Al foam sandwich panel (AFS) with metallic bonding was fabricated by foaming a hot-pressed three-layer composite with two steel facesheets and a melt route precursor as core. The melt route precursor was fabricated by dispersing undecomposed blowing agent into molten Al, followed by solidification. Microstructures of the joints during fabrication process were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Static three-point bending was conducted to evaluate joint quality of the AFS. It was found that a primary bonding was achieved by hot-pressing and significant diffusion layer of Fe-Al intermetallic compounds was sustained between steel and Al foam core by foaming. Damage modes of the AFS under three-point bending were dominated by indentation, plastic hinges, core shear and crack. Delamination between steel and foam was absent, implying that reliable metallic bonding was achieved. This method allows for producing large-scale AFS with steel facesheets.