This Mistake Is Easy To Make (And Avoid) When Assembling Sandwiches

A hearty sandwich can make a great meal just about any time of day. With so many classic recipes to choose from, filling up your favorite bread with delicious ingredients can be something of a delicate art. Though it seems simple to assemble this meal, there are a few common mistakes everyone makes when building sandwiches. It can be easy to get overzealous with your filling, creating a literal mess on your hands. Given the myriad different sandwich styles, let the specific variations inform you concerning the amount of filling needed for any given recipe.

Cartoonish depictions of such old-fashioned offerings as the Dagwood sandwich might have you thinking that piled-high portions are ideal. While this might seem aesthetically pleasing, it's not at all practical when it comes to actually indulging in your favorite food. Rather than risk a catastrophic collapse, building your sandwich thoughtfully and carefully is the right choice.

As always, it's best to go slow and taste as you go. For example, with a complex sandwich like this all-out Cuban sandwich recipe, it's important to consider how all the different fillings will coordinate and complement one another. Between the marinated pork, pickles, mustard, cheese, and ham, comfortably situating all of these delicious additions in your roll is an exercise in well-balanced ratios. No matter what sandwich you're building, it's easy to avoid the mistake of misjudging your fillings.

If you want to make a better sandwich, get to the heart. Consider how your fillings will suit your bread and condiments to ensure that the structure of your sandwich is sound. The biggest mistake you can make is letting your fillings overtake a sandwich in such a way that it ends up soggy, dried out, or otherwise inedible. Having a hearty bit of bread — whether a halved roll or a thick cut from a dense loaf — is a great foundation upon which to build up your sandwich.

With sandwich fillings, meats, cheese, and vegetables can all play their part in achieving a well-rounded and overall tasty treat. Make sure that everything fits your bread not only spatially speaking, but also taste-wise. If you have too much cheese and meat and not enough balance from tangy pickled vegetables or a well-placed lettuce leaf, your sandwich could suffer.

As far as condiments are concerned, take care that you're not overloading your sandwich with sauces, spreads, or other add-ons. A little bit goes a long way, and you don't want to have ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise oozing out of your bread before you've even taken the first bite. Moderation in preparation is the key, and, of course, it doesn't hurt to make sure your sandwich tastes as great as it looks.