Panera Is Celebrating Summer With A Host Of New Menu Items

Things are heating up over at Panera Bread. In an email sent to Daily Meal, Panera revealed that the newest items available this season will offer customers two new sandwiches, a new line of avocado toasts, and the return of two bagel flavors. For those in the mood for something spicy this summer, Panera is introducing a new Spicy Fiesta Chicken Sandwich for $11.59 and a Kickin' Grilled Cheese for $7.49. The spicy chicken sandwich is made with grilled chicken on a Ciabatta roll and topped with a salsa verde spread, aged white cheddar, sweet peppers, cilantro, and roasted corn. Panera's spicy grilled cheese option also embraced the salsa verde spread, pairing it with American and white cheddar cheese to add an extra kick to the classic grilled cheese recipe.

The new line of avocado toasts coming to the menu includes the Classic Avo ($3.49), consisting of a toasted sourdough slice topped with avocado spread and a sprinkling of Everything Bagel seasoning, salt, and pepper. The Garden Avo ($4.49) comes with everything you get on a classic, with the addition of sliced tomatoes and garlic aioli. All four brand-new menu items are now available at bakeries nationwide.

News of these new menu items is just one of the many major changes that Panera is making to menus in 2024 — the fast-casual food chain is also bringing back two fan-favorite bagel flavors that have been missing from menus for some time: Blueberry and Sesame. These flavors were two of the many items that were discontinued when Panera went through a massive menu overhaul earlier this year. After fans became rather vocal about their missing favorites, Panera reported that customer feedback has been heard, and these two popular flavors are now here to stay.

Panera Bread's bagels are a great alternative to traditional sandwich breads — the breakfast sandwich options even came in a respectable third place on Daily Meal's ranking of the best fast-food bagel breakfast sandwiches. With the return of the two bagel flavors, Panera is offering a "Bagels are Back Sandwich Hack" that gets you two sandwiches for the price of one. To utilize this hack, order a full-sized sandwich and replace the bread with your preferred bagel flavor, and Panera will give you two whole bagel sandwiches. You can "hack your sandwich" online and in-store at Panera locations beginning this week.