We are used to thinking of panettone as a dessert after a meal, scented with butter, candied fruit and raisins. But perhaps this year we should review our certainties a little. Because for Christmas 2025 Motta – in collaboration with chef Bruno Barbieri – has decided to launch savory panettone, available in two variants that are already causing discussion.
The idea was born from the second year of collaboration between Barbieri and Motta (brand of the Bauli group), which aims to create “gourmet” baked products for large-scale distribution, while maintaining an accessible price. The savory panettone is sold in 450 gram packs, has a long shelf life (April 2026) and a recommended price of 9.90 euros.
According to the chef, this panettone is not only eaten, but can also be transformed, for example by stuffing it like a focaccia, grilling it, fried it or smoked it. The idea is to create a versatile leavened product, to be interpreted in the kitchen rather than brought to the table as a dessert.
The proposal of savory panettone is actually not entirely new – artisanal and gastronomic versions already exist – but that of Motta with Bruno Barbieri represents the first industrial and “signature” declination of this concept.
The ingredients: between sweet and savory
In the Mediterranean version, the dough combines typical ingredients of the Italian tradition such as candied Sicilian lemon peels (7.2%), dried flaked tomatoes (4.9%), fennel seeds and oregano, with the sweet base of the classic panettone: type “0” soft wheat flour, butter, eggs, natural yeast, sugar and a touch of wildflower honey. A combination that brings together citrus and aromatic notes, but which does not give up the sugars and fats typical of sweet leavened products.
Stronger and spicier is the Arrabbiata version, which adds tomato powder (1.4%), onion powder, paprika and oregano, with a slightly higher quantity of salt (1.1%) than the Mediterranean variant. Here too we find butter, egg yolk and honey, elements that maintain the link with pastry making rather than bread making.
In both versions, emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids) and flavourings, rather common additives in industrial baked products, but not exactly synonymous with authenticity, appear. Therefore, although the product tries to give itself a “gourmet” tone thanks to the collaboration with chef Barbieri, it remains in fact an industrial production.
This is the complete list of ingredients for both panettone.
Savory panettone recipe with Arrabbiata:
Savory panettone Mediterranean recipe:
The Motta-Barbieri savory panettone is certainly an original proposal in the Italian Christmas panorama. On the one hand, it represents an attempt to deseasonalize and reinvent a symbol of the holidays; on the other hand, it highlights the risk of distorting an iconic dessert by transforming it into a hybrid product, halfway between a snack and a gastronomic experiment.
It remains to be seen whether the public will be willing to replace or integrate – even just out of curiosity – the classic slice of sweet panettone with a tomato and oregano version.
