This Chicken Panini is a grilled sandwich that is full of many fresh and delicious ingredients, like chicken, bacon, and cheese. It’s an easy recipe that’s great for lunch or dinner!
Easy BBQ Chicken Panini Sandwich Recipe
This barbecue chicken panini is so easy because of it’s shortcuts: I used shredded chicken from a leftover rotisserie chicken and mixed it with other sandwich makings like: cheese, avocado, and bacon. And, of course, there is a perfect BBQ sauce all throughout! This easy lunch or dinner recipe is one that everybody with love!
One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is our panini maker. It’s great for making panini sandwich recipes and grilled wraps without turning on the stove. If you don’t have a panini, you can still cook this sandwich in a skillet on the stove like a grilled cheese.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken: I love picking up a rotisserie chicken to save time. Whatever chicken you choose to use – make sure it’s shredded!
- BBQ Sauce: You can change up the sauce in this sandwich to have different flavors come in, but I love bbq sauce in everything, including this sandwich.
- Bread: I used sourdough, which is our favorite crusty bread!
- Onion: Yellow onions and green onions can be found in this recipe.
- Bacon: Cook it to crisp
- Cheese: We used shredded American cheese but cheddar works great too.
- Avocado: Sliced or mashed to spread on the side of each slice of bread.
- Pickles: Dill pickles are the best served along side a sandwich!
Variations
- If you prefer turkey over chicken, or just have turkey on hand, it is a great option to replace the chicken!
- For sauces, you can remove the bbq sauce and replace it with ketchup, or mustard.
- Even though we love sourdough, you can use you favorite on hand bread. White bread, whole grain, and ciabatta, focaccia, etc. All delicious!
- If you want to replace, or add to the American cheese, you can think about sliced cheddar cheese, Swiss, provolone cheese, mozzarella cheese, or pepper jack!
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How to Make Grilled Chicken Panini
- Put shredded chicken in a large bowl and add BBQ sauce. Mix together well.
- Heat panini maker to medium high heat (if you don’t have a panini maker you can use a skillet). Spray all slices of bread on one side with cooking spray. On the side of the bread that isn’t sprayed add chicken, onion, bacon and top with cheese. Place another slice of bread on top. Repeat for the other three sandwiches.
- Place sandwiches on the panini maker and close the lid. Cook for 3-5 minutes. You want the bread golden brown, and the cheese fully melted. Serve hot with avocado, pickles and extra BBQ sauce on the side.
How to make shredded chicken panini without panini Press:
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Lightly coat it with cooking spray. Place the sandwiches in the hot skillet.
- To make a pressed sandwich, like a panini, place another pan on top of the sandwiches while they cook. This will press them down. Cook the sandwiches for three to five minutes and then turn them over and cook them on the other side.
- If you don’t want them pressed, you can just cover the skillet with a lid while they cook. This will help heat the sandwiches all the way through and melt the cheese. Turn the sandwiches after three to five minutes.
Serving Suggestions
- If you want to make a chicken panini for lunch: serve with a side of chips or French Fries. If it’s summer, you can add some good fruit!
- If you want to make this recipe for dinner: Add a salad on the side or some potatoes!
Expert Tips
- If you want an extra saucy sandwich, add more BBQ sauce. I don’t like mine dripping with sauce, so I serve some sauce on the side for dipping.
- We like the avocado and pickles on the side, but feel free to add them to your sandwich before cooking them if you prefer.
- When picking cheese, pick anything that melts well.
- The sandwich is best eaten immediately. To reheat, use the air fryer.
BBQ Chicken Panini Recipe
This BBQ Chicken Panini is all about the shortcuts – it’s easy to make sandwich that’s perfect for lunch or dinner with a side of chips or fries.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast cooked and shredded
- 8 slices sourdough bread
- 8 slices bacon (cooked crispy)
- 1 cup cheese shredded (see note)
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- ½ medium yellow onion sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- ½ cup pickles sliced
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Put shredded chicken in a large bowl and add BBQ sauce. Mix together well.
- Heat panini maker to medium high heat (if you don’t have a panini maker you can use a skillet). Spray all slices of bread on one side with cooking spray. On the side of the bread that isn’t sprayed add chicken, onion, bacon and top with cheese. Place another slice of bread on top. Repeat for the other three sandwiches.
- Place sandwiches on the panini maker and close the lid. Cook for 3-5 minutes. You want the bread golden brown, and the cheese fully melted. Serve hot with avocado, pickles and extra BBQ sauce on the side.
Recipe Notes
- You can use ½ cup BBQ sauce for a bolder flavor.
- You can add the avocado and pickles prior to cooking. We just like them on the side.
- We used American cheese, but you can use any good melting cheese with the dish (like cheddar).
- If cooking in the skillet just cover while cooking and flip once halfway through.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1panini | Calories: 931kcal | Carbohydrates: 87g | Protein: 52g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 2008mg | Potassium: 1038mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 527IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 453mg | Iron: 6mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
