The Meat You Should Skip At Panera, According To Employees

When foodies pull into most fast-food drive-thrus, a degree of cognitive compromise occurs. Our seatbelts are (literally and proverbially) buckled for fairly low-quality food, but an experience that's more about low-cost and high-pleasure. At Panera Bread, however, comparatively higher price tags (think $10-$15 for a salad) suggest closer attention to "the little things." You get what you pay for...or, reason might suggest you should. In reality, a wave of apparent Panera employees is flooding Reddit to voice their dissatisfaction with one ingredient from the chain's kitchen — the chicken.

One Reddit thread from an alleged Panera worker sounds the alarm, writing, "FYI Panera chicken comes precooked in vacuumed bags when the store gets it." Indeed, for guests who didn't know, Panera's chicken comes in vacuum-sealed, frozen bags (your reporter happens to be a former Panera employee who remembers the chicken arriving at stores in such frozen, vacuum-sealed bags, sporting a rubbery pallor).

Admittedly, Panera notably skips the preservatives many other fast-casual chains use. But, its chicken is still not as "simple" or "real" as some patrons might anticipate. The Panera website's menu listing for the Toasted Frontega Chicken panini describes its Smoked Pulled Chicken Breast ingredient as "chicken breast with rib meat, water, salt, sodium phosphates, tapioca starch, vinegar, yeast extract, sugar, and citrus extract" — which is a lot more than simply "chicken." Elsewhere on Panera's menu, the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad uses "Fully Cooked Seasoned Chicken," which also includes rice starch and potato starch (not wildly encouraging). 

Employees aren't the only ones raising flags (or at least eyebrows) about Panera's chicken. Another Reddit post in r/Panera — this time from a customer — asks, "What happened to the chicken??" (yikes) after ordering a Fuji Apple Chicken salad and finding the protein "off." One of the top comments tidily notes, "Sorry to break it to you but that chicken has always come frozen in bags that just get defrosted and served. Nothing about it was ever fresh." More charming adjectives like "fake," "squishy," and "disgusting" appear in the comments (nice).

Still, it's worth noting that frozen, vacuum-sealed chicken isn't an uncommon industry practice for quick-service establishments — as several ostensible employees are quick to point out ("If you think we have professional chefs in back making fresh batches of soup from scratch [...] I have some news for you"). The chief issue here might come down to the price point for perceived quality. While "weird" chicken might pass unnoticed in a steaming bowl of soup, or layered into a sandwich, folks seem to be noticing it more pronouncedly in Panera's salads. In another post, a user states, "The chicken is now sooo gross. [It] gets mushy real fast. Don't eat half a salad with chicken and save the other half for later," and "I stopped getting the Fuji Apple Chicken salad because the chicken was so weird." Our advice? Skip the chicken altogether, or stick to Panera's chicken sandwiches.