How to Eat Gluten-Free at Panera: 10 Meals to Order
Your heart cries out for Panera Bread’s broccoli cheddar mac and cheese, but your gluten allergy keeps you from indulging. Can a GF eater get anything at a chain that’s famous for its wheat-based breads? Yes: It’s totally possible to eat gluten-free at Panera Bread—with the help of a few simple tweaks. While the chain has a great nutrition calculator on its website, it doesn’t allow you to remove ingredients from meals, so you’ll have to do a bit of guesswork to determine the adjusted nutrition facts. (Note: The nutrition info that follows each menu item below doesn’t account for modifications.) Read on for ten menu items you’ll love, plus answers to a few of your burning Qs.
RELATED: How to Eat Keto at Panera Bread: 12 Low-Carb Meals to Treat Yourself To
Does Panera Make Anything Gluten-Free?
Yup—the chain offers a lot of options made without gluten-containing ingredients. The catch? None of the sandwiches are on the table, due to the bread. So, you’ll have to stick to select salads, soups, warm bowls, breakfasts, sides and drinks, avoiding anything with bread or croutons.
Can People with Celiac Disease Eat at Panera?
Panera Bread recommends checking with your doctor before indulging in their fare if you have celiac disease. While the brand sells a wide range of options made with ingredients that don’t contain gluten, cross-contamination is at least somewhat likely, since there are so many items that contain wheat in the bakery and café. So if you have celiac disease (aka a heightened gluten sensitivity or wheat allergy), extra caution should be taken.
Does Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup Have Gluten?
Unfortunately, yes. Wheat is used in the broccoli cheddar soup’s broth.
Is Panera Bread’s Mac and Cheese Gluten-Free?
Nope. There’s wheat in the pasta, as well as the cheese sauce. (We know, this one hurts.)
But don’t fret—here are ten of our favorite gluten-free Panera items that you *can* eat.
Breakfast
1. Steel Cut Oatmeal with Strawberries and Pecans
Nutritional information: 360 calories, 15g fat, 52g carbs, 8g protein, 17g sugar, 9g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
You can actually treat yourself to all three oatmeal options, including the Apple Chips & Pecans and Almonds, Quinoa & Honey varieties. Just note that these menu items contain oats and grains that have a “may contain wheat” allergy advisory due to potential cross-contact that could have happened in harvesting or production.
2. Greek Yogurt with Mixed Berries
Nutritional information: 240 calories, 8g fat, 27g carbs, 15g protein, 17g sugar, 2g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
Greek yogurt topped with whole-grain oat maple butter pecan granola and fresh fruit offers nutrients, protein and plenty of gut-healthy probiotics. The only caveat: This menu item, like the oatmeal, contains ingredients that carry a “may contain wheat” allergy advisory due to potential cross-contact.
Soups and Salads
3. Vegetarian Autumn Squash Soup
Nutritional information: 330 calories, 16g fat, 41g carbs, 8g protein, 33g sugar, 5g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
Yum, tastes like sweater season. Picture a rich blend of butternut squash, pumpkin and vegetable broth spiked with fall faves like apple juice, cinnamon and honey. A hint of curry offers a layer of warm spice, while a splash of cream makes the soup just a touch more decadent. Nosh away on the roasted pumpkin seed topper too.
4. Turkey Chili with Beans
Nutritional information: 300 calories, 10g fat, 31g carbs, 21g protein, 8g sugar, 14g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
An assortment of chickpeas, kidney beans and edamame give this soup a ton of satisfying fiber. And in case that isn’t filling enough for you, the dark meat turkey also offers lots of protein to the dish. All the ingredients are slow cooked with tomatillos, tomatoes, carrots, cilantro, cumin and lime in a zesty ancho and pasilla stock.
5. Creamy Tomato Soup
Nutritional information: 330 calories, 21g fat, 34g carbs, 5g protein, 17g sugar, 1g fiber
Make it gluten-free: Order without croutons
As long as you nix the black pepper focaccia croutons, this crowd-pleaser is free of gluten. It starts with vine-ripened pear tomatoes and fresh cream. Once they’re puréed until silky smooth, red pepper and oregano are added for flavor, along with onions, garlic and butter.
Other soup options: Baked Potato Soup, Vegetarian Summer Corn Chowder
6. Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken
Nutritional information: 560 calories, 34g fat, 37g carbs, 30g protein, 23g sugar, 6g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
Instead of croutons, this salad leans on crispy baked apple chips for crunch. Arugula, romaine, baby kale and a red leaf blend are topped with juicy grape tomatoes, sharp red onions, toasted pecan pieces and salty Gorgonzola cheese before being tossed in sweet white balsamic vinaigrette. (P.S.: If you’re all about fruit in salad, you can also get the Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with or without chicken and not have to worry about making substitutions.)
7. Southwest Chile Lime Ranch Salad with Chicken
Nutritional information: 670 calories, 34g fat, 57g carbs, 38g protein, 9g sugar, 17g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
Don’t sweat the tortilla crisps: They’re made with corn masa flour instead of wheat flour. That means you can chow down to your heart’s content on romaine, arugula, black bean and corn salsa and tender chicken tossed in chile lime rojo ranch dressing. The crumbled feta, fresh cilantro and avocado make the salad even more creamy and flavorful.
8. Caesar Salad with Chicken
Nutritional information: 440 calories, 27g fat, 21g carbs, 32g protein, 3g sugar, 4g fiber
Make it gluten-free: Order without croutons
We’ve had more of these crispy, cheesy beauties than we can count. The classic combo of romaine lettuce, grated parmesan and creamy Caesar dressing is proof that simplicity can be pretty darn delicious. Add chicken to the mix to make it even more satiating (though you can also order it without chicken if you’d prefer).
Other salad options: Greek Salad (with or without Chicken), Seasonal Greens Salad (with or without chicken), Strawberry Poppyseed Salad (with or without Chicken), Modern Greek Salad with Quinoa, Tomato Basil Cucumber Salad, Green Goddess Cobb Salad with Chicken
Warm Grain Bowls
9. Baja Bowl with Chicken
Nutritional information: 730 calories, 34g fat, 81g carbs, 30g protein, 9g sugar, 15g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
Panera Bread’s new warm grain bowls are made without gluten-containing ingredients, so you can help yourself to whichever you’d like (except the new Teriyaki Chicken & Broccoli Bowl, which contains wheat). The Baja Bowl stars a mix of cilantro lime brown rice and quinoa topped with black bean and corn salsa, grape tomatoes, fresh avocado, feta cheese, salsa verde and Greek yogurt. You can opt to get it with or without chicken, but we always lean toward maximum protein.
10. Mediterranean Bowl with Chicken
Nutritional information: 670 calories, 30g fat, 76g carbs, 31g protein, 6g sugar, 9g fiber
Make it gluten-free: No adjustments needed
Any dish topped with that much hummus is one we’d like to devour. The signature warm grain bowl base of cilantro lime brown rice and quinoa is gussied up with arugula and Greek essentials, like Kalamata olives, cucumbers and grape tomatoes, before it’s topped with all the creamy finishing touches. We’re talking hummus, lemon tahini dressing, feta cheese and Greek yogurt.
