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Made with crunchy French bread, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and whatever else you want, these customizable picnic sandwiches are perfect for your next summer get-together.
There is something so special about packing up a picnic basket and heading to the park for a long, sunny day with family and friend. These picnic sandwiches are the perfect staple for your outing. Built on crunchy French bread and loaded with classic ingredients like sliced cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, and deli meat (if you’re a meat eater), they really hit the spot. They’re quick to make, super portable, easy to share, easy to eat, and totally customizable. The best picnic sandwiches ever. Truly.
Why You’ll Love These Picnic Sandwiches
- Simple to make. These sandwiches are loaded with simple, familiar ingredients that will bring you back to summer days as a kiddo, sprawled out on a picnic blanket in your favorite park. Nothing crazy. Nothing fancy. Just lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a couple of other goodies you know and love.
- Portable convenience. These sandwiches hold together beautifully (when assembled correctly), making them the perfect portable solution for your next al fresco lunch or workday grab-and-go.
- Easily customizable. This recipe is a simple outline for the perfect picnic sandwich. It leaves tons of room for creativity. Go wild with spreads, breads, and fillings to make it 100% your own. Check out the section below titled “Variation Ideas” for inspiration.
Ingredient Notes
If you scroll to the bottom of this post, you’ll notice 2 recipe cards. I wanted to create a vegetarian version of these picnic sandwiches as well as one for meat eaters. Here’s what you’ll need for both respectively (look for exact measurements in the recipe card(s) below):
Vegetarian Picnic Sandwiches
- French bread – I would go with some crusty French bread. It’ll hold up well and won’t get as soggy as other options.
- Spread – You can use mayonnaise or mustard (or both).
- Shredded romaine lettuce – Baby spring mix would also work.
- Sliced cheese – My favorite is Sargento®’s Reduced Fat Sliced Cheese* (I’d go with Swiss or cheddar).
- Veggies – Green bell peppers, cucumber, and red onions.
- Sliced black olives
- Tomato – Leave the tomato off if your sandwiches have a long day ahead of them.
- Seasonings – Salt and fresh ground pepper. You could add some oregano as well if you’d like.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Vinegar – Red wine vinegar or balsamic would be my top picks.
Meat Lover Picnic Sandwiches
- French bread
- Spread – Mayonnaise and/or mustard.
- Shredded romaine lettuce – Baby spring mix would also work.
- Sliced cheese – Sargento®’s Reduced Fat Sliced Cheese* is my fave. I went with mozzarella here.
- Assorted deli meats – Any combo of turkey, ham, salami, and/or roast beef would be great.
- Red onion
- Tomato – Again, leave the tomatoes off if you don’t plan on eating your sandwiches relatively soon after making them.
- Seasonings – Salt, fresh ground pepper, and oregano.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Vinegar – Red wine vinegar or balsamic will work.
* I love Sargento® Cheese Slices because they are made from real, natural cheese and taste like they were cut from the block (probably because they were!).
Variation Ideas
These sandwiches are fabulously customizable so feel free to get creative here! I took the liberty of putting together some fun ideas for you.
- Try a different bread. While I’m obsessed with the crunchy outside and soft, tender inside of classic French bread, you are more than welcome to use a different kind of bread. Ciabatta or a crusty sourdough would be great. If you choose to use sliced sandwich bread, just note that your sandwiches are likely to get a bit soggier.
- Add bacon. If you’re going the meat lover’s route, why not add a couple of slices of crispy bacon?
- Play with spreads. I kept things simple with a little mayo and mustard, but feel free to shake things up with a spread of pesto, garlic aioli, Dijon mustard, Ranch dressing, relish, or even hummus.
- Pickled goodies. I like adding a couple of sliced bread and butter pickles to these picnic sandwiches sometimes. Pickled red onions would be awesome as well.
Tips for the Best Picnic Sandwiches
This picnic sandwich recipe may be simple, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some nifty tricks to help you get the best results possible. Here they are:
- Savvy slicing. Slice your French bread in half lengthwise, but don’t cut all the way through. Leaving part of the two sides of the bread attached is the best way to ensure all of the ingredients stay inside the sandwich.
- Toast the bread. Toasting your bread (lightly) can help keep it from getting soggy. Try it! Especially if you don’t plan on eating your sandwiches right away.
- Create a moisture barrier. Layer the cheese into the sandwich first (on both sides) and then add the moister ingredients (fresh produce, olive oil, vinegar, etc.). The cheese will help keep the moisture from the other ingredients from soggy-ing up the bread.
- Set the tomatoes aside. If you know your sandwiches have a long day ahead of them, you can leave the tomato out (or keep it in a separate container on the side and add it when you’re ready to serve). This will help keep your sandwiches from getting soggy.
- Keep it together. Wrap the sandwiches in parchment paper or wax paper. Why not plastic? Plastic wrap/bags gather condensation on the inside. That extra moisture could make your sandwich soggy.
What to Pack on the Side
Time to load up your basket with other summery, picnic-ready goodies. I don’t know about you, but I love spreading a bunch of snackable items out on a checkered blanket and grazing. Grapes, bread and butter pickles, and chips are some classic faves (try my Air Fryer Potato Chips). It’s also nice to bring a more substantial, easily packable side or two to accompany your sandwiches. My famous Coleslaw or this Creamy Potato salad would be perfect.
Wash it all down with your favorite soda pop or a glass of this Hibiscus Iced Tea Sparkler.
More Summer Recipes to Try
- Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta
- Zucchini Salad
- Elote Recipe (Mexican Corn)
- Curry Chicken Salad
- Asparagus Frittata
- Chicken Caesar Wraps
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sargento®. The opinions and texts are all mine.
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Picnic Sandwiches – Veggie Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 (12-inches) French Bread, , sliced in half lengthwise (do not cut all the way through – leave part of it attached to hold all of your ingredients)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or mustard, divided, , for spreading, optional
- 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 4 slices reduced fat Sargento® Sliced Cheese, (Swiss cheese or Cheddar cheese)
- 1 green bell peppers, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1 cucumber, sliced into rounds
- 1 red onions, , thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup black olives, , sliced
- 1 tomato, thinly sliced
- salt and fresh ground pepper, , to taste
- extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- vinegar, to taste
Instructions
- Spread mayonnaise or mustard on bread.
- Arrange the ingredients inside the bread.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add oil and vinegar.
- Close bread slices together and cut into quarters, crosswise.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
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Picnic Sandwiches – Club Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 (12 inch) French Bread, , sliced in half lengthwise (do not cut all the way through – leave part of it attached to hold all of your ingredients)
- 4 slices Sargento® Mozzarella Sliced Cheese
- 8 slices variety of deli meat-slices; Turkey Ham, , Ham, Salami, Roast Beef
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- 1 onion, cut into rings
- 1 tomato, sliced
- oregano, , to taste
- extra virgin olive oil
- red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Arrange all ingredients inside the bread.
- Sprinkle with oregano.
- Add oil and vinegar.
- Close bread slices together and cut into quarters, crosswise.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I’ve been struggling to come up with activities I can do with my 3 year old AND 12 year old this Summer…picnics are a GREAT idea!! And these sandwiches will make us all happy. LOVE!
What a perfect picnic! And the summer is the perfect time for it!
I always have problems packing sandwiches for picnics or travel. They always get too soggy, but these sandwiches I can get on board with! I wish I had one right now!