Keep These 12 Unexpected Ingredients On Hand For Delicious At-Home Sandwiches

When you're hungry and totally unmotivated to cook, slapping a few ingredients between two slices of bread is a low-effort way to get some nourishment. That said, there are only so many PB&Js or ham and cheese sandwiches you can eat before you get tired of the monotony. The good news? You don't need to come up with complicated concoctions to whip up a tasty sandwich you'll be eager to devour. As long as you have a selection of ingredients that boast flavorful or textural nuances, you're always one step away from a delicious sandwich.

From your pantry to the refrigerator, plenty of unexpected ingredients can make an excellent addition to a sandwich. You just have to think outside the box when it comes to combining them with your usual sandwich staples, and you'll be rewarded with mouthwatering results. Almost all of these options are ready to go right out of the container, with just a few requiring minimal prep. So, if you're looking to step up your sandwich game, be sure to keep your kitchen stocked with these unexpected ingredients.

If you only bring out the kimchi when you're pan-frying bulgogi or whipping up a rice bowl, then you're missing out. Typically made with fermented napa cabbage, as well as radishes and carrots, kimchi is an incredibly versatile choice to add to your sandwich game. A classic kimchi recipe usually calls for scallions, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes to season, packing a punch of flavor along with a crunchy texture and a tangy bite. Some versions are spicier than others, so make sure to consider the heat level before dousing your sandwich in hot sauce too.

Kimchi pairs well with plenty of sandwich components, including standards like cold cuts and cheese. If you want to take it a step further, try adding kimchi to your grilled cheese sandwich for a bold variation. Meanwhile, it's a no-brainer with meat leftovers like pork, beef, or chicken. Or, try a slab of tofu for a vegetarian twist. Creamy ingredients like avocado or soft cheeses introduce textural contrast — not to mention, kimchi makes a great pairing for an egg salad sandwich. If you're unsure where to start, just think of it as a simple swap for sauerkraut or pickles for an instant sandwich upgrade.

Everyone knows about adding pickles to sandwiches, they're pretty much a must in certain combinations, but the benefit of a tangy component goes far beyond the standard. A dill pickle is fine, but pickling ingredients like grated carrots and thinly sliced radishes adds a delicious crunch and zing to your sandwich with a subtler flavor. Other pickled vegetables that make worthy additions include asparagus, green beans, cauliflower florets, beets, turnips, and red onions. You could even try adding pickled lettuce to give your sandwich an extra tang.

If you're looking to build your sandwich around pickled vegetables, you'll want to consider each element and how they interact. Complement the salty addition with cheese or cured meats, or contrast it with a creamy spread or sliced avocado. A simple banh mi sandwich comes together with pickled vegetables, and a falafel wrap is decidedly better with the addition of pickled turnips. Even tried and true favorites like turkey and cheese or roast beef are enhanced with the crunchy tang of pickled vegetables.

Olive tapenade is a powerhouse of flavor, boasting a bold umami essence that stands out. Made with black, green, or kalamata olives, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, as well as the optional addition of capers and anchovies, it packs a salty punch. The consistency comes out like a paste, which makes it easy to spread over your bread before layering on the remaining sandwich components. Tapenade is unapologetically olive flavored, so you'll want to make sure the other ingredients pair well — which can vary depending on what type of olives you use.

Cheese is always a great match, just make sure to steer clear of overly salty varieties to balance out the tapenade. Provolone, fresh mozzarella, and cream cheese are solid choices, and you could go ahead and turn your sandwich into a grilled cheese. Meanwhile, you could play up the flavor with a Mediterranean eggplant panini, featuring roasted eggplant and red peppers, basil, and brie, layered between a halved baguette coated in tapenade. It's definitely a delicious ingredient for vegetarian sandwiches, giving them a salty umami boost often imparted by meat. Still, consider trying tapenade with a roast beef or salami sandwich for an extra punch.

Chutney is classically served with curries or to amplify a marinade, but if you haven't tried adding it to your sandwiches, you're missing out. The condiment comes in an endless variety of flavors, meaning there's a type of chutney for practically every type of sandwich. It's made by cooking fruit with vinegar, spices, and sometimes sugar, packing plenty of flavor into each spoonful.

Herbaceous varieties like green chutney are loaded with herbs (typically mint and cilantro), hot peppers, ginger, and spices, serving to punch up a simple cheese or roast beef sandwich. A traditional Bombay sandwich recipe features green chutney slathered over bread and stacked with potato and chaat masala. The bold flavors of the chutney elevate the simple components, amounting to more than the sum of the parts.

Meanwhile, mango chutney is a quick way to infuse a tropical twist to a grilled chicken or salmon sandwich. Want a tangy kick? Spread tamarind chutney over your bread for a cheese sandwich, or mash up chickpeas and layer them on top. If you're unsure of where to start, treat it like you would relish and then let your palate guide you.

Dressing is often relegated to serving with salads, but with a careful hand, it can add a dimension of flavor to your sandwich to rival any condiment. Green goddess dressing recipes can be customized to taste, but they typically contain a creamy element blended with plenty of fresh herbs. Sour cream, Greek yogurt, or mayo are often used for the former component, but you can up the green factor by using avocado, for example. Meanwhile, you can choose the herbs to complement the rest of your sandwich ingredients. Basil, cilantro, chives, parsley, and mint are all great options that will add a punch of flavor to a wide range of sandwiches.

Our green goddess sandwich recipe uses a blend of avocado, basil, parsley, chives, and lemons to enhance a simple mozzarella, cucumber, and sprouts sandwich. A similar dressing could be used to give your regular ol' turkey sandwich an upgrade, or to further build on the creaminess of an egg salad sandwich. In fact, most "salad" sandwiches, like chicken salad or tuna salad, would benefit from the bright, fresh flavors of green goddess dressing.

We're all familiar with using nut butter in a sandwich, but how about using nuts in their natural form? You'll need to chop them relatively finely first to make them easier to bite into and ensure they don't all fall out. Lightly toasting them beforehand will also add an instant flavor boost. There are plenty of combinations worthy of a sprinkling of nuts, but Italian subs are a great place to start. Add chopped pistachios to your cold cut bonanza and you'll be rewarded with a delicious flavor and textural contrast.

Meanwhile, if your go-to nut butter is chunky peanut butter, then you'll be familiar with the delight of biting into bits of peanut in your sandwich. Sprinkle the chopped nuts into a roast beef or chicken sandwich, or go all out by making a satay-inspired peanut-crusted chicken sandwich. If you're still not convinced, you can also opt for seeds, which are arguably easier to incorporate than nuts since they are already very small, making them easy to sprinkle. Add sesame seeds to give your cream cheese or grilled cheese sandwich a sophisticated upgrade, or try pumpkin seeds in an avocado and chickpea mash sandwich.

Cheese is an obvious asset to pretty much any sandwich, but people often stick to the usual suspects. Mozzarella, cheddar, provolone, cream cheese, and so on are all delicious choices, but you can also consider switching it up with ricotta. The creamy soft cheese has a mild flavor that pairs well with a wide range of ingredients thanks to its subtlety. It also manages to add a rich element to your sandwich without going over the top with flavor, allowing you to complement it as you please.

For example, a brown butter spinach and ricotta grilled cheese is a definite upgrade over any standard recipe. The sweet, nutty, and earthy components balance out the mild flavor of the ricotta, allowing each to shine on their own. If you're not so hungry, stick to an open-faced sandwich by spreading a piece of toast thick with ricotta and garnishing it with orange zest, poppy seeds, honey, and fresh mint. Or, you could try a ricotta and jelly sandwich for a twist on a cream cheese favorite. Who says a sandwich has to be strictly savory?

There are also plenty of ways to incorporate fruit into your sandwich recipes, whether you're going for tried-and-true classics like cheese with apple, pear, or fig, or trying something more unique. Either way, pairing sweet fruit with creamy, rich, or salty ingredients makes an excellent contrast that will give any ordinary sandwich a boost in the flavor department. Start with something like a peanut butter and banana sandwich for a sweet and salty bite that will keep you coming for more.

If you're feeling more adventurous, why not swap the tomato in a standard BLT for sliced peach? The juicy, sweet, and tangy fruit is a delightful contrast to the salty bacon, making for an absolute treat. Similarly, peaches can be swapped into a caprese sandwich to stand out alongside fresh mozzarella and basil leaves. Alternatively, go for a visual stunner like a trio of colorful Japanese fruit sandwiches, featuring whipped cream, strawberry, kiwi, and mango, loaded between fluffy, white sandwich bread like brioche. They're definitely sweeter, but there are no rules against a dessert sandwiches.

Peanut butter is a classic sandwich component, and we've already extolled the virtues of adding crushed peanuts to your sandwich in this article. However, if you're keen to step further into peanut territory, then peanut sauce should be your next go-to condiment when you're whipping up a sandwich. Unlike peanut butter, it has a less viscous consistency that makes it perfect for drizzling on a little bit of nutty flavor without overpowering the dish. Plus, it's a little more nuanced in flavor, often including coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and chili flakes to give it more complexity.

You could use it to enhance chicken, beef, or pork leftovers by leaning into satay-inspired flavors with your sandwich creation. Meanwhile, a vegetarian sandwich could definitely benefit from the nutty sauce. Tofu or tempeh pair well with peanut flavors, and you could finish it off with avocado, julienned carrots, thinly sliced cucumber, or simply lettuce. All you need is a light drizzle to transform basic ingredients into a flavor-packed sandwich.

If you've never tried jackfruit or only tried the decidedly sweet, mature variety, you might be wondering how to incorporate it into a sandwich. In fact, young, underripe jackfruit can be used in place of meat, as it takes to marinades and seasonings very well. Furthermore, it has a texture that is often described as meaty, which amplifies the similarity. You don't need to go harvest a full jackfruit to try this out. Young, green jackfruit is sold in cans and commonly found in well-stocked supermarkets.

One especially popular recipe that highlights the fruit's similarities to meat is a jackfruit BBQ sandwich, meant to mimic pulled pork. You simply have to heat up the canned jackfruit, mash it up a bit, mix it with barbecue sauce and additional seasonings, and load it onto buns with your favorite toppings. Other recipes like Mexican carnitas or chili can be used as inspiration when seasoning the jackfruit.

Vegetarians and plant-based diners are familiar with bean burgers as a replacement for beef burgers. But beyond the bean patties, there are other ways to add beans to your sandwiches for a nutritious and flavor-packed bite. Mashed chickpea sandwiches are the best pantry meal you should try, and you don't have to stop at chickpeas. Simply choose your favorite canned bean. We recommend draining and rinsing them to start. Then, let your senses guide you, though you can use a traditional egg or tuna salad as inspiration.

Think of incorporating a creamy or oil-based ingredient, like extra virgin olive oil, mayo, or Greek yogurt. Add something crunchy like onions or celery for textural contrast, and season according to the flavor profile you're going for. For example, try mashing chickpeas and adding finely chopped red onions, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings, then spreading it thickly between two slices of bread. Alternatively, you might choose white beans mashed with avocado, dill, lemon, and chili flakes for a fun and spicy twist. Opting for black beans? Sour cream, cilantro, red onions, and cumin give your sandwich a Mexican flair.

Squash is often strictly categorized as a side dish, but you can also roast it and add thick slabs to your sandwich. If you're making a vegetarian sandwich and want to give it a hearty bite, you can't go wrong. For starters, you'll want to roast the squash with olive oil and your choice of spices to give it a little boost of flavor. For example, try a cumin-roasted squash and feta panini recipe for a seriously tasty treat. The sweet and tender squash pairs perfectly with tangy feta, spinach, and roasted red peppers. Add a sauce for more flavor, such as an olive, caper, parsley, and garlic combo that infuses this panini with bold notes.

Roasted squash works well in both cold and warm sandwiches, so consider whether you want it to be soft and tender or have more of a toothy feel. It's a delicious match for cheese, as noted, as well as with creamy ingredients like avocado or hummus. Sprouts or pickled vegetables up the ante, adding a fresh and crisp component to every bite. Keep slabs of roasted squash in your fridge to be ready on short notice the next time you're making sandwiches.