Is Panera’s Sourdough Bread Authentic? Answered!

Published Categorized as Beginner Guides

If you love sourdough bread, then it’s time to venture out and try some authentic loaves with complex flavors. If you’re familiar with popular bakeries, you may have wondered, is Panera’s sourdough bread authentic? Well, stick around for the answer!

Is panera's sourdough bread authentic

Table of Contents

Is Panera Bread Real Sourdough?

Panera’s sourdough bread is normally freshly baked from its original sourdough starter. If you’re unsure whether Panera is baking authentic sourdough bread, always make a note of the ingredients. If there is yeast in the ingredients list, then chances are the sourdough bread isn’t real. Since real sourdough bread can only be made with flour, salt, and water along with additional natural ingredients, this would be a crystal clear giveaway.

A classic sourdough loaf will impart a bold and complex flavor, coupled with a slightly chewy texture, which is especially perfect for your favorite sandwich creations.

Panera Bread Sourdough Ingredients

Typically, Panera’s Country Rustic sourdough bread ingredients will look something like this:

Enriched flour, wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate riboflavin, enzyme folic acid, water, coarse whole wheat flour, salt, yeast, sorbitan monostearate, ascorbic acid, dough improver, ascorbic acid, microcrystalline cellulose, corn starch.

Panera Bread Sourdough Nutritional Information

While sourdough bread is considered to be a healthier type of bread, it’s important to understand the nutritional content of any type of food before consumption.

Below is the nutrition and allergen content for Panera’s Country Rustic sourdough bread:

  • Calories: 130cal
  • Calories from fat: 0cal
  • Fat: 0g
  • Saturated fat: 0g
  • Trans fatty acid: 0g
  • Cholesterol: 0mg
  • Sodium: 260mg
  • Carbohydrates: 28g
  • Dietary fiber: 1g
  • Total sugars: 0g
  • Protein: 5g
  • Caffeine: 0mg
  • Contains wheat

How To Enjoy Panera Sourdough Bread

There are so many ways to enjoy Panera’s sourdough bread. You can start off by making a delicious grilled cheese, or perhaps a refreshing sourdough sandwich for brunch.

Let’s take a look at some of the tasty ideas below:

Pull-Apart Garlic Cheese Bread

If you’re on the hunt for some real crowd-pleasing recipes, then wait till you try this scrumptious pull-apart garlic cheese bread. It’s super easy to make, and utterly delightful, you’ll have your guests ooh-ing and aah-ing in no time.

Bagel Breakfast Bites

Take your love for bagels to the next level, with these cute and hearty bagel bites. Complete with kale, and sausage to elevate your scrumptious breakfast spread.

What Is Panera Bread?

Panera is an American bread company, initially founded in 1987 and originally known as the St. Louis Bread Company. Today, Panera offers five whole-grain sliced bread, each with 13-21 grams of whole grain per slice. When shopping for bread at Panera, make sure to look out for a whole grain ingredient like whole wheat flour.

(Speaking of, have you checked out my whole wheat sourdough bread recipe yet?)

So Is Panera’s Sourdough Authentic?

This will depend on the ingredients of the type of Panera sourdough bread you have purchased. Normally, Panera’s sourdough bread contains an authentic sourdough starter, however, there are the odd few that include yeast, which changes the narrative altogether!

You can absolutely make sourdough at home! Here are some recipes to begin with:

Is Panera’s Sourdough Bread Authentic – FAQs

Does Panera Have Real Sourdough Bread?

Since Panera uses an organic sourdough starter, it is considered to be real sourdough bread.

Does Panera Bread Use Sourdough Starter?

Yes. Panera bread uses an original sourdough starter for their freshly baked bread.

Is Sourdough Bread The Healthiest Bread?

The short answer is yes. Fortunately, sourdough bread is probably one of the healthiest types of bread to go for, thanks to the high levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

How Many Calories In A Slice of Panera Sourdough Bread?

One slice of Panera bread sourdough contains 150 calories.

By Natasha Krajnc

Hi! My name is Natasha and I'm specialized in home sourdough bread baking and currently based in Slovakia - a very small country in Central Europe. My bread baking story began in 2011 when I decided to give up commercial yeast. I felt tired all the time (especially after eating bread and other foods made with yeast), I wasn’t motivated to do anything, had trouble concentrating throughout the day, my abdomen was bloated and I was like a trumpet on steroids – basically, I was quite a wreck. I was a big bread lover (and still am) and having to stop eating bread was quite hard at that time but I felt I was on a right way to give my body a chance to heal itself.

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