When it comes to providing gluten-free options, restaurants, and fast-food outlets can be a hit or miss.
Seeing how little training some restaurant staff members have isn’t very comforting.
Now let’s look at one of these popular restaurants, Panera Bread.
Panera Bread is a chain of bakeries and cafés located in the United States and Canada.
Their corporate headquarters are in the St. Louis suburb of Sunset Hills, Missouri.
They sell a variety of foods, such as salads, soups, sandwiches, pasta, and baked goods.
Louis Kane, Ken Rosenthal, and Ronald Shaich founded the restaurant in 1987.
In 1993, Au Bon Pain bought the business, which was then known as St. Louis Bread Company.
In 1997, it was renamed Panera Bread by the new owners.
Those who enjoy salad and soup should visit Panara.
One or two of the soups are gluten-free. Last summer, I repeatedly consumed the green goddess salad without experiencing any adverse effects.
However, you should be aware that the website expressly states that customers with celiac disease, severe gluten sensitivity, or wheat allergies should avoid the food.
In other words, they do not commit to taking precautions against cross-contamination.
Thankfully, Panera Bread still offers some gluten-free menu items, including salads (Greek Salad, bbq chicken salad, greek salad, chicken caesar salad, chicken salad, fuji apple salad, strawberry poppyseed salad, chicken modern greek salad), soups (Baked Potato Soup and Creamy Tomato Soup), sides (Panera Bread Potato Chips, Asian sesame vinaigrette) and fresh fruit cups.
You might want to avoid the Panera bread broccoli Cheddar Soup, since it contains wheat.
To help you decide what to order next time you visit, let’s take a close look at some of the Panera Bread gluten-free menu items.
Panera Gluten Free Menu
Gluten-free Salads
1) Greek Salad
This Panera Bread dish has romaine, grape tomatoes, feta, red onions, kalamata olives, salt, and pepper, all mixed with pepperoncini and Greek dressing.
2) Green Goddess Cobb Salad with Chicken
This Panera gluten-free salad is made with chicken, arugula, romaine, baby kale, red leaf blend, grape tomatoes, and pickled red onions.
Fresh avocado, Applewood-smoked bacon, and cage-free hard-boiled eggs are used as garnishes.
3) Chicken Caesar Salad (without croutons)
So here we have chicken with romaine lettuce, grated Parmesan, and homemade black pepper croutons with Caesar dressing.
However, if placing an order, omit the croutons.
4) Caesar Salad (without croutons)
This one here is without chicken, it’s just romaine lettuce, grated Parmesan, and homemade black pepper croutons with Caesar dressing.
Still, don’t forget to omit the croutons.
5) BBQ chicken salad
This dish consists of chicken with romaine, black bean, corn salsa, BBQ ranch dressing, and frizzled onions.
6) Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken
This dish is made with chicken, arugula, romaine, baby kale, a red leaf blend, grape tomatoes, red onions, toasted pecan pieces, Gorgonzola, and apple chips and is considered gluten-free.
Gluten-free Soups
Creamy Tomato Soup
A bowl of vegetarian creamy tomato soup without the croutons is an excellent choice if you prefer a more straightforward meal perusing the Panera Bread gluten-free menu.
Gluten-free Fresh Fruit Cups
1) Strawberry Banana Smoothie
This smoothie is a mixture of banana, plain Greek yogurt, ice, fruit purees, and juice concentrates.
2) Peach & Blueberry Smoothie with Almond milk
This fruit cup is a mixture of fresh blueberries, almond milk, white grape, passionfruit juice concentrates, and peach and mango purees.
3) Green Passion Smoothie
Made with fresh spinach, ice, and a mixture of peach, mango purees, white grape, and passionfruit juice concentrates.
4) Strawberry Smoothie
The Strawberry Smoothie is a mix of fruit purees and juice concentrates blended with plain Greek yogurt and ice.
5) Mango Smoothie
You should also try this mango fruit base made with ice, plain Greek yogurt, orange juice, and banana puree.
Does Panera Bread Have Gluten-Free Bread?
There isn’t any gluten-free bread available at Panera.
It would be best if you avoided Panera Bread when it comes to bread.
Even though there have been rumors that they want to produce one, I suggest you make your own delicious gluten-free bread at home and keep eating healthy.
Eating Gluten Free at Panera
Ordering at Panera bread has been quite challenging because of staff inexperience.
These allergies require eating extremely healthfully and having a gluten-free diet, which Panera Bread’s menu seems to provide. But I have a problem at most Panera Bread locations, where the young staff cannot assist you with your order.
The company would benefit from some training, some easy adjustments, and keeping a space for gluten-free people.
People with allergies will know what they can order if this means only offering a small number of items.
Although according to the Panera website, the following grain bowls are gluten-free:
Mediterranean Chicken Warm Grain Bowls, Mediterranean Warm Grain Bowl, and Baja Warm Grain Bowl.
It’s essential to be aware that these menu items contain oats that may contain wheat’ due to cross-contact that could occur from using shared equipment for product storage, transportation, or handling, as well as from the usual practices for cultivating and harvesting crops.
Due to the possibility of cross-contamination in the bakery-cafe environment, they made the following statement: “That their list is not suitable for individuals with Celiac Disease, a heightened gluten sensitivity, or a wheat allergy.”
So, when eating gluten-free at Panera, you need to be cautious.
Conclusion
I hope this article on Panera Bread’s gluten-free meal menu was helpful and aids in your decision-making as you continue to live a gluten-free lifestyle.
