Copycat Au Bon Pain chicken Margherita sandwich

Back in my college days, I tended to eat the same meals at the same dining halls. We had an Au Bon Pain in our student union, and their chicken mozzarella sandwich was a favorite of mine. My original post was a copycat of that recipe, but I’ve updated this post to reflect the new Au Bon Pain chicken Margherita sandwich. Both sandwiches are great. I love the flavors of the roasted chicken with the caprese mozzarella and tomatoes on the airy and chewy focaccia rolls.

Virginia Tech recipes: Cantina chicken quesadillas  |  Crispy chicken entrée  |  West End roasted garlic whipped potatoes  |  Turkey brioche deli sandwich  |  Au Bon Pain chicken Caesar wrap  |  West End Cajun pasta  |  Perfect yellow cupcakes  |  West End buffalo chicken wrap

Focaccia rolls are the way to go if you can find them. I’ve found them in the bakery sections of multiple grocery stores. If you can’t find them, you can swap out ciabatta rolls or another crusty Italian bread roll. You will want a roll or bread slices that have a thick crust to hold this sandwich together.

If you’re starting from scratch, I would recommend grilling your chicken breasts. I generally use a basic marinade of Italian seasoning, olive oil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar. This copycat Au Bon Pain chicken Margherita sandwich is also a good way to use any leftover chicken you have on hand. Throw on some shredded rotisserie chicken or even chicken lunch meat.

The two ingredients that really make this sandwich are the fresh mozzarella and the fresh tomatoes. You really, really need to use fresh mozzarella. It’s so creamy and has a nice, bright flavor that pairs against the crunchy foccaccia rolls. And you want thick, juicy slices of fresh tomato. I would recommend using a beefsteak, but grab whatever is ripe and in season.

I also opted to replace the garlic aioli on the original sandwich with a pesto mayonnaise. I’m not a huge basil fan, and this was a way to get the basil flavor without the basil leaves. And you get a nice sandwich spread to soften up the focaccia rolls. I personally liked the ratio of about a quarter cup of pesto to about a third a cup of mayonnaise. You can eyeball this if you want more pesto. But be sure to taste it to get the pesto-i-ness you want.

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