Before we get to our ratings, it’s important to talk about nutrition.
For our test, we ordered eight full-size salads from Panera’s current menu.
Each salad was tossed with the full amount of dressing provided and enjoyed as is.
Photo: Courtesy of Brand/Getty Images
Greek Salad
A Greek salad can be a thing of beauty, but Panera’s offering was just OK. Plus, the croutons in our order tasted stale.
Overall, we felt that this Caesar salad wasn’t anything special.
Overall, our feelings toward this salad are pretty neutral.
Would we order it if it was the only option on the menu?
Sure, but there are other Panera salads that we’d much rather eat.
The dried apple rings provided a nice visual and crunch, although as the salad sat they softened.
In fact, several testers wished they could swap this chicken in for the other variety.
To complement the chicken, the salad also includes a tangerine-soy-ginger dressing.
Our editors would definitely order this salad again!
6 but give the Southwest version the top spot?
Well, there were several key elements that transformed this one into our must-have pick.
Our editors loved the aioli so much, they wished there was more of it in the salad.
Plus, the chicken strips were well seasoned and juicy.
Overall, this salad checked all of the boxesit was colorful, delicious and satisfying.
What more could you ask for?
