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Panera Bread Bistro French Onion Soup

High histamine

This onion soup is high, driven by tomato sauce, gastrique, soy sauce, and chicken stock.

Food here is usually assembled to order from components that were prepped earlier in the day, so it tends to be fresher than a drive-through and less fresh than cooking at home. Histamine builds up as protein foods sit, so how long the chicken or beef has been in the warmer matters as much as what is in the bowl. Treat the rating above as a starting point.

This is caramelized onions in a savory broth with butter, tomato sauce, a gastrique, soy sauce, and chicken stock.

  • Several high drivers at once — the tomato sauce and gastrique are histamine liberators, the soy sauce is fermented and high, and the chicken stock and yeast extract are both high on their own.

  • The onions aren't the problem — the caramelized onions and butter are the mild part, but the soy, tomato, gastrique, and stock each push the bowl up individually.

The seasoning base is what carries this, so there isn't a clean way to order around it.

This rating comes from Panera Bread's own published ingredient statement, read on August 23, 2026. Restaurant recipes vary by location and change over time, so always check the current listing: source 1, source 2. How we rate foods →

Panera Bread Bistro French Onion Soup and Panera Bread are trademarks of their respective owners. This page is an independent histamine reference and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the brand.

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References

  1. SIGHI Food Compatibility List — SIGHI (2026)
  2. Histamine and histamine intolerance — Maintz & Novak (2007)
  3. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art — Comas-Basté et al. (2020)
  4. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? — Sánchez-Pérez et al. (2021)
  5. Histamine Intolerance: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Beyond — Jochum (2024)
  6. Guideline on management of suspected adverse reactions to ingested histamine — Reese et al. (2021)