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Turkey Bacon Bravo Sandwich

by Jennifer Debth November 19, 2014

4.94 from 29 votes

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This Panera Copycat recipe: Turkey Bacon Bravo is truly satisfying! Thinly sliced turkey, smoked gouda, bacon, and “special sauce” are all piled onto freshly made parmesan herbed focaccia!

Don’t ask me why, but since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, turkey has been on my mind. 😉

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Turkey and sandwiches (pronounced sam-wiches…just me?). Every once in awhile I get a really strong craving for sandwiches. Like, I need one NOW, kinda craving. Unfortunately, I never keep bread in the house. Why? Heyyyyy carboholic over here! That loaf would be gone in 2 sittings, max!

Well…remember that amazing focaccia bread from yesterday’s post? Yea. I made that into a copy cat recipe: Panera’s Turkey Bacon Bravo Sandwich.

Carboholics… WE. ARE. IN. TROUBLE.

Like I said, every once in awhile I get a strong urge to make a sandwich. My go-to sandwiches are grilled cheese (and tomato soup, of course), a breakfast sandwich made of half an english muffin topped with turkey and a fried egg, or a turkey, cheese, and apple panini. For the longest time, all I wanted was turkey, apple, and cheese sandwiches!

Not anymore! Apple step aside and make way for the turkey bacon bravo!

Have you guys ever had this sandwich from Panera, because if you haven’t, you’re seriously missing out! I used to eat at Panera all the time and I’d order this sandwich, but instead of the tomato basil bread they traditionally serve it on (too sour for me), I opted for an asiago focaccia. Now that I live in downtown Seattle, I have no idea where the nearest Panera is. I was saddened by the thought that I may never have this sandwich again but then, BAM! It hit me! Why don’t I just make this at home? Duhhh. Food blogger, remember?!

I started by making my parmesan herbed focaccia. It’s soo good!

Then you have to make the Panera special sauce. It’s just a combination of mayo, ketchup, lemon juice, dried mustard, and hot sauce. Whisk together and let set in the fridge. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am!

Now, cut your freshly baked focaccia (or the bread of your choosing) and smother each side in the special sauce.

Top with crisp romaine, thinly sliced turkey, sliced tomatoes, smoked gouda, and another piece of bread. Oh yea. And bacon. We all know how much I love bacon, I made that very clear in my blog post about a warm bacon spinach salad. Although, I love bacon, the real star in this dish is the combination of the fresh bread and that smoked gouda, both add so much flavor to the sandwich that really makes it over the top!

You want to know something funny? The gouda is my favorite part and yet, I forgot to put it on the sandwich while I was photographing it! Probably because it was all in my mouth. So ignore what the pictures may tell you and DON’T forget the cheese, please!

This sandwich is just a little bit chewy from the focaccia, juicy from the tomatoes, fresh from the lettuce, crisp from the bacon, and smoky from the turkey and gouda. And the special sauce? Well, that adds just a little acidity and a spicy kick to round out the whole thing! I just had the turkey bacon bravo sandwich for lunch, like 30 minutes ago, but I may need to make just one more now…no seriously. I’m really going to.

– Jennifer