Mac & Cheese: Panera Price & Calories 2026

Name: Panera Mac & Cheese
Brand: Panera Bread
Price: 6.38 USD
Availability: InStock

Mac & Cheese at a Glance

Price: $6.38
Range by cafe: $5.59–$8.59
Cheapest state: Maryland $5.59
Dearest state: Oregon $8.39
Calories: 960 cal
Category: Soups & Mac
US cafes serving it: 2,231
Price read: August 2026

Mac & Cheese: The Full Breakdown

Mac & Cheese is shell pasta in a blend of cheeses built around Panera's tangy Vermont White Cheddar sauce. The shells are chosen to hold sauce, which is why this eats heavier than the portion looks.

Panera sells it as a side, a cup and a bowl, and the published calorie figure of 960 belongs to the largest of those. It is on the You Pick Two list, which is the cheaper way to eat it alongside a soup or half sandwich rather than ordering a bowl on its own.

On the board the Mac & Cheese sits under Soups & Mac. For everything else in that section see the Panera soup menu, or the full Panera Bread menu with prices.

Mac & Cheese Nutrition

A Mac & Cheese carries 960 cal, which is 48% of a 2,000 calorie day.

Panera's macro panel for the Mac & Cheese does not reconcile with the 960 cal shown above: the protein, fat and carbohydrate figures work out to about 472 calories, so the two describe different servings. It is left off rather than published against the wrong portion.

Mac & Cheese: Item Profile

Popular Pick Vegetarian Soups & Mac

Allergen Information

Panera prepares food in a shared kitchen that handles wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. Cross-contact is possible.

View complete Mac & Cheese allergen chart

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Side by Side

How Mac & Cheese Compares

See how the Mac & Cheese stacks up against other Soups & Mac options at Panera Bread.

Menu Item	Price	Calories	Protein
Mac & Cheese This Page	$6.38	960 cal	N/A
Broccoli Cheddar Soup	$5.57	360 cal	16g
Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice	$5.57	360 cal	17g
Bistro French Onion	$5.57	310 cal	13g
Homestyle Chicken Noodle	$5.57	170 cal	16g

Prices and nutrition vary by location and with any customisation.

Priced by state

Mac & Cheese Price by State in August 2026

The item is not the same price everywhere, and on a soups & mac item the gap is usually wider than people expect. Across the 2,231 cafes that price it, the Mac & Cheese runs from $5.59 to $8.59, a spread of $3.00. These are medians per state, so half the cafes in a state sit either side of the figure.

Cheapest state

$5.59

Maryland · 53 cafes

Typical

$5.99

13 of 44 states below it

Dearest state

$8.39

Oregon · 17 cafes

State	Median	vs typical	Cafes
Maryland	$5.59	$0.40 less	53
Delaware	$5.79	$0.20 less	6
Arkansas	$5.89	$0.10 less	9
Georgia	$5.89	$0.10 less	65
Iowa	$5.89	$0.10 less	20
Indiana	$5.89	$0.10 less	47
Kentucky	$5.89	$0.10 less	35
Michigan	$5.89	$0.10 less	81
Nebraska	$5.89	$0.10 less	13
Pennsylvania	$5.89	$0.10 less	111
Utah	$5.89	$0.10 less	7
Virginia	$5.89	$0.10 less	98
Wisconsin	$5.89	$0.10 less	42
Alabama	$5.99	same as typical	29
Arizona	$5.99	same as typical	37
Florida	$5.99	same as typical	197
Idaho	$5.99	same as typical	10
Illinois	$5.99	same as typical	117
Minnesota	$5.99	same as typical	32
Missouri	$5.99	same as typical	68
Montana	$5.99	same as typical	5
North Carolina	$5.99	same as typical	87
New Mexico	$5.99	same as typical	7
Nevada	$5.99	same as typical	18
Tennessee	$5.99	same as typical	44
Texas	$5.99	same as typical	113
Louisiana	$6.19	$0.20 more	10
Connecticut	$6.29	$0.30 more	33
New Jersey	$6.29	$0.30 more	83
Rhode Island	$6.29	$0.30 more	8
South Carolina	$6.29	$0.30 more	36
District of Columbia	$6.49	$0.50 more	10
Massachusetts	$6.49	$0.50 more	64
Maine	$6.49	$0.50 more	6
New Hampshire	$6.49	$0.50 more	14
Oklahoma	$6.49	$0.50 more	19
Ohio	$6.59	$0.60 more	133
Kansas	$6.69	$0.70 more	25
California	$6.89	$0.90 more	193
New York	$6.89	$0.90 more	131
West Virginia	$6.89	$0.90 more	12
Washington	$7.79	$1.80 more	34
Colorado	$8.39	$2.40 more	37
Oregon	$8.39	$2.40 more	17

A state appears here only where at least 5 cafes priced the item, so a few states are missing rather than cheap. Comparing it against the rest of the soups & mac range, or against another Panera item, is worth doing before you decide. A median also hides both ends of its own state, which is what the next section shows.

Cafe by cafe

The Cheapest and Dearest Mac & Cheese in the US

A state median hides the two cafes that matter most if you are deciding where to buy. Across the 2,231 cafes that price the Mac & Cheese, the gap between the cheapest and the dearest is $3.00, and the dearest charges 1.54 times what the cheapest does for the same item.

Cheapest cafe in the country

$5.59

Dover - Capital Commons

Dover, Delaware

Every Panera in Delaware

Dearest cafe in the country

$8.59

Westlake Village - Westlake Village Market Place

Westlake Village, California

Every Panera in California

Where a Panera sits changes what it charges

Cafes inside airports, hospitals, campuses and highway service areas turn up among the dearest far more often than their share of the network would suggest. The dearest cafe for the Mac & Cheese is not, so check the cafe rather than assume. How Panera prices vary by location.

The spread is not only a matter of which state you are in. Florida alone has 197 cafes selling the Mac & Cheese, and inside that one state the price still runs from $5.89 to $6.89. Two cafes twenty minutes apart can differ by more than a state border does.

Prices are each cafe's own, and a cafe can change them at any time.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions About Mac & Cheese

We've compiled the most common questions about Panera's mac & cheese to help you order smarter.

How much does Panera Mac & Cheese cost in 2026?

Panera charges $5.59 to $8.59 for the Mac & Cheese, depending on which cafe you visit, and the national average is $6.38. That range comes from a August 2026 menu snapshot covering all 2,239 US cafes, 2,231 of which sell this item. Panera prices are set per cafe, so city and state make a real difference.

Why does the Panera Mac & Cheese cost more at some locations?

Each cafe sets its own price, so the same item differs from one to the next. The cheapest of the 2,231 cafes selling the Mac & Cheese is Dover - Capital Commons in Delaware at $5.59; the dearest is Westlake Village - Westlake Village Market Place in California at $8.59. Where the cafe sits matters: 11.6% of US cafes are inside an airport, hospital, campus or service area, but they are 25.9% of the twenty dearest cafes for a given item. It is a tendency rather than a rule.

How many calories are in Panera Mac & Cheese?

Panera Mac & Cheese has 960 cal per serving. This is based on the standard preparation. Customizations like extra cheese, dressing, or bread changes will affect the final calorie count. Use the Panera app for exact nutrition with your modifications.

Is Panera Mac & Cheese worth it?

That depends less on the item than on which cafe you walk into. The same Mac & Cheese is $5.59 at the cheapest cafe in the country and $8.59 at the dearest, a difference of $3.00 for identical food, and inside Florida alone it still runs $5.89 to $6.89. Check your own cafe's price against the $6.38 average first. If it sits at the top of the range, a You Pick Two combo (from about $10.59) gets you more food for the money.