Trying ALL Of The Most Popular Menu Items At Panera | Delish

- Can you feel the help? - I can't feel anything to be honest. (screaming) - What's wrong? (mumbling). (beep) What's wrong? We are back. We're at Panera Bread with Chelsea and we're

trying

every

popular

menu

item they have. They are soups, salads, flatbreads, sandwiches, tea, cookies and desserts. Today we have the whole store to ourselves, so I'm really excited. I want this to live up to my high school dreams. Let's see if it is so. (upbeat music) I'm so happy. I love Panera in general, but especially their sandwiches. I need some bread in my body. First we are going to make the Frontega chicken.

It's beautiful smoked chicken, shredded, tomato, cheddar cheese and a little basil. Is that spicy mayonnaise? And their ciabatta bread. Oh Lord. I just need a moment. One moment. This is what happiness feels like with a bite. I forgot how much I love ciabatta. I always thought I liked sourdough because it's super crunchy, but I love how soft it is. It's like a second. Oh Lord. That red onion right in its place appears with the chicken. Oh. Will this be my favorite in the first round, sandwich one? I know I should stop eating because we have more to eat but this is delicious.

This one is steak and white cheddar and it's got red peppers here and cheese and, oh, that toasted, toasted sourdough baguette. If you haven't been to Panera, you're missing out on their sourdough. It's, wait, listen or wait, actually, here. (crusty bread) Oh ho ho ho ho. (crusty bread) This one is super filling. The pickled red onion makes it super fresh and spicy which goes with the steak. This one is really meaty. I feel like I want to eat it on a very cold winter day in a very baggy sweater near the fireplace. -Ah. - I actually think the Frontega chicken is better than the steak and white cheddar.

I always thought steak and white cheddar was my favorite. We have a ton of different iced teas to try each round. The first is their black iced tea. (upbeat music) Oh. I like this because it's not too sweet. The back of their cups actually lists the nutritional information. Compare the amount of sugar it contains to other drinks you would drink. Oh! This is a fun fact as we talk about this. Panera was the first national chain to have calorie counts on the

menu

. Not that

most

of the time I really want to know, but sometimes it's nice to know.

This is a Caprese sandwich and we have it on ciabatta bread with lots of arugula. It's like a salad in sandwich form. That sounds stupid doesn't it? I'm

trying

pesto here. Hmm. This one tastes incredibly fresh. I feel like I'm healthy by eating this. I am? I'm not sure. We have the Chipotle Bacon Melt. It smells so salty. You know in the morning when someone else, not you, makes bacon and you wake up and you smell it and you're like (sniff) and you just wake up hungry? That's what this sandwich smells like. This bread is super soft but has a little crunch to it.

It's kind of toasted. Now that I have completely touched the entire sandwich. (upbeat music) - You have some. - A little silly? Alright. This is like wearing your favorite sweatpants. That? And what does that mean? (beep) Sorry. We can keep moving. - Are you fainting? - Our last sandwich is the Turkey and Bacon Bravo. I asked everyone on Instagram what their favorite sandwiches were, menu

items

in general, and the Bacon Turkey Bravo definitely won the poll besides the Frontega Chicken Sandwich. I'm so excited to have one of y'all's favorite sandwiches. So what we have here, ooh, (laughs).

What we have here is a lot of different bacon. We have cheese. Is it cuda? Cuda. Turkey, tomato, lettuce and that magnificent chipotle mayonnaise on the bottom. MMM. (mumbling) This tastes healthy. This tastes like a sandwich if your mom loved you, or your dad, and they made you a sandwich for lunch at school. Why am I trying fruit? Is this a fruit sandwich? I thought this was sun dried tomato. One second. It tastes fruity, like a refreshing fruit sandwich, which, okay, sure. My favorite from this round is definitely the Frontega chicken sandwich, hands down. Grilled cheese is a close second if I want something that's super comforting and I'm having a bad day. (upbeat music) So what happened was that I ate two whole halves of a sandwich between the first and second round, something I never do.

I usually take a few bites and then really resist. But I couldn't because I was very hungry. I did not eat dinner. Do not eat breakfast. This is early in the morning. I'm trying to make sense of everything. Anyway, I'm very full and that was stupid of me. We have the Margherita and we have the chipotle chicken and bacon flatbread. Knowing Chelsea, she'll like the Margherita better. She likes simplistic flavors. You like cleanliness and tranquility. - Yes. - I like chaos. Well, here we go. We have the grape tomatoes, we have the basil, we have the mozz. (upbeat music) - Mm. - Hmm.

There is a bit of excitement in this. I wonder if it's in the tomato sauce. It's a little spicier. Not what I expected, but in a good way. What is this, like a quiet man al

most

wants to be a pizza but doesn't? As if the bread were a little thicker. It almost reminds me of a pita. (upbeat music) Next we have the Chipotle Chicken and Bacon Flatbread. This is my kind of jam. It has parsley, bacon, cream sauce and fontina. Phew. This will be, this will be my winner. (upbeat music) I wonder if I had too high expectations for this one.

I think I like the Margarita. One more bite. Hmm. Tastes like Frontega chicken sandwich on flatbread. I think I like it better as a sandwich than as a flatbread. Something you need to know is that it comes with two dishes because there are two portions. So technically you and your friend could get both and then do a trade, you know? Oh, wait, no, because then it's... - Four people. - There are four people, it doesn't matter. -Mah. -Mah. Green tea time. This green tea is without a doubt my favorite green tea. Basically, it tastes like, what, kiwi?

I can not explain it. It's like this super sugary sweet tea that got me hooked on tea. When I was in high school, my friends and I would grab the biggest cup of this possible and just drink it. It's like a Pacific Cooler Capri Sun like green tea. I only remember the names of the Capri Sun flavors by Lunchables. (panting) No! (gasping) Oh my God. No. Oh (beep). We're not going to talk about that again, okay? That was a moment. I am older. I have changed. I have developed. However, if I were to add alcohol to anything on the menu, if you could add cucumber vodka to green tea, I think you'd have a great time.

But I'm not saying that because I'm older. Next we have the Baja Bowl. We have avocado, grape tomatoes, we have brown rice with cilantro. We have, is there feta cheese in there? And Greek yogurt? Ah, ah. Let me. (upbeat music) Feta. It's like a burrito bowl, but then it has feta cheese and Greek yogurt. Oh yeah, if I don't mix the whole bowl, I like every bite to be perfect and the same and people hate to see me eat salads because I destroy them the way I like to mix them. I just want to make sure every bite is the best bite possible.

I love that green sauce, mm. Hmm. I'm having a party. It is perfect. It tastes healthy but it also tastes good, and that confuses me. The last of this round is the Mediterranean Bowl. Here we have a beautiful and magnificent Mediterranean bowl. Comes with hummus. We have lemon tahini dressing, Greek yogurt, cucumbers, olives, feta cheese, did I say feta cheese? You probably already said feta cheese. Brown rice and arugula. Hmm. - I think there's quinoa in there. - I probably didn't say quinoa. That was my fault. Very sorry. I'm so sorry, Chelsea. I'm sorry. -Yes.-She went back there.

She hit the hanging thing. This is much softer thanks to the hummus in here. This one is super comforting. It's easy to just sit here for a while, sit with her friend and drink her green tea. I enjoy this one immensely. But I enjoyed this one more. Baja has my heart and soul. (upbeat music) - Are you ready for this? - I'm so angry that I ate so many sandwiches because I forgot about the bread bowls. I forgot the most important part about Panera. My eyes are crying. We started with my favorite soup that I ordered every time I came, French onion soup.

It tastes like home. It tastes like comfort. I think it's one of the low calorie soups you can get. Oh. And it's all year round. Oh, I love onions. I wish I had a better way to describe French onion soup other than saying super onion. But it's just the right amount of flavor, almost like a soup to drink, if that. I imagine putting this in a thermos, loading it up, and eating it all. It's just beautiful. - Wow. - Next we have the Wild Rice Soup. One of my favorite fall soups. It doesn't necessarily look prettier on the plate, but it tastes, oh, it tastes like pasta and soup together.

It tastes very filling. Hmm. It's incredibly creamy. It's almost hard to call this soup. The chicken, the wild rice, you have carrots in there. I keep smelling it and worry that I'm about to inhale it. I love it. We have our Prickly Pear Hibiscus Tea. I was worried this would be a sugar bomb in the face. It's super subtle. I definitely have more hibiscus flavor than pear. It almost reminds me of dragon fruit. Curse. So if I had to say an alcohol that pairs really well with this, there is a dragonberry vodka that would taste great with this.

I don't approve. I'm just saying if you made it it would taste good. We have great chili here. Mm, look at those beans. That's something compelling. Oh. I wasn't prepared for that. I went from creamy, neutral, comfort food to hearty, slightly spicy chili. Like in the back of my throat it's like the cayenne has gone crazy. I hit him and he wasn't ready. A curious fact is that sourdough bread is one of the basic foods on the menu. And before they were called Panera, it was actually called "The Saint Louis Bread Company." And if you still go to Panera's in Saint Louis, they still say "Saint Louis Bread Company." It's the exact same fountain, wherever it is around here, it's the exact same fountain and everything, so it looks like a Panera, and it is a Panera, it just has the old name that it used to have.

Whichever is. Hmm. This one is made for bread. Oh yeah. I feel like I'm going to a soccer game. That's what he knows. Next we have the always elegant, beautiful, beautiful and impressive pumpkin soup. Oh my God. If I say it reminds me of porridge, is that a bad thing? - No. - It doesn't taste like porridge. Oh, this tastes like a really nice, fancy appetizer before a Thanksgiving meal or something. It's light but filling, which confuses me a lot. This is like a complex, layered soup that any rich, rich person would enjoy, and so would I.

I enjoy it too (laughs). We have mac and cheese, broccoli and cheddar soup and then the smaller of the two, broccoli and cheddar mac and cheese. I asked everyone on my Instagram stories which one is better and got a literal 50-50 answer. The bread bowls are so beautiful. Oh, that's another fun fact. (bell rings) Each bakery has specific people that make them, so I don't know if you can see it, but Tyler made this today. They employ more than 6,000 bakers in the United States. They make more than 250 million bagels a year and 50 million baguettes a year.

Oh. Oh Lord. It's like cheddary cheese, creamy, rich. Like my friends and I... glue and cheese. - I used to skip classes in high school. I always skipped, I'm sorry, I'm not going to say my art teacher's name, but I'm really sorry for my senior year of high school art teacher. I would skip my fourth period class and go to Panera and we would order bowls of macaroni and cheese in the bread bowls and green tea, and we would sit there for hours. We have the cheddar and broccoli in a bread bowl and of course you put it in the bread bowl, and they give you the little stump that comes with it, and every time you order something, you can order a side that comes with it and It's apple chips and then you can get some of their baguettes.

The craziest thing I can do, which I always do, is grab the bread bowl and I always ask for more bread to go with it. If you're going to do it, you just have to do everything you can. Well, we have the broccoli and cheddar cheese. Oh. By the way, this is probably one of the most imitated recipes of all time. Even Delish has a recipe that mimics this, that's how much people love this soup. Hmm. Look, this is hard because this is a real soup, where macaroni and cheese is just pasta with sauce. Do you know what is it?

This is an excuse to eat cheese. That's what a broccoli and cheddar is. You feel better because there are chunks of broccoli and a little bit of carrot, but you're really just drinking cheese. Well, I don't like to break it because it gets dirty, so I like to pick it up and eat it. (upbeat music) (Chelsea laughing) Please leave me alone right now. Oh my God. There's just a woman watching me outside. The best part is that you get a sourdough that is super soft and soggy on the inside, but still very chewy and crispy on the outside.

It's... it's a dream. If you haven't had a plate of bread at Panera, you're not alive. (sighing) We just took a very dark path. - We did it. - I have cleansed my palate. Now I'm ready to try the Broccoli Cheddar Mac and Cheese. This is Mac and Broccoli Cheddar's baby. I hope it stays true to Mac and only contains a little bit of broccoli. I don't really want totoo much thick vibe on my Mac. I like this because it looks like a yellow cheddar, it probably still has that white cheddar in there. We have, I see the broccoli, I see the carrots, still those thick peels.

Here we go, here we go. I see they are getting married. So you have the macaroni shells, but then they made the soup a little thicker. I don't know. I think the mac. - Favorite? - It's like a sharp cheddar cheese. This one wins without a doubt. And I'm sorry to all the broccoli and cheddar fans out there. I agree that it is delicious. The Mac is in its own category and in its own world. I enjoy macaroni and cheese but, I don't know, I think I love them too much separately and combining them for me actually makes it harder for me to understand them. (upbeat music) - Can you feel the help? - I can't feel anything to be honest. (squealing) First we have the Fuji apple salad, which is one of my mom's favorite salads.

She loves it because here there is blue cheese, red onion, you have apple and kale with spinach. Oh. Or no spinach, I'm a liar, just kale. Oh, that's a lot, okay. - Do it. - Its alot. (Chelsea laughs) It's super soft and creamy with the blue cheese, fresh and crunchy with that red onion. I taste winter. Yes. Oh. Well balanced, honestly. I feel revived. This is the Southwestern Chili Lime Salad. Hmm. A deconstructed burrito bowl that tastes like there's no rice here, so it tastes much fresher and lighter. I think I could still eat the whole thing and feel full.

Instead of tortilla chips, I want them fried on top, that would make it amazing. I'm going to have blood orange lemonade, which from the color looks like mango lemonade or peach lemonade. It's really beautiful. It's like a sweet watered down lemonade. It's not too sour or too sugary either. It is a smooth blood orange lemonade. Spicy Thai salad. We have some edamame here. We got some fries, just kidding, they're wonton fries, not fries, you know? Chicken, romaine lettuce, peanut sauce, did I mention it has Thai vinaigrette? I don't remember if I did it, but it's there.

And it looks like we have some peppers. Oh. I'm excited for this one. It is a little acidic with the vinaigrette. If you really like pad thai that has peanut sauce, I think you'll like this too. Here we have the Asian Sesame Salad. We have the wonton strips once again. We've got romaine lettuce, we've got chicken, we've got some almond strips here and then we've got an Asian sesame vinaigrette. Mmm, chicken. I like this one more than that one. MMM. I'm a fan of sesame. I love the taste of toasted sesame on things. It tastes strangely comforting and homey.

This one makes me smile. BBQ chicken salad? When I asked everyone's favorite menu

items

, this was definitely one of the best: the BBQ chicken salad. This looks beautiful. This seems like a complete meal to me. The barbecue has just the right amount of sweet yet spicy but spicy. I really like the beans and corn there. It's adding a little more flavor to the salad. Hmm. Hmm. This is definitely my favorite salad. If I had a second favorite salad it would be Fuji apple. Unless dessert is just tea, I'm not prepared for it at all. (upbeat music) - Final round! - There is no room in my stomach, but it's okay.

We are moving forward with Frozen Caramel Cold Brew. We put a little whipped cream on top and a little caramel. Hmm. In sixth grade I would be in all this, wearing sweatpants, pearl necklace, drinking this. Oh. You know what I'm talking about? It's like a very specific version of yourself. It's like a sugary treat. A little caffeine, but mostly face candy. Okay, we have the chocolate chipper cookie. The best thing about Panera is its bakery. I could never make it to the dessert round when I came to Panera because I would fill up on bread bowls.

So, this is probably, yes, this is the first time I've had their desserts. Oh. Oh. Beautiful. It looks like a chocolate brown sugar cookie. Hmm. It has just the right amount of chewiness, but softness. The proportion of chocolate and dough, the chef's kiss. MMM. Glorious. Oh, this one is just called "Brownie." I was wondering what is this called? Just "Brownie." But look how pretty it is. It's like, am I going to ruin it? Are you going to ruin powdered sugar? It's lovely. I hope this is super soft. It's like a luxury brownie. It's the kind of brownie that sticks to your teeth. (Chelsea laughs) Oh no, I made it worse. (Chelsea laughs) I told you the brownie is so soft it sticks to your teeth.

We are at the last dessert. The kitchen sink cookie. If you've ever had a kitchen sink cookie, it usually means just throwing out all the ingredients you have in your pantry. I think they're also called like "Pantry Cookies," but sometimes they're called "Everything But the Sink." So everything in your kitchen besides the sink. Whatever. It is usually a very salty and crunchy cookie. Sometimes there are chips and pretzels. We'll see what they put in here. Hmm. Wow, so much better than the chocolate chip cookie. Oh my God. Oh. It's almost like there's molasses or caramel or... caramel, maybe?

This is incredible. Yes. For the Kitchen Sink Cookie it is worth saving space. For the chocolate chip cookie or brownie, if I left Panera without having it I think it would be fine. Oh my God! Check it out. That's wild. That's crazy. That is worth it. Another fun fact about Panera is that all the baked goods you see behind me that you can get are only in the stores for one day and then they donate them to community food banks. I have never felt more fulfilled in my entire life than right now in this moment. I can't believe this happened at Panera, but I think it shows how excited I am about the food.

Chelsea has plenty of leftovers to take home, and so do I. We'll take them home. Let's take a big nap. Let us know where we should go next. Hmm. - Yes. - Yes. (sighing) Oh, honey. I can go home? (upbeat music)