11 Sandwich Making Tips From Celebrity Chefs

It might seem like sandwiches are among the simplest foods to make. And, sure, even a 5 year old could throw together a slapdash PB&J, but there's a difference between being able to make a sandwich and being able to make a good sandwich. That's why we've looked to celebrity chefs for sandwich advice that will take your lunch to the next level.

You can slap a filling between two slices of bread and call it a day, but you won't be doing yourself any favors. Listening to our celebrity chef tips will help you improve things you didn't even know were wrong. But, even if you think you're pretty good at making sandwiches, you could still learn a thing or two. These chefs aren't just on TV because they were in the right place at the right time; they've built their skills and knowledge over years and made their living imparting it to others, so they're useful teachers to have.

Whatever kind of sandwich you want to whip up, these renowned chefs have excellent advice to transform them. From the bread you choose and the way to cut it to when and how you make it, there are so many factors that can make a huge difference to how your sammie turns out. So, check out these sandwich making tips from celebrity chefs and prepare to have your best one yet.

The only thing better than a great sandwich is the same sandwich but bigger. Nigella Lawson has some excellent advice on how to cut your bread that will result in a bigger slice. This is one for the size queens among us.

Lawson created a sandwich recipe for Lena Dunham (via Stylist), particularly for anyone who can't (or won't) cook. Her first piece of advice in the recipe is to "cut two generous slices of bread — cut the bloomer on the diagonal to get a bigger surface area to work with." A bloomer is a particular style of British loaf, with a wide oval shape, not dissimilar to a French or Italian loaf. Imagine cutting it straight, then think of the difference cutting it at a slight diagonal angle would make. This gives you a bigger slice of bread and a larger sandwich — what more could you want? Using unsliced bread also means you can match the thickness to your preference.

If it seems odd or unnecessary to you, this isn't the first time the TV chef has faced controversy over her bread choices. Lawson was dragged on X, (formerly known as Twitter) for the way she butters her toast. She first butters it when still warm, so the first layer melts, then puts on a second layer once cooled. As for sandwich fillings, Lawson is a fan of a classic potato chip sandwich, with just white bread, butter, and salt and vinegar chips.

The people of Instagram have had issues with some of Martha Stewart's sandwich choices — namely the decision to put what could be several hundred dollars of white truffle in a sandwich. However, she still has some excellent advice for those of us who don't shop exclusively at Erewhon. Stewart recommends looking at the sandwich as a whole, building it in distinct layers to get the best results.

Stewart's website tells us that there's an order to how she builds her sandwiches. "When a sandwich uses a sauce or dressing, spread it on both interior faces of the bread rather than just one, so every bite gets it instead of just the first few," it reads. "Then you have the anchor of the sandwich, the heartier part in the middle, and any delicate ingredients: fresh herbs, greens, and sliced tomato are added last."

This seems like a great way to look at a sandwich, and is infinitely riffable, giving you a framework to make any sandwich you desire. The sauce could be mayo, ranch, pesto, or hummus, to name just a few of your many options. Then, you might add something like deli meat, baked tofu, smashed chickpeas, or roasted veggies as the hearty middle. Finally, finish with any fresh herbs, salad leaves (like arugula or romaine), and delicate veggies, such as sliced cucumber or tomatoes.

You might think that making your sandwich ahead of time will lead to that most dreaded of issues: sogginess. But, making your sandwich in advance of when you plan to eat it can actually be a good thing. The way that some soups or stews are better the next day, a sandwich can be improved by a few hours of resting, according to Sohla El-Waylly.

As El-Waylly notes on Bon Appetit, the flavors get more robust as time goes on. "Assemble it in the morning, and when lunchtime comes around, the peppery mustard greens will have become tender and mild, while the bread and mozzarella will have soaked up the briny olive vinaigrette," she remarks. "It can hang out and get squished in the bottom of your bag for hours and will taste all the better for it."

This particular recipe consists of two types of cheese (low-moisture mozzarella and provolone), butter beans, mustard greens, and a vinaigrette in hoagie rolls. It's worth noting a few things about this. The type of bread is notable; you need something sturdy that won't get soggy and turn to mush in a few hours. The greens are also particularly robust and aren't prone to excessive wilting. It also contains no meat, which is better from a food safety perspective, if you're going to hold it at room temperature for a while.

If there's one thing that Marcus Samuelsson swears by for a better sandwich, it's homemade pickled cabbage. The restaurateur and celebrity chef uses it in both his banh mi sandwich and spiced catfish sandwich, noting that it's worth making from scratch, keeps well, and can be added to many dishes, if you make more than you need for the sandwich.

This pickled cabbage uses shredded red cabbage, alongside vinegar or a mix of lime and vinegar, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, and a Scotch bonnet or habanero for heat. So, this is a hugely flavorful ingredient that you could use to liven up a wide range of sandwiches. Although Samuelsson uses it as part of his particular recipes, you could use it in any sandwich you choose, adding some crunch and tang.

And, this isn't the first time Samuelsson has gotten creative with sandwich fillings. The unexpected ingredient in Samuelsson's breakfast sandwich recipe is tomato jam. Rather than settling for the simple, obvious choice and using tomato ketchup, he went one step further and made tomato jam from scratch. It's these homemade details that can level up an otherwise simple sandwich. You don't have to go all out on every ingredient to make it special if you know how to add the right flourish.

When is a sandwich not a sandwich? When you behave like Jamie Oliver and consider making a deconstructed sandwich, you open up a whole world of possibilities. Sometimes, a sandwich might seem a little boring for dinner, but you can use the exact same ingredients and turn it into something else.

Oliver's pulled mushroom sandwich recipe consists of cooked mixed mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and walnuts, inside a ciabatta loaf. However, it comes with a tip. "The filling for this ... [sammie] can actually be served as a salad in its own right," Oliver writes. "Tear the bread up into croutons for a tasty alternative." So, this is exactly the same as a sandwich but reconfigured, and suddenly it seems fancier and more like a full dinner than lunch or a snack.

Oliver's advice relates to this particular sandwich, but you don't have to stop there. You can take your favorite sandwich ingredients and deconstruct them, turning the bread into DIY croutons by tossing chunks in olive oil and toasting them in the oven or a skillet. When you look into what Oliver really eats, it's a varied diet, including plenty of plant-based ingredients, so this is a nice way of incorporating more vegetables than you might usually be able to fit in a sandwich, while still using the same ingredients overall.

Have you ever had a sandwich that wasn't bad, as such, but was just disappointingly bland? Alex Guarnaschelli points out that there are so many opportunities to dress and season ingredients when making a sandwich that many of us aren't taking advantage of. By approaching a sandwich the way you might a salad or another dish, you'll end up with more flavorful results.

Guarnaschelli suggests dressing the lettuce as though it's a salad. She also adds salt, pepper, and sugar to her tomatoes. These might seem like relatively small details, but they make all the difference to the finished sandwich. It adds extra layers of flavor that can be missing in a standard sandwich. Just the act of seasoning correctly can take it from bland to flavorful in a few twists of your salt grinder.

And, this doesn't just apply to a BLT. You can use this tip to upgrade any sandwich. Think about the elements that could use some seasoning — leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans — and choose how to boost their flavor. It might just be salt and pepper, but you can also make use of vinaigrette or other dressings, herbs, and spices. Your exact choices will depend on the sandwich you've chosen to make.

Usually, when you're making a grilled cheese, the cheese itself does a lot of the heavy lifting, flavor-wise. Sometimes, what you want is just a basic but good grilled cheese, but at other times, this can seem boring and uninspiring. Celebrity chef and "Chopped" judge Maneet Chauhan seasons the cheese with spices to change things up. It gives you a whole new kind of grilled cheese, but one we're totally here for.

Chauhan turns grilled cheese on its head by mixing the cheese with garam masala, cumin, and chili powder before stuffing it inside bread. Seasoning the cheese with this mix of spices gives the finished sandwich a whole new flavor profile. This combination evokes Indian spice flavors, but you could choose your seasonings depending on the type of sandwich you want to make or what you plan to eat it with. For instance, if you wanted to eat it alongside a bowl of chili, you might choose to mix your cheese with smoked paprika, coriander, and cumin.

Chauhan loves being a judge on "Chopped" so it's no surprise that she enjoys playing with flavors and finding new twists on classic dishes. And this is such a simple way to upgrade a grilled cheese sandwich when you don't feel like a plain one. Plus, it's totally adaptable, giving you the chance to adjust your choices of herbs and spices.

Guy Fieri is serious about taking us all to Flavortown, so naturally he has tips for making the best sandwiches. This is a celebrity chef who never does things by halves, so if you want a bold and memorable sammie, it wouldn't be a bad thing to follow his advice.

Fieri shared some of his cooking tips with Business Insider, and sandwiches were on the menu. He advised that sandwiches should have a good range of flavors and textures to make them truly satisfying, noting that a good sandwich should contain something acidic and crunchy, plus plenty of flavor all-around. He called for a crispy variety of lettuce, tasty heirloom tomatoes, sweet onions, and other high-quality ingredients. For crunch, Fieri likes giardiniera, a type of mixed pickled vegetables often found in Italian delis. He also talked about how important the type of bread is.

This advice is easy to tailor to make your perfect sandwich. Fieri mentioned good bread is vital, but this could be anything from a robust rye for a Reuben to homemade focaccia for a Caprese-inspired tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwich. And, there are all kinds of ways to bring acidity: lemon juice, vinaigrette, dill pickles, kimchi, or simply sliced tomatoes. Likewise, crunch doesn't have to come from giardiniera; it could be raw vegetables, crispy onions, toasted seeds, or potato chips.

Aarti Sequeira talked to Mashed about the challenges of cooking on TV, such as constant smiling, but her cooking tips are sure to put a smile on anyone's face. When making grilled cheese sandwiches, she has a cooking tip that will get them extra crispy on the outside. And, in fact, you could use this tip for any toasted sandwich, not just a classic grilled cheese.

Normally, you might spread the exterior of your sandwich with butter to get it to crisp up. But, Sequeira's tip is to use mayonnaise instead. This works better for a number of reasons. It's easier to spread than butter, meaning you get a more even, edge-to-edge coating without the risk of tearing your bread. It also has a higher smoke point than butter, so you can get your sandwich a deep brown without charring the milk solids and giving it a burned flavor, plus the egg in the mayo helps with browning. The lower water content in mayo compared to butter can also help with the crispiness.

After assembling your sandwich, spread the top piece of bread with an even layer of mayo — about 1 teaspoon — then flip the sandwich into the pan, so the mayonnaise side is touching the surface of it. When this side is browned and almost ready to flip, spread the other outside slice of bread, which is now on top. Flip and repeat for the ultimate golden crunch.

We all have our favorite sandwich breads, but sometimes your regular go-to can seem uninteresting all of a sudden. Lidia Bastianich of "Lidia's Kitchen" reminds us not to be afraid to experiment with breads, by providing a number of options in her sandwich recipes. It might be the push you need to try something different from your usual choice.

In her Italian-style baked toast sandwich, which is a bit like an Italian grilled cheese, Bastianich talks about its versatility. "The beauty of this recipe is that once you have made it you will find a hundred ways to reinvent it," she writes. "Do not forget to be innovative with the bread as well: whole wheat, mixed-grain, and muffins all work beautifully." So, a sandwich that's usually made on Italian bread, for instance, might also be great with focaccia, a baguette, or a sourdough loaf.

The trick is to match the sandwich to the bread. Something like a Southern tomato sandwich is really better on bread that's soft and white, whereas sammies with more complex fillings can stand up to a heartier bread.

One of the best tips to take away with you is that great sandwiches don't need to be complex, as the late Anthony Bourdain once pointed out. His favorite sandwich contains just five ingredients, including the bread. So, before you go to the store to load yourself up on fancy ingredients in search of a better sandwich, know that it doesn't have to be this way.

Bourdain's favorite sandwich is a mortadella and cheese sandwich. One that he calls "a beloved heap of oozing awesomeness" in his 2016 cookbook "Appetites," in which the recipe for his favorite sandwich resides. All it contains is mortadella, provolone, mustard, and mayo, inside a toasted bun.

"A sandwich is a beautiful thing — one of the great innovations of modern history," Bourdain wrote in "Appetites." "Between two slices of bread exist near-limitless possibilities for deliciousness," he adds. But, these possibilities needn't be outlandish or extravagant. You can keep them simple and still make a delicious sandwich.