2 min read- Panera introduced its first dedicated value menu, offering select soups, salads, and half sandwiches for $4.99 each.
- The Mix & Match menu includes ten familiar items and allows customers to combine two to ten options, plus one free side per order.
- The launch comes as fast-casual chains face pressure over rising prices, with Panera positioning this as a flexible, lower-commitment way to eat its most popular dishes.
Panera is officially entering the territory it’s tiptoed around for years: a true value menu. Starting now, the fast-casual chain is rolling out its first-ever Mix & Match value menu, letting customers build a meal from a set list of soups, salads, and sandwiches for $4.99 per item.
Here’s the basic setup. The Mix & Match menu includes ten familiar Panera items—think half sandwiches, half salads, and cups of soup—that can be combined in any quantity from two to ten items, all priced at $4.99 each. Every order also comes with one free side, like a baguette, chips, or an apple. It’s Panera’s first dedicated value menu, but don’t worry: The brand’s long-running You Pick Two option isn’t going anywhere.
The lineup draws from the brand’s core comfort hits: Creamy Tomato Soup, Homestyle Chicken Noodle, Bistro French Onion, Bacon Turkey Bravo, Fuji Apple Chicken Salad, and even the Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad. In other words, it’s food people already order, just without the creeping sense that lunch somehow turned into a $17 decision.
The timing here especially matters. Fast-casual chains have been under pressure as customers pull back on discretionary spending, and Panera has received a lot of flak for landing on the pricier end of the spectrum. This menu feels like a course correction without a full identity shift. It also acknowledges something diners have been vocal about online: value doesn’t have to mean low quality, but it does need to feel intentional.
There are limits, of course. Items have to be ordered specifically as Mix & Match, substitutions and upgrades cost extra, and delivery pricing bumps the total higher. Still, for in-cafe or pickup orders, it’s one of the clearest value plays Panera has made in years.
Whether this becomes a permanent staple or a strategic test remains to be seen. But for now, Panera is making a rare, straightforward pitch: familiar food, flexible portions, and a price that doesn’t require mental gymnastics. In 2026, that alone feels like news.