Subway's New Flatbread Wraps Review: A Heartier Alternative To Other Fast Food Wraps
If you walk into your local Subway, you'll notice some new offerings on the menu. The chain recently released a new series of wraps that feature a lavash-style flatbread (for those unfamiliar with lavash, with its Middle Eastern roots, is heartier and chewier than a tortilla, and capable of holding more ingredients without falling apart, but more pliable than what you'd think of when imaging a flatbread used for a pizza-like menu item). This is Subway's first new bread option in three years, according to Subway's press release announcing the product.
The new flatbread wraps come in four variants: Homestyle Chicken Salad; Honey Mustard Chicken; Turkey, Bacon & Avocado; and Cali Caprese. The chain's senior vice president of culinary and innovation, Paul Fabre, said that the wraps, which took more than a year to fine-tune, are a response to the lackluster wraps that are common on most fast food menus. So, how do Subway's new wraps stand up? To find out, I dug into all four. Some were as lackluster as the competition, but others were clear winners.
The Homestyle Chicken Salad Wrap
According to Subway's press release, this new wrap is intended to be a "twist on a former, cult-classic menu item." The chicken salad wrap is made with chicken salad that includes rotisserie-style chicken and mayonnaise, and comes topped with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion.
I found that the chicken salad had a very smooth consistency — more so than what you'd expect from wraps branded as "hearty." Don't expect a chicken salad that's filled with actual chunks of chicken and other ingredients like celery or grapes, as you might make at home or what you could've ordered at Panera before they retired their fan-favorite Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich (good thing plenty of other restaurants sell chicken salad, which Subway also offers). The wrap I received also seemed rather bare bones, with just a thin layer of chicken salad and minimal veggies on top. Overall, this was a pretty bland, basic chicken salad wrap which was both low on ingredients and flavor. While that did come with one plus — this wrap was definitely the neatest and easiest to eat out of the four, with some others suffering from some soggy flatbread — it wasn't enough to make this wrap one that I'd order again.
The Honey Mustard Chicken Wrap
This wrap likewise features rotisserie-style chicken, as well as lettuce, red onions, and tomatoes, but it offers more flavor than the homestyle chicken salad wrap, thanks to the Monterey cheddar cheese and sweet honey mustard sauce. I thought that the wrap offered a generous portion of chicken, as well as all the other ingredients, so I can see how it lives up to the wraps' "hearty" marketing angle.
My main complaint with this wrap was that, despite the cheese and honey mustard, it still didn't offer very much in the way of flavor. I wanted more honey mustard. As is, the primary flavor for this wrap came from the red onion. It also was fairly reminiscent of wraps that I've eaten at other fast food restaurants, despite Subway's intention to create something better and bolder than what you'd get at the chain next door. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as I enjoy the occasional fast food chicken wrap with your basic lettuce, tomato, and cheese, but it did help firmly root this new wrap in the "just average" category.
The Cali Caprese Wrap
I won't lie — this wrap was messy. The vinaigrette was seeping through the flatbread and then its paper wrapping by the time I took the wrap from the delivery bag. It was also on the flat, smushed side, compared to the other, cylindrical wraps. That said, the messiness was worth it. This wrap really brought the flavor, and it was easily my second favorite among the four new offerings. The veggie-focused wrap features fresh mozzarella and avocado, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, Parmesan vinaigrette, and then a roasted garlic aioli. It all added up to a wrap that tastes very fresh and refreshing, and I'd happily order it again.
The only things I would tweak and the only things keeping this wrap out of my top spot as favorite among the four? It doesn't really deliver on the "Caprese" promise. When you think Caprese salad, you think mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, maybe some balsamic vinegar, but while the wrap offered mozzarella and tomatoes, I didn't give any of the basil you'd expect. That said, maybe that's what makes the wrap "Cali Caprese" — Subway tossed the basil for the avocado. Additionally, I would've liked more mozzarella, as it was on the light side.
The Turkey, Bacon & Avocado Wrap
The new turkey, bacon, and avocado wrap was my personal favorite among the new lineup. While it likely ranks equal to the Cali Caprese wrap in terms of flavor, the turkey, bacon and avocado wrap had a superior texture, was neater to eat, and didn't come with that messiness factor. This helped it eek ahead in my ranking because you'd want a certain amount of neatness and ease if you're going to eat something like a wrap with your hands on the go.
The wrap was packed with a generous portion of oven-roasted turkey that offered a high amount of flavor, along with the bacon. Other toppings include avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, Monterey cheddar cheese and peppercorn ranch. Out of all four wraps, this is the one that I feel accomplishes everything Subway is trying to do with this new line: It's hearty, it allows the lavash-inspired wrap to shine, and it's full of flavor.
The Verdict
If you haven't figured it out by now, my resounding recommendation is to go to your nearest Subway and try the turkey, bacon, and avocado wrap. If you're not eating and driving at the same time (which isn't recommended anyway), and don't mind the need for a few extra napkins, try the Cali Caprese wrap as well. Both are delicious, even if the turkey, bacon, and avocado wrap comes out superior thanks to its texture.
If you love the standard fast food chicken wrap, by all means, go for the honey mustard chicken wrap. There's nothing terribly wrong with it. It's average. Sometimes, average is just what you want. However, unless you're really wanting something on the basic side, you might forgo the homestyle chicken salad wrap. You could really do better elsewhere. All in all, while not all of the four new Subway menu items are winners, two out of four isn't bad, and I'm glad to see these additions on the Subway menu.
Where and when to find Subway's new wraps
As of April 11, Subway's new wraps will be available nationwide. Additionally, the new flatbread wraps are not intended as a limited-time item, so you should be able to find them at your local Subway locations for the foreseeable future (though, as we all know, that doesn't necessarily mean "forever"; there are plenty of fast food favorites we'll most likely never see again). If you want to try the new lavash flatbreads, but aren't necessarily intrigued by the new wrap menu items, you can order any Subway sandwich of your choosing wrapped in the flatbread.
It's worth noting that Subway's restaurants are franchises, so if you are interested in trying any of these new wraps, you should note that the prices may differ due to location. However, at my local Subway in northern New York, the wraps currently start at $7.79 each.
Methodology
Subway provided the author of this post with one of each of the new wraps, at no charge, shortly before product launch.