Review: Panera Stuffed Its Salads Into Rolls, And It's As 'Meh' As I Expected

Why have a sandwich and a side salad for lunch when you can have both rolled into one? This is the concept of the new Panera Bread Salad Stuffers. And before you ask, no. This isn't part of an elaborate and ongoing April Fool's joke. This is a real item now taking over the cafe's menu.

Essentially, you can now turn any Panera half salad into a sandwich by having it stuffed into a roll. It's a completely new kind of menu item for the chain — one that it's calling a "bread bowl for your salad" — and it also comes on a completely new kind of bread. This isn't the same kind of crunchy French baguette that accompanies your cup of soup. This is an Italian-style roll designed to be all-over soft and fluffy, yet sturdy enough to contain a bowlful's worth of veggies, proteins, and dressing. All of your favorite salads can be stuffed, including the chain's two new specialty salads: the Steakhouse Salad and the Santa Fe Chicken Salad.

Something this unconventional deserves a closer look, so I quickly set out for my nearest Panera. The drive-thru speaker wasted no time running through its spiel, touting the new Stuffers as "a delicious way to take your salad on the go" — or something to that effect. I decided I would be the judge of that and ordered a handful of the handhelds to give them a proper try.

Since every single Panera salad is stuff-able, that makes for a lot of options. I counted a total of 17 different Stuffers on my local menu. Instead of attempting to order them all, I narrowed it down to just four. I ordered the Steakhouse Salad Stuffer, Green Goddess Chicken Cobb Salad Stuffer, Balsamic Greens with Grains Salad Stuffer, and the Ranch Parm BLT Salad Stuffer. This gave me a good variety of proteins and a vegetarian option to sample.

Once I got them home, I dug into each one and focused first and foremost on the bread itself. It is the one truly new piece after all, since all the other ingredients have been seen before. I took note of its size, texture, and taste before jumping into how it held up against the other ingredients and how each Panera sandwich came together as a whole. From there, I factored in other considerations like price and novelty to decide whether or not the new Stuffers are actually worth it.

All of the Stuffers measure in at about six inches long, and they manage to be both messier and less messy than a traditional sandwich at the same time. Since only one end of the Italian roll is open, a good portion of the ingredients tends to tumble out the top, making the Stuffer a bit hard to swallow as an on-the-go salad solution. Once you get past that initial spillover, it becomes much easier to handle. I can't stop thinking about how they're made, though. I'm imagining a Panera employee physically smooshing the salad down into the bottom of the roll — I mean, how else would they do it?

The roll is remarkably similar to the bread at Jimmy John's, but not quite as pillowy soft. It's also hollowed out so the salad components are on full display. The Steakhouse Stuffer was particularly intriguing. It tastes just like a steakhouse wedge, with greens, sliced steak, bacon, onions, tomatoes, ranch, and gorgonzola cheese (the best part). Inside the stuffer roll, it's filling, balanced, and oh-so flavorful. The Ranch Parm BLT also made a lot of sense in this format, combining bacon, parmesan, tomatoes, and dressing with mixed greens and a bread base. The only thing that felt out of place was the croutons.

Other Stuffers didn't work as well. I didn't think the egg and avocado in the Green Goddess held up particularly well inside the bread, and the balsamic vinaigrette on the Greens and Grains Stuffer left the roll unpleasantly soggy.

I think the key to the Stuffers is finding the right salad core. Not every single Panera salad was meant to be paired with a soft Italian roll. For example, anything with a more diluted dressing, like a vinaigrette, is sure to ruin the integrity of the bread. Additionally, a light salad spotted with sweet fruits like the Fuji Apple Chicken or Strawberry Poppyseed just doesn't feel like the right fit. On the other hand, options that are stuffed with proteins and heartier dressings fare better. The Steakhouse Stuffer was by far the favorite one I tried, and I think something like the Southwest Chicken Ranch Salad would be just as satisfying. Picks like this make for a great lighter lunch — just like a wrap that leans more lettuce-forward.

That said, when I start to think more rationally about value rather than just taste, the Stuffers simply don't add up. There's absolutely no way an entire half salad was squeezed into each of these bread loaves, and you're paying more than you would for the salad. Similarly, the price is comparable to, if not more than, some of Panera's half sandwiches. But with the sandwiches, you're getting more bang for your buck that's more than mostly greens. So, at the end of the day, I'm not sure the Stuffers are 100% worth it. I would recommend ordering your half salad. Getting your free baguette on the side. And hacking your way to Stuffer for a lower cost.

Panera Bread officially announced and launched the new Salad Stuffers on April 8. They are now available nationwide at participating locations, and can be ordered in-store, for delivery, or for Rapid Pick-Up.

Each Stuffer comes in just one size option, and since it qualifies as a meal, it also comes with your choice of side between a French baguette, an apple, or a bag of chips. As for prices, Panera has noted that they range anywhere from $8 up to $13, but at my nearest location in Columbus, Ohio, the actual range is $9.38 to $11.98. Prices are heavily dependent on the salad's core ingredients. For example, something full of meat and specialty ingredients like the Steakhouse Stuffer lands at the higher end of the spectrum, while something simple with no meat, like the Caesar Salad Stuffer, lands at the lower end.

Comparatively, half salads at the chain range from $7.39 to $9.99. For yet another comparison, whole sandwiches land between $7.99 and $13.99, and half versions between $6.79 and $9.69.