Of all the breakfast sandwiches sold at Panera, McDonald’s, and Starbucks, only one racks up enough calories, unhealthy fat, and sodium to rival a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese…all before lunchtime rolls around. It’s Panera’s Asiago Sausage & Egg Sandwich. Here’s a breakdown, plus some better bets at Panera.

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What’s in the Panera Asiago Sausage & Egg Sandwich

You get egg, pork sausage, processed American cheese, and garlic aioli (a mayo-like sauce) on a 320-calorie bagel that’s made with white flour and baked-in chunks of cheese, then topped with more cheese. Here’s how its numbers compare to the McDonald’s burger:

Both have a full day’s worth of unhealthy saturated fat (20 grams) and roughly 60% of a day’s sodium max (2,300 milligrams). But the bagel sandwich has even more calories (810) than the burger (740).

Then there’s the sausage in the Panera sandwich. Processed meats are “carcinogenic to humans,” according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). (That also includes bacon, hot dogs, ham, and lunch meats.) Each daily serving of processed meat (2 oz., or roughly the size of a hot dog) increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 18%, says IARC.

Of course, the red meat in McDonald’s beef burgers is no health food either. IARC says that red meat (like beef, pork, and lamb steaks, burgers, or grounds) is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” (Why only “probably”? Because the evidence for unprocessed red meat is more limited.)

Portions up at Panera?

Panera’s oversized sandwiches don’t end with the Asiago Sausage & Egg. 

At breakfast, the menu includes a 660-calorie Croissant Sausage, Egg & Cheese Sandwich. And the lunch and dinner menu now offers a limited-time lineup of “Asiago Bagel Stack” sandwiches, the chain recently announced. That includes the Chicken Roma, Spicy Steak, and Zesty Tuscan. Each “Stack”—they’re on that same cheese-crusted bagel—has roughly 600 calories and 1,000 to 1,500 mg of sodium. That’s before you add your choice of a side.

“A new era at Panera: Panera announces biggest menu transformation in brand history,” proclaimed the company’s 2024 press release that announced “more than 20 menu updates offering innovated favorites, enhanced portions and better value.”

“Enhanced portions”? No kidding. How ’bout a healthier menu transformation in 2025?

A healthier Panera breakfast sandwich

Panera does have at least one breakfast sandwich that breaks the chain’s mold of stuffing cheese and processed meat into a white-flour bun, bagel, or pastry. It’s the Garden Avo & Egg White Sandwich (340 calories). Its egg whites, cheddar, avocado, and tomatoes come in a Multigrain Bagel Flat.

Unfortunately, the word “multigrain” is a clue that the bagel flat is made with a mix of refined and whole-grain flour, but at least it has some whole grains. The sandwich has a decent 5 grams of sat fat, and while its sodium (720 mg) is too high, it’s not bad for a restaurant meal. 

Both Panera’s Garden Avo & Egg White Sandwich (19 grams of protein) and Greek Yogurt with Mixed Berries Parfait (16 grams of protein) deliver a meal-size serving of protein. Either beats the chain’s new Avocado Toasts, which have just 5 to 6 grams. Despite what many people may believe, avocado is not a good source of protein.