The latest news from Panera Bread will surely satisfy fans of the bakery-café chain’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Mac & Cheese. The two popular items are being combined in Panera’s new creation, Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese, now available nationwide.
“As the new head chef at Panera, I am incredibly excited to work with our pantry of fresh, clean ingredients to create delicious new innovations on the Panera menu,” says Claes Petersson, head chef and chief food & innovation officer at Panera. “I’m obsessed with the flavor combination in our new Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese—it’s an insanely craveable and irresistible creation that our customers nationwide are sure to love.”
The Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese recipe was developed by combining two distinct cheddar cheese sauces into a singular blend, simmered with a burst of seasoned broccoli florets and julienned carrots. Guests can now order Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese in Panera bakery cafés nationwide, starting at $5.79 or as part of a You Pick 2 order. Panera Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese is also available in the refrigerated deli area at select grocery retailers.
As part of the debut of the new menu mashup, Panera and two-time Grammy Award winner Michael Bolton have released a digital short called “When Some Mac Loves Broccoli Cheddar.”
“To celebrate the first-ever mash-up of two iconic Panera menu items coming together in perfect harmony, we knew we had to do something big,” says Eduardo Luz, chief brand and concept officer at Panera. “The combination of our crowd-pleasing Broccoli Cheddar Soup, with our Mac & Cheese is a true embodiment of Panera’s dedication to delicious food. We felt so passionately about the flavor combination that the love song almost wrote itself, and who better to help us announce to the world than love song legend and Panera superfan, Michael Bolton.”
