Although there aren’t lots of vegan options at Panera Bread, there are still enough items to choose from so you don’t leave hungry. And frankly, the bean soup for lunch and the steelcut oatmeal for breakfast has always managed to put a smile on my face as well as filling the gap!
The company has come a long way with the introduction of healthier ingredients and even a “no-no list” of things they don’t use in their food, so it’s satisfying to also be supporting one of the fast food chains moving in the right direction!
There are a couple of customizations too that can work with their non-vegan orders, we point these out after the vegan items at the bottom of the list.
Vegan Options at Panera Bread
Bagels and Bread
The below are all vegan. Just be careful not to order whole wheat and whole grain as these are sweetened with honey and so not vegan.
Bagels:
- Plain Bagel
- Blueberry Bagel
- Everything Bagel
- Sesame Bagel
Bread:
- Black Pepper Foccaccia
- Sea Salt Foccacia
- Ciabatta
- Country
- Rye
- Sesame Semolina
- Sourdough
Soups
- Black Bean
Only the black bean soup is vegan and served in a bread bowl – be sure to point out that you are vegan so the bread bowl they are serving it in is one of those vegan breads above (or just have it in a bowl, of course).
Breakfast
- Steel cut oatmeal with Strawberries, Pecans and Cinnamon
- Summer Fruit Cup
Salads
- Seasonal Greens
- Watermelon Arugula with Almonds
Outside of these vegan options, you can always customize a few items by leaving out the non-vegan ingredient:
- Garden vegetable soup with pesto, but ordered without the pesto
- Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie, but without the yoghurt)
- Mediterranean Veggie sandwich, but order without the feta and with one of the vegan breads above
You are also able to order avocado and quinoa as sides, so you could combine this with the green salad or with other salads with meat just swapping it out for the meat. This is probably the best idea when looking for something more filling without bread.
We’ve begun to see real movement in food chains start to create vegan menus or at the very least start to label clearly those meat-free or healthier options. You can read our guides to eating vegan at Taco Bell and vegan options at KFC so you’re prepared when walking in!
Bhavani Bindiganavile!!!
Did it last night…yum
With the Ipads it’s easy to order things and customize. I like to do a breakfast bagel with spinach, tomato, onion and avocado. You usually omit the egg and cheese, etc. Can do the same with the salads.
Mimi Zschack
Not much to choose from at all. Especially when they only offer the B.B. Soup on a certain day of the week. :/ too bad.
And pretty much nothing that is both gluten free and vegan. #epicfail
Right. I was hoping for some hidden secret, but it’s nothing I didn’t already know.
Right! One soup and some salads. Bug deal????
Kara Patton
Michelle Lynne
Bobby Lopez
oh wow great, bread and friggen juice/soda/coffee. so many options. smh. They dont even have black bean soup at the moment
Josh Myers
Megan
Hannah
Nancy Ruth <3 <3
I don’t eat there anymore since an employee told me they have NO vegan bagels, she even asked her coworker. Wrote to corporate, they said yes they do, but offered no apology for their poor training program.
The last time I ordered the Seasonal Greens Salad…there were chicken pieces in the dressing. Yak!
They took black bean soup off menu so no soup. If you order salad without the meat they charge the same. Used to love, now look elsewhere
Don’t all restaurants or fast food places charge the same amount, even if you take off the meat? (I’ve never been to a place that doesn’t). In fact, I’ve always said it seems like a class action law suit waiting to happen. Because if you add avocado, etc., they charge extra. But, if you take off the meat & cheese, they don’t charge less.
Most places you can get avocado or quinoa instead of chicken. No extra charge
I used to work there. And there is no extra charge for adding extra veggies like cucumbers lettuce tomatoes onions pickles
As far as I can tell, the modern Greek salad with quinoa is vegan if you get it without the feta cheese.
That’s really a pathetic vegan menu for a company that has this as the first thing you see on their website. “100% of our food is 100% clean”….
No thank you.
I stopped going after they got rid of the black bean soup. I find it ridiculous that a company that prides itself on providing “real food” has nearly no animal free options.
It’s seasonal
I used to be able to get it year round.
Leandra Thomson
Bailey Kepner
The vegetable soup is vegan without the pesto
Is the Mediterranean sandwich minus feta not vegan?
The bread has honey, otherwise yes.
Oh ok Thank You
Yes, get it with sourdough bread, and I like adding avocado. 🙂
Wonderful idea!!
The Mediterranean hummus (no feta), and the quinoa oatmeal as well. I usually omit the brown sugar, and add a packet of the raw sugar. It has pecans and strawberries too.
Hmmm… Not sure how true this is, since two Panera Bread Managers have told me that the bread is not, vegan. I would encourage everyone to first consult with a manager, so they will refer to the ingredients list prior to ordering.
Fred Garcia
Mediterranean veggie sandwich, no cheese, on one of the listed breads. The tomato basil bread that it comes on works if you are ok with honey.
It’s not real food. They microwave everything, hence nuking any nutrients that would have been good for you.
Rachelle Lauren
Great
LOVE Asian chicken cashew (minus chicken) salad! Their Modern Quinoa Salad minus feta is awesome as well!
FINALLY an updated onee!! Thank you!!
Off menu hacks: bagel with avocado.
My experiences: sometimes they don’t know what to put in the register so they have given me the avo for free or charged me for cream cheese. I’ve also been given 1/4 of an avocado with the skin on but usually they give me avocado slices on the bagel
I got the strangest look when I did that, and stood in line for about 3 minutes while she tried to find the option, decided to give it for free, coworker buts in tries to find it ????, then ends up giving for free. Was worth the confusion in the end though :p I got it in a little dish on the side.
You can also get peanut butter and jelly on a bagel there
You would have to check the ingredients with the manufacturer to see if they use salt, sugar, vitamins and so forth that are processed through bone char or from animal sources to see if it is truly vegan or not.
Chad Eklund
Leslie Evans Kaplan
#Krista
Every time I’ve gotten a salad there, I mean literally every single time; they have dropped bacon in the dressing. I’ve never once received even a vegan salad from them. Because of their inability to simply put lettuce in a bowl, I boycotted them for the last two years. But if the ones near where other people live happen to have the intelligence to make a salad without cheese and bacon, that’s great.
Areem Chambers
Way overpriced for what you get.
Abby Roll
When I asked the young lady taking my order “what vegan options do you have?” – she looked at me oddly & said “what’s vegan?”
LOL!!! I had the same experience one time!!
I kinda chuckled at first & then I realized she was serious . I felt bad . But it’s fun to enlighten someone & welcome them to our world ????
Thanks you Panera. I will be eating at Panera more especially when the one opens in Stillwater.
I don’t eat there often, but, when I do, I get the Mediterranean veggie sans feta on ciabatta with extra veggies and hummus and a bag of chips on the side. OR, if I order via the app, I add all kinds of veggies (arugula, sliced tomato, avocado) since it lets you customize 🙂 Once in a while, I’ll get the black bean soup too.
They seriously need to train their employes better I was laughed at one over this, they constantly claim nothing is vegan. Either don’t bother reading the nutrition sheet, or won’t bring it out. The sheet itself is horrible and only lists allergens and not all the ingredients.
yea. its called ordering a slice of bread with some lettuce.
A thousand ads and barely readable… No thanks
The Black Bean soup is only served “seasonally”. Not sure what season but I was there summer, fall and winter and they didn’t have it on the menu. Besides the bread, it was the best thing on the menu.
The real question Panera. Is a date on when Salt Lake City is getting a location….
Brittney Salazar