Wondering How to Eat Keto at Panera? Check Out Our Extensive Dining Guide!

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holding bowl of keto Panera salad

Love Panera? Eat Keto?

Panera Bread doesn’t sound keto by name, but there are some easy ways to hack the menu to create low-carb, keto-friendly orders whether you’re dining out for breakfast, lunch, & dinner. You can totally keep it keto at Panera with the help of our Panera Keto Dining Guide!

tuna at Panera

The basics of successful keto ordering at Panera:

    • Stick with salads and breadless sandwiches.
    • Avoid breads, rolls, cookies, soups, and chips.
    • Skip the pickled onions, which are not low-carb.
    • When in doubt, leave dressings and toppings off.
    • For drinks, stick with water, unsweetened iced tea, & diet sodas.
    • Make sure you download the free app for promos and rewards! Get it on iPhone or Android.

Panera keto breakfast options:

keto at panera bacon egg cheese

“I’ll have the Bacon Egg & Cheese Sandwich without the bread, and with a coffee to drink.”

Ah, breakfast! Mornings are easy, thanks to these amazing sammies—just nix the bread!

Panera includes values for some breakfast items, and I hunted down the rest. With this in mind, each of the breakfasts comes in very close to the following (values are for breakfasts minus the bread):

  • Bacon, Egg, & Cheese: 250 Calories | 18g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 17g Protein | 2g Net Carbs
  • Avocado, Egg White, & Spinach: 170 Calories | 12g Fat | 6g Total Carbs | 2g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 12g Protein | 4g Net Carbs
  • Egg & Cheese: 180 Calories | 13g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 13g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Sausage, Egg, & Cheese: 330 Calories | 25g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 21g Protein | 2g Net Carbs

Broken down individually, here are the breakfast a la carte items to eat keto at Panera. Where I didn’t have values, I used MyFitnessPal or similar macros:

  • Avocado (1 portion): 80 Calories | 9g Fat | 4g Total Carbs | 3g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 1g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Bacon (3-1/2 strips): 120 Calories | 9g Fat | 0g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 10g Protein | 0g Net Carbs
  • Pork Sausage (1 patty): 160 Calories | 14g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 8g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Ham (1 slice): 70 Calories | 3g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | <1g Sugar | 10.5g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Hard-Boiled Eggs (1 container): 160 Calories | 11g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 13g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Scrambled Egg (1): 100 Calories | 7g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 8g protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Egg Whites (1 portion): 30 Calories | 0g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 6g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Over Easy Egg (1): 70 Calories | 5g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 6g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Pickle Spear (1): 5 Calories | 0g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 0g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Vermont white cheddar (1 slice): 80 Calories | 7g Fat | 0g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 5g Protein | 0g Net Carbs
  • Steak (1 portion): 70 calories | 2.5g Fat | <1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 11g Protein | <1g Net Carbs
  • Tomatoes (2 wheels): 5 Calories | 0g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Dietary Fiber | 1g Sugar | 0g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Spinach (1 serving): 0 Calories | 0g Fat | 0g Total Carbs | 0g Dietary Fiber | 0g Sugar | 0g Protein | 0g Net Carbs

If you need any extra burst of flavor, check out their sauces great for sandwiches no matter the time of day!

  • Basil Pesto (1 serving): 30 Calories | 3g Fat | 0g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 0g Protein | 0g Net Carbs
  • Chipotle Aioli (1 serving): 45 Calories | 4.5g Fat | 0g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 0g Protein | 0g Net Carbs

Panera keto lunch & dinner options:

keto at panera bread - chicken avocado

“I’ll have the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt, without the bread, on a bed of lettuce.”

Because you’re skipping the bread, your only carbs (minus fiber, if you count net carbs) should come from the avocado, peppers, and chipotle aioli.

430 Calories | 36g Fat | 8g Total Carbs | 4g Fiber | 4g Sugar | 33g Protein | 4g Net Carbs


Not feeling the chipotle chicken sammie? You’ve got plenty of breadless sandwich options:

  • Roasted Turkey & Avocado BLT (Whole): Nix the bread and ask for your sandwich on a bed of lettuce.
    430 Calories | 35g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 38g Protein | 2g Net Carbs
  • Bacon Turkey Bravo Sandwich (Whole): Nix the bread (get a bed of lettuce instead) and get the signature sauce on the side (just to be safe). In fact, I’d ask for one of their breakfast sauces instead. The aioli and the pesto are 0 carbs per serving!
    450 Calories | 29g Fat | 9g Total Carbs | 1g Fiber | 6g Sugar | 39g Protein | 8g Net Carbs
  • Ham & Swiss Sandwich (Whole): Nix the bread and ask for your sandwich on a bed of lettuce.
    290 Calories | 16g Fat | 9g Total Carbs | 1g Fiber | 5g Sugar | 30g Protein | 8g Net Carbs
  • Steak & White Cheddar Panini (Whole): Nix the bread and ask for your sandwich on a bed of lettuce. If you want to lower your carb count, nix those pickled onions, which are delicious, but very carby.
    470 Calories | 27g Fat | 14g Total Carbs | 1g Fiber | 2g Sugar | 35g Protein | 13g Total Carbs

panera bread keto dining guide – green goddess salad

Additionally, there are plenty of salad options. To lower the carbs in the following salads, nix the items mentioned below in parentheses (like croutons and pickled onions):

  • Green Goddess Cobb Salad with Chicken (whole): 500 Calories | 30g Fat | 17g Total Carbs | 7g Fiber | 10g Sugar | 42g Protein | 7g Net Carbs (Nix the pickled onions)
  • Caesar Salad (whole): 220 Calories | 20g Fat | 4g Total Carbs | 2g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 6g Protein | 2g Net Carbs (Nix the croutons)
  • Caesar Salad with Chicken (whole): 380 Calories | 25g Fat | 7g Total Carbs | 2g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 32g Protein | 5g Net Carbs (Nix the croutons)
  • Greek Salad (whole): 400 Calories | 35g Fat | 15g Total Carbs | 6g Fiber | 6g Sugar | 6g Protein | 9g Net Carbs (Perfect as is!)

And what’s a salad without dressing! Here are low-carb salad dressing options to order on the side and drizzle at your leisure:

  • Asian Sesame Vinaigrette (Half – 1.5 tbsp.): 45 Calories | 4g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 2g Sugar | 0g protein | 2g Net Carbs
  • Asian Sesame Vinaigrette (Whole – 3 tbsp.): 90 Calories | 8g Fat | 4g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 4g Sugar | 0g protein | 4g Net Carbs
  • Caesar (Half – 1.5 tbsp.): 90 Calories | 9g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 0g Protein | 1g Net Carbs
  • Caesar (Whole – 3 tbsp.): 180 Calories | 18g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 0g Sugar | 0g Protein | 2g Net Carbs
  • Chili Lime Rojo Ranch (Half – 1.5 tbsp.): 45 Calories | 4g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 1g Protein | 2g Net Carbs
  • Chili Lime Rojo Ranch (Whole – 3 tbsp.): 90 Calories | 8g Fat | 4g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 2g Sugar | 2g Protein | 4g Net Carbs
  • Green Goddess (Half – 1.5 tbsp.): 40 Calories | 3.5g Fat | 2g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 1g Protein | 2g Net Carbs
  • Green Goddess (Whole – 3 tbsp.): 80 Calories | 7g Fat | 4g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 2g Sugar | 2g Protein | 4g Net Carbs
  • Greek (Half – 1.5 tbsp.): 110 Calories | 12g Fat | 0g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 1g Sugar | 1g Protein | 0g Net Carbs
  • Greek (Whole – 3 tbsp.): 220 Calories | 24g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 2g Sugar | 2g Protein | 1g Net Carbs

keto Panera salads

Eating keto at Panera isn’t as daunting as it may seem!

As you can see, with a little due diligence and with help from our Panera Keto Dining Guide, you can enjoy keto on the go wherever your adventures take you! Enjoy your next Panera visit!


Check out these other keto restaurant tips!


About the writer:

Angela graduated with a Bachelor's Degree and has 25+ years of experience as a writer and photographer with her work being featured in US Weekly Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, and more.


Join The Discussion

Comments 9

  1. Sarah E Edwards

    Just had the greek salad with the greek dressing. YUM!!!! A must try this week!

    • Amber (Hip Sidekick)

      Yay!! Thanks for letting us know how much you enjoyed that one!

    • Gary

      The Tuna is good on it, I worked there for 10 years!

  2. Jennifer (Hip Sidekick)

    You can find Panera’s nutritional information here, Pam!

  3. Ester Hunter

    Thanks for this information. I like Panera Bread but didn’t thing it was Keto friendly. I’ll take you up on the recommended selections.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Oh good! You’re very welcome, Ester! Enjoy!

  4. Chops Moyer

    because it comes with a big piece of bread or chips thats why the count is higher. You can get a 1/2 salad with Xtra grilled chicken, and add avcodo….

  5. Stacey

    Thrilled to discover your site! Great information!!

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      Thanks for the sweet comment, Stacey! SO glad to have you here with us!

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