Bottom Line: The Smoky Buffalo Chicken Melt from Panera is an excellent sandwich full of fresh ingredients, but it would have been nice if it had more heat.
Chicken, chicken, and more chicken! This is now my fifth review of the new year and the fourth one that is about chicken! That is not necessarily a bad thing because poultry is one of the healthier meats and a good way to start off the year. But somebody tell the restaurant industry that you can spice up other things than chicken!
Well, if I’m going to eat chicken, Panera is a pretty good place to do it (this is actually my second Panera chicken review of the year), and they have a new sandwich that is highlighting the meat from the bird. Their Toasted Baguette Sandwiches have arrived this month offering a Pepperoni Mozzarella Melt, a Green Goddess Caprese Melt, and a Smoky Buffalo Chicken Melt. I sampled the latter of the three which includes smoked, pulled chicken (antibiotics free!), American cheese, red onions, and spicy Buffalo sauce brought to you on a toasted French Baguette.
This is certainly a hefty sandwich, as in way too big to eat in one meal unless you are really hungry. It is definitely loaded up with the melted American cheese and that delivers plenty of creaminess. The pulled chicken is tender and tasty with just a hint of smoke (this is the same stuff that was on the Chipotle Chicken, Scrambled Egg & Avocado Breakfast Sandwich I just reviewed). There is a little tang from the Buffalo sauce, but that gets lost in the mix because they were pretty stingy with it. The onions are plentiful and they come forth as one of the main flavors in the sandwich. That is good if you like onions (I do), but ask them to hold those off if not. The baguette has a nice chew to the crust and it is soft and tasty on the inside. This is really good bread just as you would expect from a place with “bread” in the name.
Heat-wise, though, this did not register at all for me. Not even at the mild level. A little more of the “spicy” sauce might have kicked up the heat some, but at best I am guessing that would get to the Mild heat level on my scale. But apart from that, everything comes together well with Panera’s typically fresh ingredients, and perhaps a spicier sauce or some sliced jalapenos would have been a good addition. I will definitely get this again, but I will be adding my own spicy tweaks (see suggestions below).
Nutrition-wise, this comes in at 830 calories which at first seems rather high, but when you look at the heft of the sandwich you might expect it to be double that number. I cut mine in half and made two meals of it, and that worked out quite well. If you eat the whole thing (plus that bag of chips that comes with it), you will be shopping for the next size up in pants to start the new year. (And your doctor will not be happy about the 3040mg of sodium you put down your gullet!)
Price-wise, this comes in at $10.99 for the sandwich and the above-mentioned bag of chips. That may seem like a bit much for one meal from a fast casual joint, but like I said, you should be able to split this across two days (but that small bag of chips will be gone pretty quickly). I would actually count it as a better deal than their Chef’s Take Spicy Chicken Sandwich (read more about that one here). But if you are looking for the heat, you may prefer to go with the latter option.
I am not seeing the Toasted Baguette Sandwiches mentioned as a limited-time-only deal, and Panera is not as bad as some places about yanking things off the mention (they apparently don’t hire former Taco Bell marketing execs). But I would still recommend trying this out sooner rather than later in case they decide to sub it out for the next new item from their kitchen. And now that I have reported on Smoky Buffalo Chicken melt, I think I am going to take a break from poultry for a while . . .
Spice It Up: If you are dining in at Panera, you can grab a packet or two of Cholula hot sauce from their condiment bar and use that to kick up the sandwich a bit. I picked up mine to go and happened to have a bottle of Trader Joe’s Hot Habanero Sauce at the office, so I added that to the sandwich and it really kicked things up to the next level. When I had the second half of the sandwich the next day (which re-heated quite well), I tried Melinda’s XXXtra Hot Habanero. That was good too, and I think they missed out by going with such a mild sauce. Hey Panera, I’m available to consult on your next spicy offering. Have your people call my people!
Tale of the Tape:
Calories: 830
Fat: 19g (9g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 50g
Carbs: 115g
Sodium: 3040mg
You’ve got to be kidding!
This was the worst sandwich ever!
Very little chicken…in fact it looked and tasted like canned chicken and very little of it.
Picture looks like slices of cheese, my cheese was waved over the sandwich
There was lots of onions to make up for lack of chicken and cheese.
Very disappointing.
I won’t be going back to Panera for a sandwich.
Sounds like you encountered a Panera that is not keeping up its quality. Mine looked very close to the sandwich pictured in the advertising, and I rather enjoyed it. But I have heard that the chain has been having issues with consistency just lately.
This was the biggest waste on money. Hardly any chicken and no Buffalo sandwich. Was totally tasteless. I felt cheated.
Looks like you were another victim of a subpar Panera location (which seems to be happening more frequently these days). Check reviews on other locations and maybe give it a try if you find a store with good ratings.
Just opened and ate enough of one of these at Panera in Rutland VT to say that they are absolutely horrible. No meat to speak of. Simply onions on bread with a sauce. Not at all impressed for the outrageous price. We ordered 2 at the take away window and would have complained if we were still in the area when we opened our sandwiches.
Another victim of inconsistent quality at Panera. They need to pay attention to that or they will start losing a lot of business.