Give Your BLTs Extra Pizzazz With A Mayo Upgrade

Without knowing a thing about it, you can probably still put together a decent BLT sandwich. The name already tells you what it's all about: bacon, lettuce, and tomato layered between two slices of bread. The only thing that often slips under the radar is mayonnaise — a reliable staple that we absentmindedly reach for every time and forget about right after. It's only until you upgrade it to flavored mayonnaise that this familiar condiment truly shines, and subsequently, so does your sandwich.

After all, why waste away all that potential when there are so many ways to elevate the flavor of mayo? It doesn't take much. Just a spoonful of your favorite seasonings, really. One minute, all you have is plain ordinary mayo, and the next, it twinkles with an unexpected brightness — maybe a little bit of heat here and an herbaceous hint there. Altogether, those small changes create a brand new flavor dimension for your BLTs. At its core, the sandwich remains true to that creamy, tangy base, but don't be surprised when you find that the bacon's richness becomes more nuanced and the veggies' vibrancy reaches beyond its usual freshness. That's the power of a good flavored mayonnaise.

The genius of flavored mayonnaise is that you can easily customize it to suit whichever dish you're making. For BLT sandwiches, you can center this condiment around complementing the main ingredients. To highlight the bacon's meaty depth, a smoky mayo featuring smoked paprika and minced garlic always does the trick. Slightly more elaborate is a blend of sun-dried tomatoes and roasted garlic, with a pinch of cayenne pepper and maybe even pesto to seal the deal. Spiciness is another fantastic route to take, using either hot sauces, fresh jalapeños, or chipotle adobo to kick things off. You can even use lime juice to add a little zing to that fiery heat, or drizzle in some honey to make a sweet heat BLT. Focusing purely on a peppery undertone, simply mixing mustard and sour cream with mayonnaise will also get the job done.

To highlight lighter ingredients of the sandwich, those fresh herbs sitting in your fridge's crisper drawer can come in handy. They could be basil, parsley, chives, dill, or just about anything you like. BLT sandwiches with herby mayo make a fantastic quick lunch or even a party appetizer if you turn them into minis. Unsurprisingly, mashed avocados — accompanied by lemon juice and cheese — make for quite a BLT-appropriate flavored mayonnaise. You can even throw in a few slices of the fresh fruit to assemble a full-on avocado BLT.