Why You Might Want To Avoid Publix's Italian Sub — And How To Make It Better At Home

The Publix deli section is famous for its long list of sub sandwiches that you can customize with name-brand meats and cheeses as well as any other ingredient you pluck off grocery store shelves. And while the Italian sub at Publix achieved a mid-ranking in a taste test of 10 pub subs, you might want to avoid ordering it because you can make a better one at home.

Italian subs are hearty sandwiches to say the least, stuffed to the brim with multiple well-spiced, cured meats and cheeses, not to mention bright and tangy veggies. But Publix's Italian sub majorly skimped on the filling ratio. In fact, the submarine bread all but dwarfed the pitifully thin layer of sliced meats and cheeses. Worse still, the meat on the sandwich was tasteless, a far cry from the spicy, savory richness of cured Italian meats that adorn a good Italian sub.

As a grocery store deli, Publix charges far less for its Italian sandwich than national sandwich chains, which certainly garners more favor from customers on a budget. But for the skimpy and rather flavorless meat fillings, we think it's still not worth a lower price tag. You're much better off shelling out the extra money for a worthy Italian sandwich from a sandwich chain like Jersey Mike's or Panera, both of which have some of the best Italian sandwiches we've tried. Of course, you can save the extra money by making your own Italian sandwich at home using Publix's ingredients.

While many Publix customers rave about the Italian sub, most opt for double meat and double cheese to make it worth their while. And even though customization is one of the Publix deli's best attributes, you can also use the ingredients you pick up at Publix to make an even better version of the Italian sub at home. Despite the idea that sandwiches taste better when someone else makes them for you, we think that home cooks can do better than the skimpy and flavorless fillings we sampled.

Any good sandwich starts with good bread, which you can procure from Publix bakery; both the deli-style sub rolls and the Italian five grain sub rolls ranked favorably and would be the perfect Italian sub vessel. A big mistake to avoid – and perhaps the downfall of the Italian Pub Sub — is not being intentional in your choice of cold cuts. Each cold cut should shine separately as well as collectively. We recommend a rich base of mortadella to pair with an even more decadent fatty cold cut like salami and a spicy cold cut like hot soppressata or pepperoni. You can pick the meat out at the Publix deli, opting for super thin slices. Might as well go for fresh mozzarella cheese from the deli for a luxuriously creamy complement to the cold cuts. A mixture of fresh and pickled veggies are a must to cut through the richness of your meats and cheeses, and don't forget a solid Italian sub sandwich is finished with a splash of tangy red wine vinaigrette and a sprinkle of fresh or dried herbs.