Alright, as you guys know already I am a huge Panera fan! (Actually as I like to call it St Louis Bread Company, considering that is its original name). One of my favorite sandwiches I use to get from there was the one and only Chipotle Chicken Panini. However…. they GOT RID OF IT a few years back. Devastating times people… if you know, you know! They then put out a Chipotle Avocado Chicken but it is not the same– good! However, I miss the classic. They never really made it known as to WHY they got rid of it, but it did happen around the time they started lightening up their menu & utilizing cleaner ingredients.
That is where making this copycat from home comes in! Let’s make our own delicious Chipotle Chicken Sandwich at home to lighten & clean it up a bit– without it loosing its taste.. PLUS that way it is never taken off the menu :)!
Below I will have a simple & easy recipe to your own Easy Chipotle Mayo Recipe & how to assemble the delicious sandwich in no time! We have made these 4 times since I perfected the recipe… we cannot get enough!
What is in the classic Panera Chipotle Chicken Sandwich?
Chicken
Tomatoes
Bacon,
Cheddar cheese
Chipotle sauce
French Bread
So simple…. so good.. so good ladies and gents! We keep the same concept above, but I like to add very thin red onion to it as well. Also we use sourdough bread, however you can use whatever bread works for you! Now let’s get to making this creation!
How to Make HGHF Signature Easy Chipotle Mayo
- 2/3 cup Greek Yogurt of Choice
- 2/3 cup Mayo of Choice
- 2 tsp Adobo Chipotle Pepper Sauce OR 2 Adobo Chipotle Peppers (both of these can be found in canned food isle)
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions: Add ingredients in order to immersion blender, blend & voila! THAT EASY & delicious. I literally dip everything in it 🙂
Tips When Making Chipotle Chicken Sandwich
- Buy a rotisserie chicken ahead of time so you don’t need to boil any chicken breasts– game changer!
- Prep the bacon the day before or for the week. Then you can use in the sandwiches whenever you all are having it
- Save leftover Chipotle Mayo to make quesadillas, wraps or whatever else your heart desires during the week!
- You maybe tempted to use another type of cheese, but mild cheddar goes so well with the flavors–so highly recommend sticking with mild cheddar!
- Store the Chipotle Mayo in an air tight container for up to 1 week.
- If you have the rotisserie chicken, prepped bacon & sauce done– you really can have these in under 10 minutes! If you don’t, this recipe is a 30 minute dinner– so win, win!
What other yummy HGHF recipes should you try?
The Best Tomato Basil Soup
Copy Cat Panera Modern Greek Salad
Easy Juicy French Onion Soup Burgers
Southwest Vegetable Egg Roll
How to LAYER your Chipotle Chicken Sandwich
WHY does layering matter? Who HATES biting into a sandwich for it to all come out one side. Oh my friend it matters big time! Layering this way means NO SLIP & SLIDE bacon or chicken. The cheese melts perfectly over the bacon, on top of the chicken– creates the perfect layering to take bite out of!
+ On both sides of the bread, layer a Easy Chipotle Mayo
+ First piece of bread sprinkle the thinly sliced red onions, then the sliced tomatoes on top of the red onions. After add the rotisserie chicken on top of the tomatoes.
+ Second piece add the sliced bacon to the top of the easy chipotle mayo and then the cheddar cheese on top of that.
+Place the second piece of bread on top of the first piece of bread, cook with the first piece of bread touching skillet first, then you will flip to cook with second piece of bread skillet down. By that time the cheese has melted already on top of the chicken, holding it into place.
Chipotle Chicken Sandwich (Panera Copycat)
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
Easy Chipotle Mayo
- 3/4 cup Mayo of choice
- 2/3 cup Greek Yogurt of choice
- 2 tsp Adobo Chipotle Pepper Sauce OR 2 Adobo Chipotle Peppers ( feel free to add more for spice if you'd like after tasting!) both of these can be found in canned food isle
- 1/8 cup lime juice
- 1 tsp sweetener honey, granulated cane sugar or granulated monk fruit sweetener works!
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
Chipotle Chicken Sandwich
- 8 slices bacon cooked
- 6 slices mild cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups rotissere chicken
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion pieces about 2 inches long
- 8 slices french bread or sourdough
- 8 slices tomatoes
Instructions
Easy Chipotle Mayo
- Place mayo, greek yogurt, lime juice, Adobo Chipotle Pepper Sauce OR 2 Adobo Chipotle Peppers, honey, salt and garlic powder in immersion blender safe container. Immersion blend until smooth. Store in air tight container for up to a week!
Chipotle Chicken Sandwich
- Layer Easy Chipotle Mayo on 1 side of each piece of bread
- On first piece of bread sprinkle thinly sliced red onions about (4-6) 2 inch pieces on top of the chipotle mayo, then 2 slices tomatoes on top of the red onions. After add the rotisserie chicken on top of the tomatoes(divide the 1 1/2 cups amongst the 4 sandwiches about 1/3-1/2 cup a sandwich) .
- Second piece add 2 slices of bacon to the top of the chipotle mayo and then 1 1/3 pieces of cheddar cheese on top of that.
- Place the second piece of bread on top of the first piece of bread, cook with the first piece of bread touching skillet first, then you will flip to cook with second piece of bread skillet down. By that time the cheese has melted already on top of the chicken, holding it into place.
- On stove spray skillet with olive oil spray and cook for 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown & crispy the way you prefer! Works on the grill or panini press as well.
- Repeat for all 4 & devour! Enjoy!!
Notes
Nutrition
Seriously my new favorite meal and now a go to during our meal planning! Easy, delicious (dare I say better than Panera!!!) and doesn’t require a ton of prep time! Huge win in my families book!
Ah yay!!! I am so glad to hear that!! I love how it is super easy! Makes my day knowing that your family enjoys it 🙂
Absolutely delicious! We do “Sammy Sunday” every week this is definitely going in the rotation. My Mayo turned out a little thin (probably my fault) but it was still tasty. I’ll add more chipotle next time too. I was scared to make it too spicy.
Thanks Maggie!! Yay!! I am so glad to hear that!! Did you use low fat mayo or low fat Greek Yogurt? Sometimes that can cause dressings to be thinner. Let me know and we can try to figure it out :)!
Love this recipe will definitely be making again! The sandwich was so good!
Yay!! Thanks Donna for letting me know! I am so glad you enjoyed it enough to have again! 🙂
So yummy! My parents loved this recipe.
Carly thank you so much for sharing!! So nice of you to make for your parents and so glad to hear they enjoyed it :)!
This sandwich was very tasty (thanks!) but did not taste to me like the old Panera Chipotle Chicken Panini. That sauce had a bite to it, whereas this sauce was a little overwhelmed by the amount of lime juice. I even added extra chipotle peppers. What needs to be added to get that light bite/spiciness?
Hi Jennifer! I am glad you enjoyed it!
I would say it might be the peppers you are using? The pepper sauce & canned peppers I link in recipe make it come out pretty hot. I would say I would start there. Making sure they are adobo chipotle peppers? Then if you are wanting more of a bite and less lime juice. I would do half the lime juice next time and more peppers. Adjust the mayo if you need more creaminess with the bite.
Hope you have a good day! Thanks for your questions
Thanks for your response!! I used an immersion blender but a different brand of peppers. Next time I’ll try one of the brands you linked too. Thanks again!
also quick thought too— did you immersion blend it? That can have the flavors a little off too.
Thanks for posting this recipe. Panera doesn’t have this item on its menu anymore. They have avocado melt now. I remember the original chipotle chicken sandwich has used chicken with pepper mixed with it. I saw black dots in that chicken they used. But you didn’t mention any pepper to go with the chicken. But I will give this a try.
Hi! Yes and feel free to add pepper to your chicken.