38 Sandwich Recipes to Save You from Your Sad Desk Lunch

If there is one thing you should never be too intimidated to experiment with, it's the sandwich. Good bread, maybe some vegetables of some sort, a substantive filling, the condiments of your choosing—and pickles. Don’t forget the pickles—pretty much every sandwich is better with something pickled tucked inside. That increases to a solid 100 percent with vegetarian sandwiches. Sandwiches are, perhaps, the easiest canvas on which to learn to experiment with your food. It’s almost impossible to screw up, and the possibilities are endless. Here are 38 of our favorite sandwiches to inspire you to lunchtime greatness. Have your chips on standby.

What your fast food fried chicken sandwich doesn't have? Anywhere near as much flavor as the big chicken bun from Brooklyn's beloved Taiwanese American staple, Win Son.

Hearty filling? Check. Crunchy vegetables? Check. Cheese and/or other condiments? You bet. Something bready to keep it all together? Of course. Seems safe to say that a crunchwrap supreme is, in fact, a sandwich.

This crab sandwich takes the vibe of the lobster roll, but swaps in a heap of Alaskan king crab. Make this for lunch and make everyone jealous, at the office, on Instagram, and even over Zoom.

Justice for open-faced sandwiches, which are sandwiches too! The folks at Gertie know how to make the perfect one, and that's by smothering mouth-puckeringly tart salt-and-vinegar mushrooms with a blanket of cheese sauce.

If your week of meal-prepped salads has gotten boring, this vegetable-packed sandwich will help you eat all those wholesome things in a new format. Homemade focaccia takes it to the next level, but we’re not judging anyone for store-bought.

Porchetta is a savory, fatty, crispy rolled pork roast from Italy, and it makes for days worth of the dankest roast pork sandwich you've ever had. The real secret? We threw in crispy pork rinds too.

There is so much acid going on in this sandwich—vinegar, tomatoes, pickled onions, sauerkraut—you’re going to really appreciate topping this up with crunchy, salty potato chips and spicy caraway seeds.

You know what’s less weird than the perfectly square piece of soggy breaded fish you get on a fast food fish sandwich? A perfectly square piece of tempeh, which is made to be molded into whatever shape your little heart desires. Fry it up and slather in it vegan tartar sauce too.

Skirt steak and salsa verde go together like peanut butter and jelly. Turn this classic combo into the steak sandwich of your dreams with garlic-rubbed torta rolls.

Forget the mushy mess you’re calling an egg salad sandwich. With cucumbers, avocado, and a crusty baguette, this version will actually get you stoked on the bagged lunch classic.

There’s only one way to eat a Wise Sons corned beef Reuben, and that’s with your sleeves rolled up to the elbows—because you’re gonna have Russian dressing and sauerkraut juice running allllll over the damn place.

Whether you’re vegetarian or trying to cut down on your meat eating or simply too short on time to go through the whole process of making corned beef, this latke sandwich packs in all your favorite parts of the Reuben so you won’t even miss the meat.

Chickpeas and shrimp, for the gains. Use a soft roll here, so you can stuff as many crispy chickpea fritters into your hungry maw as humanly possible.

This is kind of like eggplant parm in sandwich form meets a vegetarian double down. Breaded and fried eggplant with half a pound of buffalo mozz, arugula, and tomato sauce is a winning combo.

Baltimore folks get SO AMPED on crab cakes, and that’s because they know the best ones are made from 100 percent jumbo lump crab meat—no filler as far as the eye can see. And the best way to eat them is in a sandwich.

Make sure you’ve got vegan barbecue sauce, and you’ve just found your perfect alternative to pulled pork barbecue sandwiches for the summer. Slaw is mandatory.

If you thought The Pizza Show host Frank Pinello only knew pizza, you’d be wrong. He also knows quite a bit about the simplest but most delicious pillar of Italian American food: the Italian combo hero. Four types of cured meats, oil and vinegar, red onions, and provolone. Fuhgeddaboutit.

Don’t let the plain appearance of this fried fish sandwich deceive you. Peruvian chef Mitsuharu Tsumura runs Maido, which sits comfortably in the top 10 on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, and none of Tsumura’s food—not even the humble fish sandwich—is anything close to boring.

The best way to eat soft shell crabs is fried crispy with lots of lemon and aioli. Slap ‘em on a Martin’s potato roll with some slaw, and you’ve got a perfect beach snack that will have all the seagulls annoying the crap out of you. Sorry in advance, but it's worth it.

Spam and eggs are never a bad idea, and Alvin Cailan of LA’s beloved Eggslut can show you the way to a never-fail breakfast sandwich so hearty and perfect you’ll want to eat it any time of day.

There’s a lot of fancy-ass specialty ingredients in Action Bronson’s steak sandwich here, but the philosophy is really simple: whatever scraps of meat you (or your butcher) have left over, on good crusty bread with your favorite condiments.

Sandwiches are always missing something acidic or spicy to take them from sad desk lunch to unnfffff. This breaded chicken sub has horseradish sauce and quick pickled cucumbers for a swift kick to your sinuses and your taste buds.

Yes, it takes two days to make this sandwich, but with roast pork neck, cracklings, and homemade buns, this is not your average roast pork sandwich. Ya know, good things come to those who wait.

This Mexican sandwich, from the state of Jalisco, is quite literally drowning in spicy guajillo-tomato sauce. And don’t be a hero—use a knife and fork.

This sandwich is one of London chef Jeremy Lee’s signature dishes at the Blueprint Café, and its arguably the best version of the city’s iconic working-class lunch staple.

Watch Matty Matheson make his version of Vietnam's classic sandwich—homemade paté included—on IT’S SUPPERTIME!

Mainers really know what they're doing with fresh seafood, and the lobster roll might be the best example of that. Buttery lobster on buttery brioche buns with mayo and lemon juice is basically summer in a sandwich.

Take it from New England to New Orleans with a classic shrimp po’boy. Don’t skimp on the spicy mayo or the pickled red onions.

Never underestimate the power of a well-prepared tartar sauce and a toasted, buttery potato roll to perfect your fish sandwich game.

If you’re looking for an intense nap-inducing sandwich, look no further than Curtis Stone’s fried green tomato, foie gras, and steak monster.

You can watch Guy Fieri bro down with our Test Kitchen Director Farideh Sadeghin while he teaches us not to fear the pressure cooker and make these classic barbecue brisket sandwiches.

Not gonna get into the semantics of what constitutes a "sandwich," because this lamb souvlaki is too good to bicker over. Slather it up with some herby yogurt and you’ve got lunch covered.

Ladled with cooking juices and a half-cup of giardiniera per roll, an Italian beef sandwich is the kind of sandwich that drips everywhere no matter how neatly you try to eat it. To us, that's pretty much the best part.

As with most things relating to bread and cheese, the French really nailed this sandwich. The good folks from LA’s Terrine offered us their take on the croque madame, complete with thinly sliced ham and runny egg yolks.

Of all of the uses for tempeh in a sandwich, making it a vegan alternative to bacon is definitely the tastiest. Pile it high with lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado, and you won’t miss the pork one bit.

If you're only using pesto in pasta, then boy, have we got news for you: Pesto is great in sandwiches, and even tuna salad sandwiches.

Nick Baglivo is best known as a pizza maker at L'Industrie, where the MUNCHIES crew has been known to get a slice (or several). What people might not know, however, is that also makes a mean hero, full of fried eggplant and mozz.

The only thing better than fried chicken just might be steak, fried like chicken and sandwiched between two buttery pillows of white bread.

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