When I go to Panera Bread I always get the same thing: the Modern Greek With Quinoa + chicken (because protein).
A while back, I decided to see if I could recreate it at home after I realized that Path of Life makes a Mediterranean Quinoa blend that is very similar to the sofrito blend in my beloved Panera Salad.
For me, the salad dressing makes or breaks the salad. Can anyone else relate? Panera now offers several of their dressings in stores, but sadly their Greek isn’t one that I can find locally. (Side note: my Publix does carry their Balsamic though and I highly recommend it!!) Luckily, Marie’s makes a Greek Vinaigrette that is on point with the dressing that Panera uses, so until we have the real deal available at my Publix, it is what I’ll continue to use.
Once you have the key parts covered (a solid dressing and a stand-in for the sofrito) the rest of the salad (toasted almonds, feta cheese, romaine and kale blend, kalamata olives, cucumber, and sliced chicken breast) is fairly simple to put together at home. The final result was pretty darn close to the real thing!
Here’s a side by side photo for comparison:
Note: This recipe also works well for meal prepping for lunches for the week since the ingredients you purchase will make several single serving salads. Just prepare the ingredients and pack them into individual containers. Then assemble each salad when you are ready to eat it. This way the pre-prepared items, like the toasted almonds and diced veggies, don’t get soft before you end up eating them. Recipe as listed below makes 1 serving.
Modern Greek with Quinoa
Panera Bread ReDo
Serves: 1 (full sized salad portion)
Ingredients:
· 3 oz grilled and sliced chicken breast *
· 2-3 cups romaine lettuce mix
· 2 cups kale
· few slices of cucumber, diced
· 3-4 diced kalamata olives (I like using Pearls olives to-go cups so I don’t have to open a whole jar)
· 1/2 oz (14g) feta
· 1/2 oz (14g) toasted almonds
· 2 oz (56g) cooked and cooled quinoa (I use Path of Life Mediterranean Quinoa)
· 1 oz Greek Vinaigrette Dressing (can use Panera if your store carries it, or I like Marie’s)
Directions:
If making at home, simply toss all ingredients and enjoy!
If making for meal prep, see notes above!
*You can use any kind of chicken. This is actually a great recipe to use up leftovers! When I make this for my meal prep, I plan ahead to make a trip to Panera and get add on orders of chicken for the number of servings I plan to make while I am there. As long as you order something off of the menu, they will let you order as many add-on sides of the chicken as you want!I do this because (to me) their chicken is better than what I can make at home. I think each add on order is a little over a dollar, so it is fairly cost effective for the time saved after you figure what chicken costs per pound.
If you try it, let me know what you think! I feel like it is very close to the real deal 🙂
If you were a fan of the BBQ Chicken Salad from Panera, be sure to check out the copycat recipe from Patrick at Looney For Food here! This is one item that is no longer even available on the menu, so you don’t want to miss out on the chance to find out how to make it at home!
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Are you ready? Let’s get growing!
| Kaci
Reader Questions:
1/ Are you a “salad dressing” person?
2/ What is your favorite menu item from Panera?
