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 from scratch with fresh baked bread and fresh ingredients and it was even more delicious than the Panera version!
The Frontega Chicken is one of the tastiest menu sandwiches at Panera. But when you make this Copycat Frontega Chicken Sandwich recipe, you won’t be missing the expensive lunch bill.
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!
Not to mention the chipotle pepper adobo sauce – it’s creamy and zingy! So good!
What’s comes on the Panera Frontega Chicken Sandwich?
It’s such a perfect summer sandwich – with basil, tomatoes and onions and then delicious FRESH mozzarella is what makes this delicious hot sandwich. For this copycat – I followed right along with Panera Bread’s version – so you’ll be piling on:
- smoked, pulled chicken
- fresh mozzarella cheese – you’ll need an 8oz mozzarella ball if making 2 sandwiches (I like a lot of cheese!)
- tomatoes
- red onions
- fresh basil
- Duke’s Mayonnaise
- Chipotle Pepper sauce
- You could also use chipotle seasoning or canned chipotle peppers
- Black Pepper Focaccia
How do you make Panera’s Frontega Chicken panini sandwich 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 of the grocery store. 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. You could also swap out and use ciabatta bread or focaccia rolls.
From there – stack it up!!!
- In a small bowl mix Chipotle Pepper sauce and mayonnaise together and stir with a spatula – that’s it!!! Pop your chipotle mayonnaise in the fridge until ready to serve…
- On your fresh baked focaccia, schmear 2-3 teaspoons sauce on the bottoms of buns
- Top that with basil, pulled chicken, FRESH mozzarella, tomatoes and red onion slices
- If not using a panini press, you’ll want to smush the sandwich down a bit
- I wanted the fresh mozzarella cheese to be nice and melty so I popped it in the air fryer for 2 min at 350º – you could also put it in a panini press or even on the stove like a grilled cheese
- Alternatively, you can heat this in a grill pan over medium high heat for 2 minutes and then flip and cook 2 minutes more until the cheese is melty.
- If you want the effect of a panini press, use a heavy cast iron lid to press the sandwich together.
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 10 Vegetable Soup
- Panera Broccoli Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese
- Panera Greek Salad
- More Panera Copycat Recipes
More Sandwich Recipes
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.1 cooked chicken breast
- If needed, bake focaccia bread according to package directions. Top with olive oil, coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper before baking.1/2 loaf focaccia bread
- While bread is baking, mix together mayo & chipotle sauce and set aside in refrigerator1/4 cup Duke's mayonnaise, 2 tsp chipotle pepper sauce
- 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.8 oz fresh mozzarella ball, 1 tomato, 1/2 red onion, 10-12 fresh basil leaves
- 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!