge of the Tuscan grilled chicken sandwich may be the fashion to get.

Archetype grilled cheese — $6.29/half

Classic grilled cheese.
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This incredibly unproblematic sandwich consisted of sliced American cheese on white bread.

One slice of my bread was golden and the other was withal calorie-free, which made me believe it was just half toasted. Notwithstanding, that strange fact did non take abroad from my enjoyment of this gooey standard.

Sometimes y'all actually can't go wrong with the basics.

Frontega craven panini (toasted) — $7.59/half

Frontega chicken panini.
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This sandwich consists of smoked, pulled chicken with mozzarella, tomatoes, reddish onions, chopped basil, and chipotle mayo on focaccia.

The buttery and salty focaccia was a squeamish base for the moist chicken, melted cheese, and basil, but I wish there had been a bit more than of every ingredient.

The Frontega chicken panini was one of my favorites, only not expert enough to take the crown this fourth dimension around.

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