I am a sucker for Starbucks. My go-to is a soy pumpkin spice latte (I know, I know) and a bacon gouda if it’s breakfast or a chicken double smoked bacon panini with Sriracha if it’s lunch. While these are so delicious, they are also not cheap — so I set out to duplicate my favorite lunch panini.

If you haven’t had this panini before, it has a ciabatta-style bun with chunks of chicken, double smoked bacon, and a sort of ranch-flavored dressing on the buns. If you like cheese, I’d suggest provolone. You can also try this with turkey, without bacon, with a different bun – the opportunities are endless! But this is a pretty good knock off for the original.

Ingredients

• Ciabatta bun
• Bacon (pre-cooked or not)
• 1 Chicken breast
• 2 Tb softened butter or margarine
• 2 tsp Ranch seasoning
• Pepper
• Salt
• Optional: Garlic powder
• Optional: Onion powder
• Optional: Paprika
• Optional: Sriracha

Recipe

• Mix the ranch seasoning with the softened butter, spread the entire amount on both buns. Use the entire amount or the sandwich will be very dry.
• Lightly toast the buns.
• Season the chicken breast and cook. I used my smoker, but how you cook it doesn’t really matter.
• Slice the chicken into thin chunks.
• Cook the bacon! My sandwich was square, so I made a bacon lattice to hone my inner Gordon Ramsay.
• Build your sandwich: bottom bun, chicken, bacon, then the top bun.
• Optional: Add your favorite coffee drink to complete the “Starbucks” image.