The Italian Salad Sandwich. (2024)

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The Italian Salad Sandwich is the sandwich to serve at your next backyard BBQ or afternoon picnic in the sun. It consists of a grilled ciabatta layer with sun-dried tomato pesto, pepperoncini, basil, parmesan, roasted peppers, and three layers of meat: prosciutto, spicy salami, and pepperoni. Add provolone and arugula tossed with Italian dressing, and you’re done. It’s the Italian salad-stuffed sandwich, and it’s DELICIOUS – exactly what your summer needs!

I don’t know why, but I’m feeling like making so many sandwiches this summer. It’s the summer of delicious sandwiches, and I swear it’s because I like to torture myself. Every time I develop a new sandwich recipe for you all, I struggle to capture the deliciousness of the sandwich.

This sandwich took some effort, but it was worth it because, holy freaking YUM, this sandwich is good. It’s probably my favorite summer sandwich to date, I’m excited!!

My thinking was that Father’s Day is this weekend, and we’re all looking for easy (but still yummy) dishes to serve at our parties. When I was a kid, all summer parties had a few good (usually store-bought) sandwich options, along with lots of chips, dips, burgers, and grilled chicken.

We made a lot of burgers growing up, but the Costco sandwiches were not to be dismissed. Even though they came from the store, they’d always get eaten.

This is hopefully way better than a Costco sandwich, but it’s where I drew my initial inspiration from.

I wanted to make the yummiest sandwich, but was craving my Italian chopped salad. So basically, I put my favorite salad inside a crusty loaf of ciabatta. And you all, it turned out SO GOOD, you’ll crave this sandwich all summer long!

Let’s Chat Details

Step 1: Make the Dressing

I like to make a paired-down Italian dressing for this. If you don’t want to fuss with making dressing, just use your favorite store-bought Italian dressing.

To make mine, shake up extra virgin olive oil with champagne vinegar, fig preserves (or honey), garlic, thyme, salt, and chili flakes.

Nothing too fancy.

Step 2: grill the bread

Slice a loaf of ciabatta bread in half lengthwise, then rub with the oil based dressing. Grill each half until char marks appear.

You could also toast the bread in the oven, but I love the flavor from the grill.

Step 3: layer your sandwich together

Next, all you have to do is layer the sandwich ingredients.

Start with pesto. I use sun-dried tomato pesto, which is delish and available at places like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. You can also make your own. If sun-dried tomato pesto is not available, or you would just prefer it, use basil pesto.

Then layer on the pepperoncini, basil, parmesan, and roasted peppers.

Step 4: the meats

I love using prosciutto, spicy salami, and pepperoni. Pepperoni is my favorite, you can never have too much.

Step 5: the cheeses + the greens

Top the meats with the cheese. I use slices of gouda and provolone; Havarti works well too.

Then, finish with a huge handful of arugula tossed up with the Italian dressing.

Add the top piece of ciabatta and give the sandwich a firm push-down to seal everything inside. And that’s it, done. You can slice the sandwich up or wrap it and keep it in the fridge for a day. The longer it sits, the more flavor it will take on. It’s great to make ahead of time and to take to parties!

Looking for other summer sandwich recipes? Here are a few ideas:

Everything Cheddar Tomato Bacon Grilled Cheese

Roasted Caprese Burrata Sliders

Kimchi Grilled Cheese

Grilled Vegetable Burrata Sandwich

Lastly, if you make this Italian Salad Sandwich, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!