chicken frontega flatbread melt.

Mar 4

If you follow my Substack, you might have read about the sandwich we were obsessed with for a little while, the copycat Chipotle Chicken Avo Melt from Panera. Evan worked at Panera for a while during grad school and learned enough of the recipes to be able to make them pretty like-for-like at home for a fraction of the cost, which is eternally useful for lunches like these. We got burnt out eating that particular sandwich everyday (for two weeks), but still had the sandwich bug and felt our formula could be improved somehow. So one day, while planning our lunches for the week, Evan drifted an idea into the mix, one that wasn’t far from our beloved chipotle chicken:

“What if we recreated the Frontega chicken?”

Of course, he said it as though I also had the menu memorized, even though my order at Panera has been the same You-Pick-Two for decades. The Frontega is a focaccia sandwich filled with pulled chicken, basil, melted cheese, red onion, and tomato. In other words, it’s the Chipotle Chicken with a few different ingredients, which I thought was perfect.

Plus, I love raw onions.

Something still wasn’t sitting exactly right about this sandwich to me, though, and I knew what it was: The bread. The little ciabatta rolls we’d been using were fine, but too doughy for the contents, the carb balance thrown off by the crusty outer layers. I wanted something extremely thin, a little crunchy, and not doughy at all: thus the flatbread was born.

No, it’s nothing novel, but this is seriously the best way to eat a panini sandwich. I personally think you must press the sandwich through a panini press or, at least, under a heavy spatula on the stove, but you could certainly throw it together cold, too. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby, check your store for any kind of flat, thin bread or pizza crust. It should be about 1/4-inch thick and soft, yet dense, sturdy enough for a loaded-up sandwich. Of course, if all else fails, any bread will do, even those little ciabatta rolls.

Last thing: You can shortcut the chicken by using store-bought rotisserie — just shred and store the same way.

Serves 4

Print Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 pound chicken breasts

2 cups chicken broth, or as needed

2 teaspoons + 1 pinch salt

2 teaspoons pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons chipotles in adobo sauce

1 clove garlic, pressed or grated

1 Trader Joe’s pizza crust, from the bakery, or any flat bread

4 slices gouda cheese

8 slices tomato

8 very thin slices red onion

RECIPE

Place chicken in a pot and cover with chicken broth* until completely submerged. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil until fork-tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Drain the chicken and shred using two forks. Season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, adobo sauce, pinch of salt, and pressed garlic. Stir until smoothly combined.

Slice the flatbread into 5 inch squares. Working one sandwich at a time, spread the bottom with chipotle mayo. 

Place about 1/3 cup chicken onto 1 square. Top with gouda, then add 2 tomato slices and 2 red onion slices* to the sandwich.

Firmly add the top piece of flatbread and slide into a panini press*. Press firmly down to flatten and toast until grill marks appear on the top of the bread and the cheese is melted.

Serve immediately.

NOTES:

You can also use water or a mix of both. I usually start with 2 cups of chicken broth and add water to submerge as needed.

If you love red onion (like me), feel free to add more onion — same goes with the tomato and cheese.

If you don’t have a panini press, oil a skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the sandwich and press down firmly with a spatula or grill press. Flip and heat the other side until melted and toasty.