Okay, so, today I wanted to try and figure out what’s actually in Panera’s Greek dressing. You know, that stuff they put on their salads? I like it, but I figured it’d be interesting to see what makes it tick.
First, I grabbed a bottle from Panera. I figured, why not go straight to the source? I started by reading the label. I saw “Soybean Oil” right at the top of the list. That’s pretty standard for dressings, I guess. Then there’s water, distilled vinegar, and some olive oil – not bad, not bad. They also listed cider vinegar, which I thought was a nice touch. Gives it a little something extra, you know?
After that, it got a bit more complicated. Less than 2% of salt. Ok, I expect salt in a salad dressing, right? The label mentioned something called an “Organic Gum Blend”, along with “Xanthan Gum”. I guess those are there to make it thicker? Then there’s dried garlic, black pepper, and lemon juice concentrate. All of this sounded pretty reasonable to me.
But here’s where it got interesting. They also listed “Dried Tarragon”. Now, I’m not the biggest tarragon fan, but I guess it adds a certain herby flavor. They also say it’s about 220 calories for a full serving, which isn’t too crazy, I think.
So, I decided to do a little digging online. Mostly, I just wanted to see what other people were saying about it. I found a bunch of nutrition facts. Some sources said 230 calories per tablespoon, which is a bit higher, but not a huge difference. I also learned that a half serving is about 110 calories.
- Calories: Around 220
- Fat: It’s a salad dressing, so yeah, there’s fat. Mostly soybean oil, it seems.
- Other Stuff: The usual suspects like sodium, a bit of sugar, and some carbs.
Nutrition Rundown (Per Full Serving):
All in all, it wasn’t too shocking. It’s basically oil, vinegar, and some spices. Nothing too crazy in there. I might try to make my own version sometime, maybe with a little less of the gum stuff and more fresh herbs. But hey, at least now I know what I’m eating when I grab a salad at Panera. It’s good to know things, right? Plus, it has healthy fats, they say.
