Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt (Panera Copycat)

Name: Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 4 ciabatta rolls, sliced in half sandwich style; 1 store bought ready rotisserie chicken, skin removed and hand pulled/shredded into pieces and equally divided into 4 portions, for each sandwich; 4 slices of smoked gouda cheese; 1 avocado, pit and skin removed, sliced into thin strips; 1/2 cup peppadew sweet piquante peppers, juices strained and diced into strips; 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced; 1/2 cup of chipotle mayo, store-bought or my make your own in 5 minutes with my Chipotle Mayonnaise recipe

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This Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt is a Panera Copycat Recipe and it is absolutely packed full of flavor! Plus, this Chipotle Chicken Sandwich is so easy to make in just 15 minutes.

Chipotle chicken avocado melts on wooden platter.

These Ciabatta Chicken Sandwiches are inspired by Panera's Chipotle Chicken Melt, but I'm not going to lie, they're even better at home.

This recipe is topped with my Chipotle Lime Sauce, which is packed with creamy heat and will really transform any sandwich.

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Why You'll Love this Chipotle Chicken Sandwich:
Ingredients:
Substitutions and Variations:
How to Make a Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt:
Expert Tips:
Recipe FAQs:
More Lunch Recipes You'll Love:
Recipe

Why You'll Love this Chipotle Chicken Sandwich:

It's filled with flavor, from the smoked gouda, to the chipotle mayo and peppadew peppers
These Ciabatta Chicken Sandwiches only take 15 minutes to make
The recipe uses a store bought rotisserie chicken for its slow cooked texture that allows us to get that pulled, shredded meat & it saves time
If you love the Panera Chipotle Melt, you will absolutely love this copycat recipe

For more Hot Sandwich ideas, check out my Pesto chicken sandwich, Sourdough Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Blackstone philly cheesesteaks, and Crispy Chicken Burgers.

Ingredients:

Rotisserie Chicken-I used a rotisserie chicken to save time, plus it really needs that shredded, pulled chicken for the full experience. If you get the chicken fresh from the store and make these when the chicken is still hot, that's even better.

Smoked Gouda-Melts perfectly over the shredded chicken, and even though it's smoked, it offers a really nice, mild flavor.

Ciabatta Bread- Panera uses a focaccia bread for this recipe, but I really love the Ciabatta bread, as its a bit easier to load all of these sandwich ingredients onto and still gives us the Italian feel.

Chipotle Mayo-A creamy sauce that packs a bit of heat from the chipotle peppers, plus we get hints of cilantro and lime. It adds a really great element of flavor to any sandwich.

Peppadew Peppers-My absolute favorite part about this sandwich. Peppadew peppers are piquante peppers. They are known for their sweet flavor, but can have a bit of a mild heat too. They are amazing on sandwiches, pizza, and salads.

Avocado- Adds an even more creamy texture to the sandwich and cools down the flavors from the chipotle sauce and peppers.

Cilantro-Sprinkled on for fresh flavor.

*Full recipe ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.

Substitutions and Variations:

Don't like a lot of spice? Use roasted red peppers instead of peppadew piquante peppers and try my Avocado Cream Sauce or Lime Aioli instead of Chipotle Mayo.

Hate Cilantro? Go ahead and leave it off.

Not big on Rotisserie chicken? Make my pan seared chicken breast recipe and dice up the chicken after making it to fit it onto the sandwiches.

If you're not a fan of smoked gouda, regular gouda is good to substitute. Havarti or a baby swiss cheese would also be amazing on this Chipotle Chicken Sandwich.

Panera uses a black pepper focaccia bread, which is an option. This would also be yummy on a brioche bun.

How to Make a Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt:

If you are making homemade Chipotle Mayonnaise, start with my 5 minute recipe first.

Ciabatta bread on cookie sheet topped with pulled chicken and smoked gouda.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Split apart the ciabatta bread and place the rolls open faced on a cookie sheet, so you have 8 pieces of bread with the inside of the bread facing you. Layer the bottom halves with pulled chicken and cover each one with a slice of smoked gouda. Bake for 10 minutes.

Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt topped with avocado, peppadew peppers, cilantro on gray plate.

Step 2: Spread the Chipotle Mayonnaise on the top half of the toasted ciabatta. Layer the avocado, peppadew peppers, and cilantro over the top of the chicken and cheese.

Step 3: Assemble the sandwiches. Serve hot and enjoy!

Expert Tips:

I suggest waiting to add the chipotle mayo and toppings until after the ciabatta chicken sandwiches with gouda cook in the oven. This keeps the toppings and chipotle spread fresh.
If you're not crazy about spicy, go easy on the chipotle spread and make sure the seeds are removed from the peppadew peppers.

Big on Rotisserie Chicken Recipes? Try my Chicken Salad on Croissants, Tater Tot Casserole, and Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas.

Recipe FAQs:

Are these Chipotle Chicken Sandwiches spicy?

These do have a bit of spice, but it is on the mild side. If you're making my Chipotle Mayo sauce and worried about heat, just add in 1 chipotle pepper from the can.

How to Store the leftover Sandwiches?

Wrap in foil and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. To reheat, just bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Love Panera Copycat Recipes? Try this Panera Turkey Chili and Bistro French Onion Soup!

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If you tried this Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!

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