How to Make Any Sandwich Taste Like It's From Your Favorite Cafe
+ Our best sandwich recipes to try this summer!
If someone forced me to pick a single food group to live on for the rest of my life, I’d have an existential crisis, but then I’d pick sandwiches. The variety! The portability! The potential! I can find a way to pack nearly any food craving between two slices of bread (or pita or a bun!).
My husband and I have been crafting epic sandwiches since our college days, when the kitchen was janky, the budget was small, and the ingredients were questionable at best. Still, we managed to turn out paninis that made our roommates flock to the kitchen in hopes there were leftovers.
The ingredients and budget have both improved since those days, but we still take pride in making top-notch sandwiches. Today, I want to share my top 6 tips to making a great sandwich, so you can take a ho hum lunchbox staple and turn it into something you’ll crave all week.
1. Choose the Right Bread
Let’s start with bread, the suitcase of the sandwich. Bread can make or break a sandwich, so it’s worth giving this one some thought. A soft white Italian bread works well for delicate fillings and grilled cheese, but will fall apart under the weight of too many fillings or a saucy spread. A sturdy sourdough will hold more robust fillings and also grills beautifully. If you’ve got sweet and savory fillings, like in these Brie Cheese Sandwiches, try a grainy wheat bread or a seedy honey oat.
Of course, you also don’t have to be limited to sliced bread. Ciabatta rolls, bagels, croissants (for Cranberry Chicken Salad or Hot Breakfast Sandwiches), or a split slab of focaccia are all fabulous sandwich starters.
2. Don’t Skimp on the Spread
Mayo is a classic of course, but I encourage you to think beyond mayo as well! We love an herby cream cheese (try it in these Cucumber Sandwiches), a grainy mustard, or honey mustard (Woeber’s is particularly fantastic with a great balance of sweet and tangy).
You can also amp up your mayo with a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh chopped herbs (seen in our Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches), or stir in some Sriracha or chipotle peppers in adobo for a kick—the key to our elevated Turkey Avocado Sandwiches (pictured below).
Whatever spread you choose, BE GENEROUS AND SPREAD IT ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGES. Fill every nook and cranny of both pieces of the bread and avoid the travesty of a dry sandwich.
3. Raid your Refrigerator
Leftovers are my favorite sandwich filling! Raid your produce drawer, condiment shelf, and those unmarked leftover containers to find your next sandwich. Try making sandwiches with:
Leftover rotisserie chicken or Mexican grilled chicken
Leftover Crock Pot Shredded Beef (makes incredible shredded beef sandwiches or sliders)
Leftover roasted veggies
Pickled onions (or cabbage or jalapenos)
Chili crunch- a flavor bomb that’s fantastic with eggs, chicken, and veggies.
Sun dried tomatoes
Banana peppers
Pesto- Try it on a Caprese Panini!
Jams and preserves- A little fig jam on a Gruyere Grilled Cheese will take things to the next level. Or, if you want to get really fancy, make your own Bacon Onion Jam or Tomato Bacon Jam.
4. Season as you go
If you’re adding veggies to your sandwich, especially tomatoes, don’t proceed until you’ve given them a good sprinkle of Kosher salt and pepper. I also like to season the mayo if I’m not using a special sauce. Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle is a staple in our house, but good old salt and pepper will make a world of difference.
5. Layer consciously
Avoid a soggy bread situation with some conscious layering. Ingredients like greens and cheese can go right up against the bread, sealing it against wetter ingredients, like tomatoes.
6. Add texture
It is my firm belief that the best sandwiches incorporate multiple different textures. Think: creamy, melty, crisp, crunchy. Here are a few of my favorite ways to add texture to a sandwich:
Creamy- This will often come from a spread (as discussed above), but could also include fillings like goat cheese, brie, or avocado. If you’re a goat cheese fan, you’ve got to try our Strawberry Bacon Goat Cheese Grilled Cheese.
Melty- For hot sandwiches, a melty cheese is the star of the show. Some of my favorite melters are Havarti, Meunster, Monterey Jack, Fontina, and Gruyere. Pair a great melter with a really flavorful cheese like an aged cheddar for the best of both worlds. Try it in my Air Fryer Grilled Cheese recipe.
Crisp- A pile of thinly sliced iceberg lettuce is perhaps my favorite source of crisp texture, but you can also get this from other greens, red onion, cucumbers, or sprouts.
Crunchy- Potato chips! If you’ve never tried this or haven’t tried it since you were a kid, I encourage you to add chips to your next sandwich. A classic Ruffles Ridges or kettle chips are my fav. You can also add crunch with French fried onions or hearty veggies, like radish slices.
If you need more inspiration, you can find all of our sandwich recipes here.
And just to be ornery, let’s start a meaningless debate in the comment section: Is a burger a sandwich or not? Let’s settle this once and for all.