20 Sandwich Recipes to Kick Start Your Lunch Hour

Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwich

Infuse new life into tired tuna fish salad with mashed avocado.

When it’s mixed right in, the tuna salad doesn’t look anything like the kind served in school cafeterias or questionable delis. Instead it’s bright and fresh in terms of appearance and flavor.

This tuna salad is also decked out with a little Waldorf salad inspiration: red apple, celery, and toasted walnuts.

Ingredients

Ham, Egg & Blackberry Open-Faced Sandwich

Sometimes for breakfast all you need is toast, eggs, and protein. This awesome sandwich builds on that basic concept, taking it to the next level with a stellar combination of breakfast ingredients. An open-faced ham sandwich is topped with a fried egg and fresh chives.

What ties it all together is a dollop of blackberry jam on top.

Ingredients

Black Truffle Reuben Sandwich

Sometimes you want a sandwich to be like a protein delivery system that’s stuffed with meat, and it doesn’t matter if it’s “healthy.”

This is the sandwich you’re going to want when you’re indulging your inner carnivore. It’s hefty, it’s cheesy, and it’s stacked with corned beef. It’s not a light lunch by any means, but the kind of sandwich that makes you daydream about your next cheat meal.

Ingredients

Monte Cristo Waffle Sandwich

To boost the macros of this elaborate sandwich, use protein waffles.

Mix together a scoop of vanilla whey protein, an egg, an egg white, and a teaspoon of baking powder. Finish the protein waffle batter with your sweetener of choice, such as a packet of stevia, and enough water to make it a good consistency. Then use the batter in your waffle iron as usual.

Ingredients

Turkey & Avocado Sandwich

This isn’t just any turkey sandwich. It’s Chef Tom Colicchio’s turkey sandwich, which means it delivers next-level flavor with fresh sage, bacon, avocado, and balsamic onion marmalade piled onto ciabatta bread.

Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio rose to fame as the co-founder of Gramercy Tavern in NYC, but now also has a casual restaurant called Craft that specializes in sandwiches. For more out-of-this-world sandwiches, pick up the ‘wichcraft coobook.

Ingredients

Thai Turkey Meatball Subs

When you think of a meatball sub, you probably envision a sandwich smothered in mozzarella and marinara. But they can be made of anything, and this Asian-inspired version is not only healthier but maybe more even flavorful than classic Italian meatballs.

They’re seasoned with cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika and topped with spicy Monterey Jack cheese and pineapple coleslaw.

Ingredients

Habanero & Rum Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This sandwich is for the BBQ lovers.

Pork gets marinated in molasses, fresh habanero peppers, and spices like cumin. Then it’s slow-roasted in the oven for two hours.

After that, it’ll be fork-tender so it’s ready for some incredible sandwiches that aren’t tough or chewy.

Ingredients

Satay Chicken Salad Sandwich

Forget everything you know about chicken salad. This is infused with Asian flavors, and it doesn’t require a trip to the specialty grocery store.

You’ll need plain shredded chicken, of course, which can be made in a slow cooker. In a separate bowl, stir together the satay sauce of peanut butter, chili sauce, liquid aminos, and red pepper flakes. Pour it over the shredded chicken, and spoon it onto whole-wheat bread for a healthy chicken salad sandwich.

Ingredients

Pumpkin Grilled Cheese with Apples and Cheddar

The simple grilled cheese you’ve loved since childhood can be upgraded to a fancy sandwich with just a couple ingredients.

It helps to start with good bread – none of that tasteless Wonder stuff. Then this grilled cheese becomes sweet and savory with a combo of cheddar, apples, and pumpkin. Fresh arugula adds a bit of bite, or for a milder flavor, substitute baby spinach.

Ingredients

Mediterranean Hummus Tuna Sandwich

This open-faced tuna sandwich is all dressed up. Along with mayo and mustard, the tuna salad has white beans, green onion, and cornichons (those awesome mini pickles). Then it’s layered on the bread with a generous amount of hummus and a handful of sliced radishes.

The result is a sandwich that tastes like it’s from a gourmet deli – with just 2 grams of saturated fat.

Ingredients

Balsamic Strawberry Avocado Sandwich

This sandwich satisfies like peanut butter and jelly, but it does it with two kinds of fresh fruit. And it’s not just filling because of the bread and avocado.

There are also several kinds of cheese – anything creamy and/or mild will work, and you can stick it under the broiler if you’d rather it be a toasty, melty fruit and cheese sandwich.

Ingredients

Peanut Butter & Basil Sandwich

If peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are too sweet for you, here’s a grown-up alternative. Rather than slathering on sugary fruit preserves, this peanut butter sandwich adds a fresh ingredient that’ll surprise you.

But the combination of basil and peanut butter makes sense when considering the great Thai dishes like chicken satay and of course pad Thai.

Ingredients

Buffalo Chicken Panini

Enjoy the comfort-food flavors of Buffalo chicken in a lean panini. It has an awesome sauce made of sour cream and blue cheese. Once you try it, you’ll want to whip it up for every kind of sandwich from turkey to roast beef.

The chicken breast is cooked in hot sauce with just enough butter, and then it’s pressed between sourdough bread on a grill pan so everything meld together for a perfect bite.

Ingredients

Crock Pot Cuban Sandwiches

To make Cuban sandwiches, you’re going to need a heap of succulent roast pork. And the easiest way to cook it at home is with a Crock Pot.

Brown it on all sides in a skillet with a sliced onion, and then transfer it to the slow cooker. Add a tomato-citrus blend and chopped pickles. Then leave it all to cook for several hours, depending on the heat level.

You can start this in the morning or the afternoon to work around your schedule.

Ingredients

Broccoli, Green Bean & Chorizo Sandwich

When you want to balance healthy ingredients with a meaty sandwich, this is the one to make. You can substitute some of the ingredients, like using Monterey Jack instead of Manchego cheese, or pork chorizo rather than turkey.

No matter what, this sloppy Joe-style sandwich will be a home run with the combo of veggies, sausage, and cheese seasoned with nutmeg and cloves. The flavors are impressive even though it’s easy to cook the green beans, broccoli, and sausage, then toast the sandwich in the oven.

Ingredients

Steak & Deviled Egg Sandwich

This sandwich makes an awesome steak breakfast, steak lunch, or steak dinner. And like the deviled eggs inside, it could make a great snack too, especially if you’re following a high-calorie meal plan to gain muscle.

This is so easy it hardly needs a recipe. Throw some skirt steak on the grill or in a hot skillet. Meanwhile, chop up boiled eggs with grainy mustard, a bit of mayo, and Worcestershire sauce. Stuff the steak and eggs into a toasted pita with greens, and wolf it down.

Ingredients

Spiced Lentil, Sweet Potato & Kale Whole-Wheat Pockets

This sandwich is perfect for winter with sweet potatoes, lentils, and kale. Think of it as a vegetable sandwich baked into a pita pocket.

Not only are they an awesome made-from-scratch meal, but these lentil pitas are convenient too. They travel well and can be enjoyed heated or at room temp. Any leftovers can be individually wrapped and stashed in the freezer.

Ingredients

Oven-Fried Eggplant Po’ Boy

A vegetarian sandwich can be incredibly filling. Take this one, for example, which is one part Louisiana po’ boy and one part Italian eggplant parm.

There’s no Parmesan in the recipe, but the eggplant is sliced into rounds and coated in a thick cornmeal batter. After it bakes in the oven, the cayenne-spiced eggplant gets served up on a hoagie with marinara, lettuce, and tomato.

Ingredients

Mini Cucumber Sandwiches

Cucumber slices can make a great sandwich, but they tend to be served as a snack instead of a meal because they cucumbers are so low-calorie.

This recipe switches things up by using cucumber slices instead of bread, so there’s still a tasty sandwich filling of meat and cheese. This is a great alternative if you’re going grain-free or cutting back on bread.

Ingredients

Turkey Club with Bacon & Sautéed Chard

This club sandwich has been updated, so it’ll satisfy cravings for classic flavors as well as culinary trends.

It still starts with thinly sliced turkey, crispy bacon, and rye bread with a touch of Dijon mustard. What takes it to the next level is cooking the onions and Swiss chard together in a skillet. It only takes about 10 minutes to upgrade this sandwich with two simple ingredients.

Ingredients