What’s the first restaurant you think of when you hear the word “soup”? It could be a local cafe down the street. Maybe a French-inspired bistro or high-end steakhouse. Or, for many people—including myself—it may very well be the fast-casual eatery Panera Bread.
The combination bakery-cafe got its start in St. Louis circa 1987 with an initial hyper-focus on selling fresh-baked bread. At that time, it was known as the St. Louis Bread Company, and although there has since been a rebranding, the word “bread” still remains baked right into the name.
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But, somewhere along the line, soup started to become a cornerstone menu item, gaining a great deal of popularity at the chain’s nationwide restaurants—dare we say more than the bread itself? Classics like Homestyle Chicken Noodle, Creamy Tomato, and Broccoli Cheddar have remained steadfast on the bill of fare for quite some time. Others come and go with the changing seasons or as Panera undergoes menu overhauls—like when the eatery ushered in its groundbreaking “new era of Panera” earlier this year.
Now, as we head into the cozy season of fall 2024, the soup menu is adapting yet again and all eyes are on two newcomers including the Rustic Baked Potato Soup and the Hearty Fireside Chili, as well as a returning star the Vegetarian Autumn Squash Soup. These three recipes join five well-established favorites at the restaurant, and I know we’re all dying to know how they fit into the current lineup.
To find out, I recently paid a visit to my nearest Columbus, Ohio Panera for a soup taste test. I ordered a cup of every single soup on the menu for $6.99. With every spoonful, I formed opinions on each steamy soup and found one clear winner. Let’s jump into the rankings in order from least to most adored.
Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
Soup, as a category, is the quintessential comfort food, and chicken noodle is likely the most comforting of them all. It strikes a perfect balance of warm broth, nourishing chicken, tender noodles, and other flavors—all thrown together in a way that warms the soul and cures just about anything.
Any bakery, café, or bistro worth its salt has its own version of this established classic sloshed on its menu, and Panera Bread is no different. The chain’s Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup is one you can order year-round and consists of a standard mix of white meat chicken, egg noodles, carrots, celery, onion, and herbs.
The look: Sad and oily. I wasn’t impressed when I popped the lid off this one. The broth is a light yellow shade, and it somehow looks both translucent and murky. Beads of oil can also be seen forming in the stock—something that is fairly normal but still a little off-putting. The chicken is standard white meat that comes in good-sized hunks and is surrounded by yellow-tinted egg noodles, bright orange carrots, and specks of herbs like pepper, thyme, and parsley. I’d say the soup as a whole is a little light on ingredients—a ratio of about 50/50, broth to other elements.
The taste: I didn’t feel soothed by this soup at all. The base is thin, watery, and dull as dishwater. Veggies are scarce. And the chicken is nearly tasteless and dry, despite soaking in its briny bath. One highlight is the egg noodles. They are firm yet easily chewed, and I have an admitted soft spot for them as they’re one of my favorite kinds of noodles. This small win isn’t enough to save the rest of this soup, and overall, it’s not one of the cafe’s best showings. I would recommend sticking to your grandma’s recipe next time you’re feeling under the weather.
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Creamy Tomato Soup
Tomato is a real workhorse of a soup. It does its job quietly, never attracting too much attention. But it’s reliable and never too far away when those cravings hit or when you need something warm on a chilly fall or winter day. Panera’s recipe starts with vine-ripened pear tomatoes—a type of sweet heirloom tomato—and features whipping cream, extra virgin olive oil, butter, onions, and an array of subtle spices to round it out.
The look: A muted orange-red color—much less vibrant of a hue than fresh tomatoes. The whole soup looks uniform, and flecks of spice or other add-ins don’t stick out. Black pepper and sea salt croutons come as embellishments and sit atop the soup without sinking due to its high viscosity.
The taste: Like a big serving of pasta sauce. I know tomato soup and pasta sauce are similar (they’re both puréed tomatoes when it comes down to it). Something about this cup reads very sauce-like to me. It could be the consistency. It’s smooth and somewhere in between thin and thick, but it also has juicy tomato chunks throughout. I think a touch more cream and an extra sprinkling of spices like oregano and red pepper would be the perfect remedy. I do think the croutons help to zhuzh it up a bit and add a welcome layer of added texture.
All in all, it is what it is: a basic and straightforward tomato soup. It would pair well with melty grilled cheese—and Panera serves a rather tasty one.
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Rustic Baked Potato Soup
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Whoever came up with the idea to take everything hearty and delicious about a loaded baked potato and morph it into a spoonable dish was a genius. This soup variety is a fan favorite at many restaurants, and Panera is additionally no stranger to the simple yet clever makeup. It’s ladled up different versions of spud-infused soup in the past, but right now the chain is promoting its brand new Rustic Baked Potato Soup, which puts not only potatoes but also cheese in the limelight. Each cup starts with homestyle cuts of potatoes, onions, garlic, bacon, chives, and seasoning in a base of cream and chicken stock. Then, don’t forget healthy portions of both Monterey Jack cheese sauce and melty Asiago cheese.
The look: From the top, it appears thick in a shade in between pale yellow and cream as a good potato soup ought to be. But, as you dig in further, the substance reveals it’s a bit more watery than it initially lets on, becoming more murky than creamy. Potato chunks and bacon bits are few and far between amongst the broth but accounted for.
The taste: While an older version of Panera’s potato soup was defined by its richness and cream cheese base, this adaptation is more mealy with a strong smoked bacon essence-a result of the real bacon pieces no doubt but also the “natural smoke flavor,” which is pumped in. After diving in, a few of my spoonfuls would come up spudless. But, the potatoes I did find would all but disintegrate on my tongue on impact. In the broth itself, the cheese flavoring was hard to detect, but clumps of Asiago would occasionally surface all at once. All in all, neither the consistency nor the one-dimensional flavor profile succeeded in winning over my taste buds, and I can’t say this recipe is an improvement over the potato soup of Panera’s past.
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Hearty Fireside Chili
I don’t know about you, but I was saddened to hear that Panera’s Turkey Chili was one of the items on the chopping block during its massive menu overhaul back in April. Chili is just one of those classic stews that is comforting and tasteful any time of year—yes, even in those blistering summer months (don’t fight me on this).
But, lo and behold, the chain had a trick up its sleeve and has already presented a new chili rendition. Whether it’s improved or not though remains to be seen. This latest recipe has been dubbed Hearty Fireside Chili (sounds cozy, doesn’t it?) and starts with a base of beef this time instead of turkey. It also does away with extra veggies like chickpeas, corn, carrots, and edamame, sticking instead to the basics like kidney beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, and green chili peppers, all flavored with a blend of chilis and traditional seasonings.
The look: The entire stew takes on a fiery color of deep burnt red. It’s chunky and chock full of easily identifiable ingredients like beans, tomatoes, and very finely ground beef. It looks a tad oily based on the ring around the inside of the cup, but that’s to be expected.
The taste: It’s a fine chili. Let’s start there. The chili trio of beef, beans, and tomatoes offers a pleasing texture in every bite. Meanwhile, the spices—namely, the chili powder, cumin, and chili pepper blend-work well together, providing robust flavor and a heat that happens to build with each succeeding bite. However, I inevitably continued to compare the soup to the former the turkey chili, and couldn’t help but be disappointed. This new iteration essentially strips out much of the flavor and ingredient diversity offered by its predecessor, rendering it inferior.
That being said, the fireside variation is something I can certainly enjoy. But, since it boils down to a bowl I could easily make at home (as a markedly amateur chef), I simply can’t rank it among Panera’s most sapid soups.
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Vegetarian Autumn Squash Soup
The Vegetarian Autumn Squash is one of Panera’s seasonal soups and like clockwork, it has returned to the menu as of September 2024. It returns year after year, I can only assume that’s because it has gained favor with customers and continues to be a hot menu item—in more ways than one.
Straight from the mouth of Panera, the soup is a “rich blend of butternut squash and pumpkin simmered in vegetable broth with select ingredients, including honey, apple juice, cinnamon and a hint of curry, and finished with sweet cream and topped with roasted and salted pumpkin seeds.”
The look: Not dissimilar from the tomato soup, but in the burnt orange shade of butternut squash. A cluster of pumpkin seeds also sit on top to distinguish it and other dark freckles can be seen—presumably one or two of the many included spices.
The taste: This is my first time having a squash soup and the sweetness really threw me off at first. Flavors like cinnamon and turmeric consume your entire palette after taking that first bite, and it tasted to me like I was eating a dessert—and to be more specific, a warm and liquefied pumpkin pie. Once I got accustomed to this very new flavor sensation, though, it was actually very creamy and pleasant. It really does taste like fall poured into a cup. But, I don’t think I could eat the entire serving in one go—and definitely not an entire bowl.
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Bistro French Onion Soup
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When it comes to cuisine, the French do a lot of things right, and this breed of soup is one shining example. Its rare combination of affordability, simplicity, and savoriness are what make it so universally sought-after and why it’s one of my personal favorites. I order a crock almost every time I see it listed on a restaurant menu and have indulged in Panera’s rendition more times than I can remember.
As is the case with most French onion soups, the chain’s version consists of caramelized onions in a broth of sherry wine vinegar gastrique and stock—specifically chicken in this case. Ground puréed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and soy sauce are also included. Fontina and mozzarella cheeses and croutons are the icing on top.
The look: This isn’t the most attractive of soups. While some French onion soups come with a bubbly and delicious cheese layer on top, Panera’s looks less put together—a cup of brownish liquid and onions. The croutons do improve its presentation.
The taste: What this soup lacks in looks, it makes up for in taste 100 times over. The onions have perfectly cooked down, with no trace of bitterness. They were a tad on the crunchier side compared to what I’ve had in the past, but it’s a minor slip-up in the grand scheme of soup. I could drink the broth straight up, and it offers a flawless balance of vinegary, garlicky, savory, and sweet flavors. I’m a sucker for a good cheese pull, and the mozzarella blend delivers a few-they were understated but present.
Pro tip: Make sure to forgo the apple or chips and add a French baguette as your side. French bread with your French soup only makes sense, right? The broth soaks into the crusty bread, creating a heavenly pairing that does more favors for the soup than the seasoned croutons.
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Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Along with Autumn Squash, this Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice is one of Panera’s few soups that deviate from the other more well-known staples. It’s a healthier choice on the menu—despite its inclusion of heavy cream—and is chock-full of white meat chicken, celery, onion, carrots, and cabbage. Both long grain and wild rice come together in the dish, giving the soup not only its name but also its body and robustness.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
The look: A deep cream color and unbelievably dense. It barely wiggled at all when I shook it lightly in the cup. Once stirred, I could see a hearty amount of chicken and other ingredients. Stinginess is not at play here.
The taste: I think this may be one of Panera’s most underrated menu items. It has the rich creaminess of the chain’s Broccoli Cheddar soup. It includes both chicken and rice, so it eats more like a meal and provides a higher level of nutrition. It was difficult to decipher exactly what was in each bite, but that didn’t matter because every taste was delicious. The chicken is fresh and plump, and the consistency resembles chicken and dumplings, which I adore. I enjoyed every bit of it, and can confidently say it is miles ahead of the other chicken-based soup Panera offers (looking at you, chicken noodle).
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Broccoli Cheddar Soup
If there’s one Panera soup that is unlikely to slip off the menu anytime soon, it’s the Broccoli Cheddar. The fusion of cheesy sauce with chopped broccoli and shredded carrots is an instant favorite. The dish now has something of a cult following in the U.S. Did you know you can flaunt your broccoli cheese obsession outwardly through the chain’s cheesy swimsuit collection? That’s right. “Pick two” takes on a whole new meaning with mix-and-match bathing suit separates for men and women.
The look: Akin to the Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. It comes in nearly the same light yellow to cream color and shares a similar level of thickness. Its distinguishing factor is the green broccoli heads and florets peeking out from below the surface.
The taste: It’s a fan favorite for a reason. Digging into the cup is like accepting a warm, cheesy hug. The soup is velvety and buttery, and the broccoli is so nice and soft that it practically melts in your mouth. There is also plenty of it—something that has held for all of my Panera soup indulgences. The chain does not skimp on that front. Top everything off by dipping a baguette into the smooth liquid, and you’re golden.
This Broccoli Cheddar soup never seems to miss. It’s the first item I think of when I think of Panera, and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.
This story has been updated to include new information and remove outdated information.
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