homemade turkey bacon bravo sandwich
If you’re anything like me, you have a serious, deep love for Panera’s Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich. If you and I are on the same wavelength here, then rejoice! Because I just made a homemade version (with from-scratch bread and everything!) that will blow your mind and tastebuds. If you don’t want to make the homemade tomato basil bread you could serve this same sandwich on whole wheat sourdough bread!
Initially, I’d planned to break these recipes into two posts — one for the tomato basil bread and one for the sandwich. But then I thought that would be selfish of me, to tease you with only half the recipe for the greatest sandwich of all time. So here ya go, friends — two recipes in one post! Hooray!
The first recipe is for the bread, which you must make in order for this turkey bacon bravo sandwich to taste anything like the restaurant version (only better, IMHO). The tomato basil bread is richly flavored with tomato, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and a brown sugar-tomato glaze for the crust that is very necessary for maximum replication. It’s my favorite part of Panera’s bread and this homemade variation nails it. We snacked on slices of this bread alone before I made the sandwiches and it was so, so good.
The second recipe is for the sandwiches, which is really just the classic turkey bacon bravo ingredients (turkey, bacon, smoked Gouda, sliced tomato and lettuce) plus an extremely tasty sandwich dressing into which you’ll want to dip your face. I wouldn’t judge.
Make the bread, spread on the sauce, pile on high the toppings, take a bite, go to Sandwich Heaven. It’s not science — it’s just the formula to living life right.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to dive headfirst into a mountain of boxes and hopefully come out having packed everything and will reward myself with a turkey bacon bravo sandwich. Or two. I’ll catch up with you next time on the road (eek!).
Homemade Turkey Bacon Bravo Sandwich
Description
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 2 ¼ teaspoon 1 packet active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water about 110-115 degrees F
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar for blooming yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for bread dough
- 2 ½ to 2 ¾ cups bread flour
- ¼ cup fresh basil minced
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 10 ounces condensed tomato soup
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
For the dressing:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- hot sauce to taste (optional)
For the sandwich toppings:
- 1 vine-ripened tomato thinly sliced
- 4 romaine lettuce leaves cut in half
- 8 slices cooked bacon
- 8 slices deli turkey
- 4 slices smoked Gouda cheese
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk yeast, water and 1 teaspoon sugar until yeast is dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes until yeast is foamy.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add 2 cups flour. Make a well in center; add yeast mixture, remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, basil, Parmesan cheese, tomato soup, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, olive oil and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon or dough hook until just combined. Stir in enough remaining flour until dough forms.
- On a well-floured surface or in bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook on medium speed, knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 minutes in stand mixer), adding more flour as needed so dough is no longer sticky. Shape dough into a ball; place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 1 hour until doubled.
- Punch dough risen dough; knead briefly, then shape into a ball and flatten slightly into a round shape. Place on a lightly greased rimmed cookie sheet. Cover with a thin towel and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour until doubled.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Using a sharp serrated knife, slice an X into top of loaf. Brush with cold water. Bake 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir remaining 2 tablespoons tomato paste, brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of water until mixture is thick but brushable. Brush coating all over top of loaf. Return to oven to 5 to 10 minutes until baked through and coating is mostly dried. Cool loaf on a cooling rack 20 to 30 minutes before slicing.
- While loaf cools, make the sandwich dressing: In a small bowl, stir all ingredients until combined. Prepare sandwich toppings.
- Slice loaf into 1/2-inch thick slices. Assemble sandwiches with sandwich dressing, then tomato, lettuce, bacon, turkey and Gouda cheese.
This looks amazing! Good luck with your new adventure!
Thank you so much, Laura!
So………Here’s the NEW deal. We will store your “extras” but you have to make something like this for us in return…… every week. Ok, maybe not every week but ALOT!
That’s fair. 😉
SO glad you are back!
love your site!! I used to work at Panera ( for about a month…ha ha) and this is my all time fav sandwich!! I really need to use the basil that we are growing in our garden so this is what I will def be making…. in the middle of your dutch oven bread recipe now!! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!!
Oh gosh…I cannot handle this sandwich(!) and that focaccia looks incredible! Pinned!
This looks absolutely delicious, I hope I could try right now. thanks for sharing this!
Could this be baked in a 4×8 bread pan?
Could this be baked in a regular 4×8 loaf pan?
I don’t think the dough would fit into an 8×4-inch loaf pan, but you certainly can try it in a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
I did bake this in a loaf pan for 35 minutes and it turned our wonderful. I find that I like the flavor of this better on the second day. Thanks for a great recipe. I’m going to try free form buns tomorrow.