Prevent Soggy Italian Sub Sandwiches With A Genius Greens Trick

There aren't many complaints people have about Italian subs, but if you do run into a problem it's probably going to be about the sandwich getting soggy. There is no singular way to make a perfect Italian sub — even the best sub shops will use different combinations of Italians deli meats, toppings, and condiments. 

However, compared to most deli sandwiches, Italian subs tend to forgo creamy condiments like mayo and mustard. Instead the most common choice is oil and vinegar, or sometimes even a salad dressing. But done haphazardly, or with too heavy of a hand, and those wetter condiments can easily saturate the bread or come dripping off the sub. So when we spoke to sandwich expert Paul Cacici about the best ways to upgrade an Italian sub he gave us a tip: Dress the greens first.

Cacici says that getting the condiments right is essential to a good Italian sub. He told us, "Some type of acid is usually the most often overlooked ingredient in my opinion." So you want that flavor evenly distributed and not running all over the place. Instead of pouring your dressing directly on the bread, dress your greens before adding them to the sandwich, much like you would do with a salad. This gives the sauce something to cling to so that it doesn't soak into the bread. It also helps create that alchemical unity of ingredients that make a sandwich taste like more than the sum of its parts.

Dressing your sandwich greens first works particularly great with the preferred lettuce used in Italian subs, which is shredded iceberg, aka "shredduce." Maligned as flavorless and watery, any sandwich lover knows it's actually the perfect topping, because its job isn't adding flavor, it's adding texture. The crunch and light, fresh flavor of shredduce is the ideal counterpoint to a rich, meaty Italian sub. Plus, shredding the lettuce also means increasing surface area so it can better hold onto condiments like oil and vinegar. The dressing technique will also work with any of your favorite greens like spring mix or romaine, but it was made for shredduce.

You don't need to be dogmatic with the dressing, however. Olive oil and red wine vinegar (with a little oregano) is the standard, but don't underestimate a good Italian salad dressing. It will be a little less runny, but it bring just as much acidic brightness. If you want a little pop of sweetness you can also add in or swap the red wine vinegar for a few dashes of aged balsamic vinegar. And don't hesitate to look outside of Italy as well. Another underrated option is adding in pungent French vinaigrette — ideally, made with Dijon mustard — which will add some great horseradish-like heat to a sandwich that sometimes needs spice. But no matter your choice, always remember that your greens should be dressed before being layered onto your sub.