Panera gets all the credit for this delicious sandwich, but when you make this Copycat Frontega Chicken Sandwich recipe, you won’t be missing the expensive lunch spot.
This Frontega Chicken Sandwich is filled with smoky pulled chicken, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, chipotle mayo and more – all on crunchy focaccia bread. I made this at home with fresh baked bread and fresh ingredients and it was even more delicious than the Panera version!
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I love everything that’s stuffed into this – cheese, tomato and basil – um yes please! For the bread – I couldn’t find any pre-made focaccia at my store so I bought the kind in the roll that you bring home and bake – super simple!
What’s comes on the Panera Frontega Chicken Sandwich?
Panera’s version has smoked, pulled chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil and chipotle adobo sauce on Black Pepper Focaccia. It’s such a perfect summer sandwich – with basil, tomatoes and onions and then delicious FRESH mozzarella is what makes this delicious hot sandwich.
How do you make Panera’s Frontega Chicken panini at home?
For the chicken – I have a recipe for Smoked Chicken Breast – if you have a smoker grill – it’s definitely tasty. Just make a big batch and save some for this sandwich! If you want something quicker and easier – you can also make pre-marinated chicken breasts in your air fryer!
For the bread – I couldn’t find fresh focaccia buns at my grocery but there was the kind in the roll in the refrigerated section. The nice thing about this is you can add what you want to it when you bake it! Panera’s is a cracked pepper focaccia – but I don’t love pepper – so I added extra virgin olive oil and italian seasoning.
From there – stack it up!!!
- In a small bowl mix up your Chipotle sauce by mixing Chipotle Pepper sauce and 1/4 cup mayonnaise together with a spatula – that’s it!!! Pop it in the fridge until ready to serve…
- On your fresh baked focaccia, schmear chipotle mayonnaise on both sides of the bread
- Top that with basil, pulled chicken, FRESH mozzarella, tomatoes and red onion slices
- Smush the sandwich down a bit
- I wanted the mozzarella to be nice and melty so I popped it in the air fryer for 2 min at 350 – you could also put it in a panini press or even on the stove
What goes with Panera sandwiches?
Of course the best thing to eat with a Panera Bread sandwich are Panera soups, sandwiches and mac & cheese! Here are my favorites:
Panera Frontega Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Duke's mayonnaise
- 2 tsp chipotle pepper sauce
- 1/2 loaf focaccia bread cut into 4 pieces
- 1 cooked chicken breast smoked, pulled
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella ball
- 1 tomato thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 10-12 fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- For chicken, you need to use cooked pulled chicken. Here are some ideas on how to cook the chicken: you can either smoke the chicken breast, air fry the chicken breast or even use leftover rotisserie chicken.
- If needed, bake focaccia bread according to package directions. Top with olive oil, coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper before baking.
- While bread is baking, mix together mayo & chipotle sauce and set aside in refrigerator
- Once the bread is baked, cut 1/2 loaf into quarters. and use two slices for each sandwich.
- Top each slice with chipotle sauce.
- From there, layer on basil, chicken, slices of mozzarella, tomato and onion.
- Smush the sandwich down a bit.
- If you'd like to melt the cheese a little, you can pop it in the air fryer or a skillet for 2-3 minutes. (Air Fryer – 350 for 2-3 min, Skillet – medium heat 1-2 minutes per side)
hmw says
My honey LOVES this sandwich at Panera’s. He’s going to be thrilled to see (and taste) this.
kushigalu says
One of my favourite Sandwich too.so flavorful and delicious. I am making this soon for dinner
Lauren says
This is our new go to sandwich! So delicious and simple.
Beth Sachs says
You can’t beat a good old chicken sandwich. I love the sound of using focaccia bread.
Danielle Wolter says
Now this looks like an amazing sandwich. I don’t eat at Panera much, but I would definetely try this sandwich!