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.
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Taiwanese Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe
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.
Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme Recipe
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.
Alaska King Crab Rolls Recipe
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.
Cheesy Mushroom Toast Recipe
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.
Crunchy Vegetable Sandwich with Tahini and Avocado Recipe
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.
Roast Porchetta Sandwich Recipe
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Braised Beef Sandwich Recipe
Filet-o-Tempeh Sandwich Recipe
Easy Steak Sandwich Recipe
Crunchy Egg Salad with Fish Sauce and Lime Recipe
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.
Corned Beef Reuben Sandwich Recipe
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.
Latke Reuben Sandwich Recipe
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.
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Panelle, Shrimp, and Uni Sandwich Recipe
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.
Fried Eggplant Double Down Sandwich Recipe
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.
Crab Cake Sandwich Recipe
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.
Vegan Pulled Mushroom Sandwich
Italian Combo Sandwich Recipe
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.
Fried Fish Sandwich Recipe
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.
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Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches Recipe
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.
The Ultimate Eggslut Breakfast Sandwich Recipe
Butcher Sandwich Recipe
Chicken Bacon Lettuce Sandwich Recipe
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.
Roast Pork Sandwich Recipe
Torta Ahogada Recipe
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.
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Smoked Eel Sandwich with Pickled Onions Recipe
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.
Pork Banh Mi Recipe
Traditional Maine Lobster Roll Recipe
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.
Shrimp Po'Boys Recipe
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.
Homemade Fried Fish Fillet Sandwich Recipe
Steak Sandwich with Foie Gras and Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe
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.
BBQ Brisket Sandwich Recipe
Lamb Souvlaki Wrap Recipe
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.
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Italian Beef Sandwich Recipe
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.
Croque Madame Recipe
Vegan BLT Recipe
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.
Pesto, Olive, Artichoke Tuna Salad Sandwich Recipe
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.
Fried Eggplant, Mozzarella, and Prosciutto Hero Sandwich Recipe
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.
Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich Recipe
The only thing better than fried chicken just might be steak, fried like chicken and sandwiched between two buttery pillows of white bread.Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here.