Sandwiches

Garlic Aioli BLTs

At Gjelina Take Away in Los Angeles, you can only get this excellent sandwich in the summer because the tomatoes have to be sweet and richly flavored with just the right texture. The sourdough bread should be toasted, but make sure it's not too dark and crisp.

Maine Lobster Roll

In Maine you're likely to find lobster rolls served two ways. Innovators prefer a crunchy, tangy and slightly spicy version of the lobster salad that includes celery, lettuce, lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne. Purists leave out those ingredients because they believe nothing should interfere with the mix of sweet tender summer lobster and mayonnaise.

• Seafood Recipes

Brat Reubens

Here, chef Viet Pham tucks bratwurst into hearty hoagie rolls along with juicy pastrami and sliced Swiss cheese, then spreads them with his homemade Russian dressing.

• Best Sandwiches in the U.S.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Slow-poaching the chicken breasts keeps them extra moist.

Short Rib Banh Mi with Quick Pickles and Fresh Herbs

These Vietnamese-inspired sandwiches are a clever and tasty way to use leftover beef stew.

Lobster-Roll-Style Salmon Sandwiches

In this clever take on the summertime classic, salmon replaces lobster and yogurt stands in for mayonnaise. Topping rolls with potato chips adds crunch and fun.

• F&W's Ultimate Fish Cooking Guide

Eggplant Parm

New York City's Torrisi Italian Specialties uses only American ingredients in virtually all of its dishes. Its basil-rich eggplant parmesan, also delicious on a toasted roll, calls for Progresso Italian Style bread crumbs and SarVecchio parmesan from Wisconsin.

• Italian Cooking & Recipe Guide

Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches

The Vietnamese accents here come from Sriracha (Southeast Asian chile sauce) and sweet-salty pickled onions.

Cuban Sandwiches with Tomato Jam

Sandwiches are a classic choice for a tailgate, but Ken Oringer likes to go beyond plain ham-and-cheese. For these cubanos he roasts and shreds pork butt, then he layers the succulent meat on rolls along with homemade tomato jam, grilled onions, pickles and Gruyère. He cooks the sandwiches on a portable grill until they are crispy and warm.

Guinness-Marinated Bison Steak Sandwiches

Bruce Aidells's Guinness, soy sauce and molasses marinade adds moisture and a sweet-hearty flavor to these delicious steak sandwiches.

• F&W's Ultimate Beef Cooking Guide

Grilled Asparagus Subs with Smoky French Dressing

Tyler Kord smokes the French dressing for his asparagus sandwiches over wood chips. This simplified version gets its smokiness from chipotles and smoked salt.

Spicy Sloppy Joes

Make this easy weeknight dish using leftovers from Mom's Meat Loaf.

• All-American Classics

Aleppo-Pepper-Pork-and-Fennel Sandwiches

• Pork Recipes and Cooking Tips

Vegetable Sandwich with Dill Sauce

Stacked high with slices of tomato, onion, cucumber, avocado, and provolone cheese, this is a vegetable sandwich that even confirmed carnivores will love. You can add or substitute other fresh vegetables; radishes, spinach, or grated carrot go particularly well here. When you can't get good tomatoes, don't buy lousy, cottony ones; use twice the amount of lettuce instead.

Chicken Pan Bagnat

Literally "bathed bread" in the ancient dialect of Provence, pan bagnat delivers meat, bread and salad all in one handful. You both brush the bread with oil and let the finished rolls sit for a few minutes to allow the dressing to permeate the bread and "bathe" it with flavor.

Egg Sandwich with Mustard Greens and Avocado

"I usually make these sandwiches on days when there isn't enough time to sit down for a proper breakfast," says Sera Pelle, who wraps them in parchment paper for her kids to eat on the go.

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwiches with Meyer Lemon Relish

Moscow Banh Mi

Farmstead chicken is the star ingredient in a Moscow banh mi, a riff on a classic Vietnamese sandwich. What makes it Russian? The chopped beets and horseradish mayonnaise that are layered with the chicken, lettuce and vinegary carrots.

Glazed Tofu Sandwiches with Jicama Slaw

Tofu doesn't sound like a reasonable substitute for steak, but when it's pressed until firm, then glazed with a sweet, spicy sauce and topped with a crisp slaw of jicama and carrots, you won't miss the meat.

• Cooking Tips from Vegetarian Blogger Dana Slatkin

Coffee-Cured Pulled Pork

Linton Hopkins turns this slow-roasted pork shoulder into sliders. "Why are we so obsessed with the 30-minute meal?" he says. "I want to create a TV show called The 36-Hour Meal. The best things take a little bit of time."

• F&W's Ultimate Guide to Comfort Food

Curried-Egg Tea Sandwiches

Cookbook author Martha Hall Foose says that in the early 1960s, The Time Life Picture Cook Book inspired Mississippi ladies to "go exotic" by adding ingredients like curry powder and orange zest to egg-salad tea sandwiches.

Pastrami Toasts with Tangy Toppings

These open-faced pastrami sandwiches are topped with bright condiments like braised red cabbage and green cabbage in sour-cream sauce.

Crispy Fish Sandwiches with Herb Remoulade

Grilling the fish and making a sauce with fat-free fromage blanc (a fresh, spoonable cheese) keeps the calorie count down in this variation on the classic fried fish-shack sandwich. While any white fish will work well here, catfish is a sustainable choice and a great source of vitamin B12.

Fried Green Tomato BLTs

This is a brilliant marriage of two classics: cornmeal-dusted green tomatoes and a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Breakfast Biscuit Sandwiches

A giant step up from a fast-food breakfast sandwich, this biscuit is topped with eggs, cheese and country ham, jam optional. These tender biscuits have a salty edge. If you prefer, decrease the amount of salt in the recipe to 1 1/2 tablespoons.

• Tasty Recipes for Brunch

Cuban Roast Pork Sandwiches with Mojo Sauce

This recipe makes about 1 cup of citrusy, garlicky mojo sauce, much more than enough for 2 sandwiches.

Miso-Shrimp Po' Boys

Israeli Roast Eggplant, Hummus and Pickle Sandwiches

Michael Shemtov and chef Stuart Tracy prepare this messy, incredibly tasty vegetarian sandwich, called a sabich, with vegetables, hummus, house-baked pita and herbs from a garden right behind the restaurant. "The sabich is Iraqi-Israeli, just like me," Shemtov says. "It's a personal dish."

• F&W's Vegetable Cooking Guide

Indian Pulled-Chicken Sandwiches

This recipe relies on two time-saving, store-bought ingredients: rotisserie chicken and mango chutney, which adds a hit of instant flavor to the curry-yogurt sauce.

Catfish Po'Boys with Pickle Remoulade

Jay Foster of San Francisco's Farmerbrown's Little Skillet does brisk business in these fried-fish sandwiches at Outside Lands music festival.

Turkey Sandwiches with Cranberry-Apricot Relish

This tangy, sweet relish can accompany roast pork, chicken or turkey served on their own or as sandwiches.

BLT Fried Egg-and-Cheese Sandwich

Thomas Keller's scrumptious recipe combines three of the world's most popular sandwiches—bacon, lettuce and tomato; fried egg; and grilled cheese.

Tofu-Salad Sandwiches

In this riff on a classic egg-salad sandwich, Melissa Rubel Jacobsonstirs finely chopped silken tofu with mayonnaise, mustard, chives and crunchy celery, then spreads it on whole wheat toast. To mimic the yellowish color of egg salad, she sometimes adds a little turmeric, but it's not necessary.

Grilled Ham-and-Pimento-Cheese Sandwiches with Fonduta and Fried Egg

Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman created this wow sandwich that just keeps on going with a filling of crispy, cheesy grilled ham-and-pimento-cheese. The amazing sandwich is topped with creamy three-cheese sauce and a fried egg.

Focaccia Reubens

At The Sentinel, Dennis Leary's riff on a Reuben uses locally made corned beef and fresh focaccia, but the sandwiches are just as delicious with top-quality deli corned beef and store-bought flatbreads.

Scrambled Egg and Avocado Breakfast Sandwiches

This simple and satisfying breakfast sandwich recipe calls for using American cheese, but it's equally as delicious with Gruyere or sharp cheddar cheese. Feel free to use your favorite toast if you don't have English muffins. A dash of vinegary hot sauce is a great addition here.

Provençal Tuna Sandwiches with Fennel Mayo

Star chef Curtis Stone packs his version of the classic pan bagnat for family trips to the beach. This sandwich gets better as it sits and the flavors blend.

Muffuletta

This classic Muffaletta sandwich gets its flavor from layers of cheese, Italian meats, and tangy olive relish stuffed into perfectly crusty ciabatta. The ideal make-ahead meal, this sandwich should rest at least an hour to let the flavors meld, but it is delicious the next day, too.

Breakfast Banh Mi Sandwiches

This outstanding Vietnamese banh mi includes duck pâté and spicy pickles along with, less conventionally, five-spice-flavored bacon and a fried egg.

Party Melt

What makes this sandwich from Houston's Better Luck Tomorrow a must-order is the frico-like crust on the griddled bread slices (though the blend of Wagyu and brisket in the patty certainly doesn't hurt either). If you don't have a meat grinder at home, ask your butcher to grind the beef for you.