There are a few secrets that make your sandwich instantly Instagrammable. These are the tips I follow to make a good sandwich great.
This post is sponsored by AdobeSpark. All of the photos in today’s post were shot over the past few months on my iPhone, with type added by a super fun app called AdobeSpark. The whole process makes it fast and easy to share on the blog and all of my social channels. See how I do it here.
It was my 8th grade summer when I embraced my independent wings. That was the year we were old enough to take the bus by ourselves to walk the floors of Ogden City Mall. We looked for boys and then looked away when they looked at us. We hummed along to Culture Club as we wandered through the aisles of Contempo Casuals. We sorted through the fishnet gloves ala Madonna and off-the-shoulder sweatshirts ala Flashdance wishing we had the money and the guts to pull off the look the girls in Seventeen magazine did.
Ogden was not the fashion capital of the world, but then neither were we.
For us, going to the mall wasn’t really about shopping. It’s where the food that every 8th grader’s palate craves. And where our debate on what to eat always began.
The options were limited. Our favorites were Dairy Queen for fries and a shake, Hot Dog On a Stick for the obvious, or Orange Julius for what I still deem one of my most favorite frothy drinks ever.
But, if I was lucky, I could persuade my pals to exit the mall and head into the summer heat and to my VERY favorite downtown fine dining spot: Blimpies.
I’ve always had a thing for sandwiches and in my eyes Blimpie sandwiches have always held the key: the ultimate system in ingredient layering. It didn’t hurt that I could dictate what and how much of each ingredient I craved to the paper-hatted sandwich maker behind the glass sneeze guard. It gave me authority and a lesson for my future sandwich building skills.
This past school year I became notorious with a new generation of sandwich snobs, my daughter’s 6th grade friends. Every morning I took pride in building sandwiches that would take their breath away and put my Smudge first in line for lunch time food-trade demands.
School may be out for summer but with picnics and ingredients at their seasonal height, so it’s high time to share my tips on how to build a better sandwich starting with…
Build a Family of Flavors
Just like last night’s party that friends are still talking about the next day, the best sandwich comes from a variety of characters and a few surprises nobody expected. Mix up the textures of your ingredients and add a tart burst or spicy bite with fresh ingredients that add a crunch.
Use a flavored bread (asiago, roasted garlic, 12-grain sprouted wheat) or sub in flavored cheeses for the standard cheddar or switch up predictable turkey for a chipotle roasted shaved chicken.
Sliced banana peppers, cucumber, pickles and super crunchy sliced lettuces offset the creamy cheeses and avocado for a sandwich with bite. Give your sandwich the punch and pizzazz to make it unique.
Ideas for ingredient upgrades:
Top sliced chicken with a seasonal slaw, fresh veggies and sprouts drizzled with rice wine vinegar
Create a classic Italian sub theme by adding a few slices of salami, olives, pesto and banana peppers
Roast thinly sliced veggies and sandwich between herbed cream cheese
Add cranberry sauce, avocado and bacon to sliced turkey
Roast beef, horseradish and pickled onion with a load of crunchy lettuce
Tuna salad mixed with greek yogurt, arugula, capers, sun dried tomatoes and olives and topped with arugula
Make a Creamy Shield
Nobody enjoys a dry sandwich. A slathering of your favorite spread on the top and bottom slices of bread not only act as a flavoring, but also as a moisture barrier. Sure you can use mayo, Miracle Whip and mustards, but here is where you can also get adventurous.
Pestos, herbed or spicy aoilis, hummus, flavored cream cheese and even good old butter will help keep your sandwich stay sog-free while adding flavor to your sand.
Layers are for Lovers
How you stack your fillings is key to taking a good sandwich to great. A systematically layered sandwich will hold better, stack higher and last longer and shouldn’t be as complicated as a game of Jenga. One of the challenges with using thinly sliced meat and cheeses is how to create a sandwich with heft and height?
The key is layering thinly sliced meat in folds or ribbons rather than simply laying it flat on the bread.
As you layer upward with the next layer of veggie ingredients, the sandwich fills in, making the meat an cheese the base for the fresh fillings to top. Avoid layering slippery ingredients of similar shape (tomatoes and pickles) on top of one another or you could have a slippery slide-off (see tip #5.) Instead, divide these ingredients by shredded lettuce or mashed avocados.
My favorite layering strategy is in this order:
Bread
Mayo/spread/mustard
Cheese
Meat or protein spread
Sliced veggies
Shredded lettuce, arugula or spinach to hold in the tidbits
Another layer of sliced veggie
Bread with mayo/spread/mustard to top
Marry Your Ingredients
When choosing your sets of layers, pick flavors that go well together and stack those next to each other. I don’t put mustard on my tomatoes but instead top it with cheese. My tomatoes get a pinch of salt and pepper instead of my meat or bread. And when I’m going true Blimpie style, a drizzle of red wine vinegar and a sprinkle of Italian spices punches up my shredded iceberg lettuce.
Avoid the Slimy Slide-Off
Have you ever bitten into a sandwich only to drag a stretch of too-thickly sliced turkey breast or glob of tomato straight onto your chin, or worse, that first-time never-worn shirt? That’s why thin is in. A successful sandwich uses meats, cheeses and fresh veggies that are thinly sliced, or even shaved for maximum ease.
These tips should help you make your sandwich Instagram-worthy as well as taste delicious. Create memorable photos with text for all of your social channels like I have with Adobe Spark.
This post is sponsored by Adobe. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.
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My boyfriend loves sandwiches. He is so funny, I would never say I loved sandwiches, but after dating him they have rubbed off on me. Thank you for letting me know of different ways I can make my sandwiches. I’ll need to be sure to follow your ingredient upgrades. I’ll for sure try cranberry sauce, avocado, bacon and turkey! Along with trying all of these ideas, I’ll need to find a great restaurant with the best kinds of sandwiches. Maybe if he likes the sandwiches enough he’ll propose to me.
These are some of the most gorgeous sandwiches ever and great tips!
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I really like the idea of using chipotle roasted shaved chicken in a sandwhich. I love sandwiches, but lately I have been a little bored with my sandwich arrangements and could use some new ideas. Thanks for the helpful sandwich tips!
all the pics are so mouth watering. oh god i love the cucumbers and tomatoes in them. bran bread is so healthy and people who are dieting can definitely go for these sandwiches with cheese and mayo out :D
This looks amazing!
Always i appreciate your recipe items . All of these are very nice .
YES YES YES! I love sandwiches and take great pride in making them. I love getting creative and all your points are great ones! Thin and/or shaved are most definitely the way to go! And I’d totally forgotten about Blimpies! I loved their subs!
ok, one, all the sandwiches please. Two, love the breakdown and now I have to go check out adobe spark, mainly because I was actually looking for it earlier and couldnt remember the name! Then bam I was browsing blogs and here it was. Sign – indeed. Which means its time to get a sandwich ;D
Such a fun post! The creamy shield may be my favorite tip here, totally the most important in sandwich deliciousness. Off to check out AdobeSpark, I’m intrigued!
Yah, these are absolutely stunning sammies!! GIVE ME ALL OF THESE VARIATIONS!
You are seriously the sandwich queen!! And you know I love that you took these beauties with your iPhone!!
I totally downloaded the app after I saw you mention it on instagram last night! I can’t wait to play with it!
These sandwiches are amazing!!!! <3
Between the mall talk, Orange Julius and “slimy slide-off” …I LOVE THIS POST :) Who doesn’t love a great sandwich!!
These tips are genius. I honestly never eat sandwiches because I feel like I don’t know all the magical secrets to make them amazing…UNTIL NOW. Nailed it.
Pinned!
beautiful!! what’s the green in pic #1. Is it spinach or arugula? It looks like a perfect addition. :)
YAAAAHHSSSS HEIDI YAAAAHHHHS! I’m withholding shouts from my desk right now as these are the same types of rules I apply to my sandwiches and try to bestow upon co-workers who are always amazed by how good mine look! Great post! Also, the photo with the salt and pepper sprinkled on the tomato almost brought a tear to my eye.
These sandwiches are bomb! I never really appreciated the sandwich in my youth (because my dad would make them and it was basically just mayo, mustard and bologna, BLECH), but my love for them has only grown since. Keeping these tips in mind for my next sandwich (which will likely be lunch ;)).
Love this! So my hubby is like the worlds biggest sandwich fan and I am always looking for tips on making the perfect sandwich, love the ‘marrying of ingredients’ tip ;)