Panera Bread prints no off-menu list at the register, and no cashier recognizes a nickname for any of these orders. Every item on the Panera Bread secret menu started as a listed bagel, bowl or drink asked for differently.
Mac & Cheese carries more builds than any other item, since a bowl of it sits on the line already. Soup or chicken folds in from there. Bagels swap in for bread. The self-serve drink station covers the rest of the list.
The short answer
Panera Bread’s secret menu items are ordinary bagels, bowls and drinks ordered differently, and each one rings up as the item it started from. Pizza Bagel and Arnold Palmer top the list, alongside two Mac and Cheese mix-ins and a bakery milkshake.
At a glance
$1.89
Pizza Bagel price
$12.19
Bagel Sandwich Swap price
$21.88
Mac & Cheese Grilled Cheese price
$22.38
Tomato Soup Mac & Cheese price
$3.29
Arnold Palmer price
$4.39
Milkshake price
Panera Bread Secret Menu Items and How to Order
Ordering from the Panera Bread secret menu works because every ingredient already sits behind the counter in a labeled bin. Ask for the build in plain language, since no register button matches an unofficial name. The base item’s price is what the register rings up, extras included.
Panera Bread Secret Menu Bagel Builds
Pizza Bagel starts from an Asiago or a plain bagel, then takes pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni before it gets toasted. Wheat and dairy show up in most of Panera’s bagels and toppings, and the exact dairy and wheat declarations live on the item-by-item grid. Bagel Sandwich Swap works on almost anything on the sandwich board. Any filling moves onto a toasted bagel in place of its usual bread. Ordering it on a Bacon Turkey Bravo keeps the usual $12.19 sandwich price intact.
| Item | How to Order | Base Price | Base Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pizza Bagel | Order an Asiago or plain bagel and ask for pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni added before it’s toasted | $1.89 | 320 |
| Bagel Sandwich Swap | Request your sandwich served on an Asiago, Everything or Cinnamon Crunch bagel in place of its usual bread | $12.19 | 870 |
Panera Bread Secret Menu Bowl Mix-Ins
Grilled Cheese takes on a second life in this build. Mac & Cheese gets packed inside it before the sandwich hits the press. Tomato Soup Mac and Cheese mixes two orders into one bowl, since both come off the same steam table already. Buying both bowls covers the actual cost, since nothing about the combination comes free at the register.
| Item | How to Order | Base Price | Base Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac & Cheese Grilled Cheese | Ask for a Grilled Cheese sandwich with a side of Mac & Cheese stuffed inside on heartier bread | $21.88 | 1,850 |
| Tomato Soup Mac & Cheese | Order a bowl of Mac & Cheese and a cup of Creamy Tomato Soup, then stir them together | $22.38 | 1,330 |
Panera Bread Secret Menu Drinks and Shakes
Arnold Palmer comes together at the self-serve fountain, where iced tea and lemonade share the same nozzle bank. One cup covers the whole mix. The fountain charges by size rather than by flavor. A pumpkin version of this trick appears each fall on Panera’s seasonal pumpkin drinks list, alongside the usual bakery blends. A blended milkshake starts from a brownie or a cookie, run through ice and chocolate syrup at the counter. That closes out the list of off-menu drinks.
| Item | How to Order | Base Price | Base Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Palmer | Mix iced tea and lemonade yourself at the self-serve drink station | $3.29 | 0 |
| Milkshake | Ask staff to blend a brownie or cookie with ice and chocolate syrup | $4.39 | 470 |
Panera Bread Secret Menu FAQs
About the author
Sophia W. Steadham writes MenuQuill. She is a food blogger and restaurant review expert who has spent years eating her way through American chain menus, from small-town drive-thrus to national roll-outs.