When it comes to sandwiches, there are literally thousands of different varieties and recipes that you can try. It is really up to everyone’s taste and preference, local traditions and even what ingredients are available. But still you can find those 20 most popular sandwiches that are well known all over the world. I gathered these for you in this article.
Please note that these sandwiches are listed in no particular order. Also their popularity is obviously biased a bit toward what’s being trendy in English speaking countries.
Whenever we publish a recipe of any of these sandwiches, we’ll place a link so that you can try it at home.
#1: Club Sandwich
Club sandwich or clubhouse sandwich is probably one of the most well known sandwiches. In many situations, a picture of a club sandwich simply is the ideal representation of the sandwich itself. Invented in the late 19th century, it has everything a yummy finger food needs, and remained popular for over a century.
A classic Club sandwich consists of toasted white bread, sliced cooked chicken or turkey, ham, lettuce and tomato, dressed with mayonnaise.
#2: Egg Salad Sandwich
Using only one main ingredient, egg salad sandwich or egg mayo in the UK is popular throughout the world.
The egg salad itself consists of cooked eggs, mayonnaise and some other condiments such as mustard, salt, pepper, paprika, chopped parsley etc. This sandwich is served cold with bread and lettuce. Not complicated, exceptionally delicious though.
#3: Grilled Cheese
An all American favorite, maybe the simplest sandwich if we consider the number of ingredients. Only bread, cheese and butter for the classic version, mayonnaise in some recipes.
Still grilled cheese is the ultimate example of how simple ingredients can create remarkable results in the kitchen. Melting and oozy cheese between two slices of toast, everyone’s favorite.
#4: Cuban Sandwich
Contrary to its name, Cuban sandwich is another American creation, originated in cafes catering to Cuban workers in Florida.
It is a ham and cheese sandwich variation served in the also famous Cuban bread.
#5: Monte Cristo Sandwich
A crossbreed of a ham and cheese sandwich and French toast, Monte Cristo is a yummy finger food that will definitely give you enough energy. Yes, you can interpret this sentence in a way that Monte Cirsto sandwich is far from being healthy. But it’s just delicious.
#6: Tuna Sandwich
Classic mayonnaise based tuna salad served as filling in a cold sandwich.
#7: Tuna Melt
Tuna melt is probably the most popular melt sandwich. It is basically a hot tuna sandwich with melting cheese. Yummy.
#8: Philly Cheesesteak sandwich
Another hot sandwich with melted cheese, Philly cheesesteak is an iconic street food from Philadelphia PA.
#9: BLT
A century old creation and classic, BLT stands for bacon, lettuce, and tomato. And that explains it all about this sandwich.
#10: Pastrami Sandwich
A pastrami sandwich or pastrami on rye is a classic sandwich made famous in the Jewish kosher delis of New York City. It is usually a rye bread sandwich, with pastrami, mustard and possibly other ingredients.
#11: Cucumber Sandwich
Classic cucumber sandwich originated from the UK. It consists of thin slices of cucumber placed between two slices of crustless, lightly buttered white bread. Also see #20 tea sandwich in this list.
Modern variants of cucumber sandwich, especially in the US, include more ingredients. Cream cheese or dill for example are very popular in these variations.
#12: Chicken Salad Sandwich
A chicken salad sandwich is a cold sandwich. It can be made with different varieties of bread, the filling being a mayonnaise based chicken salad and lettuce.
#13: Pulled Pork Sandwich
A pulled pork sandwich is a sandwich made with the staple American barbecue favorite, super tender pulled pork. It is most frequently served hamburger style in a bun with slaw and barbeque sauce.
#14: Hamburger
Although there might be a linguistic debate about whether a hamburger is a sandwich or not, I wouldn’t leave out one of the worlds most popular fast food from this list.
And yes, hamburger is technically a sandwich, consisting of one or more patties of ground meat, lettuce and other vegetables placed inside a sliced bun, served with various condiments.
#15: Muffaletta
Muffaletta is a popular sandwich that originated among Italian immigrants in New Orleans. The sandwich itself is made with the round Sicilian bread with the same name.
#16: Croque Monsieur
Croque monsieur and madame are probably the best known French sandwiches around the world. Both are hot sandwiches made with ham and cheese. A croque monsieur (literally crunchy mister) is basically a Monte Cristo sandwich without the egg batter.
#17: Croque Madame
A croque madame is one of the many variations of the famous croque monsieur sandwich, and probably the best known of them all. This type of food comes with a fried egg on top.
#18: Shawarma
Shawarma is an extremely popular Middle-Eastern food, having meat cut into thin slices as the main ingredient. It can be served as a wrap or as a sandwich, generally in pita bread.
#19: Peanut Butter & Jelly
Peanut butter & jelly sandwich or PBJ is very popular in North America, especially for children. It consists of peanut butter and some type of fruit preserve spread on bread.
#20: Tea Sandwiches
A tea sandwich is a small sandwich prepared with crustless white bread, butter, and different fillings. It originated from England, hence it is also called English Sandwich or English Tea Sandwich. The original cucumber sandwich is in fact a variation of tea sandwich.
+1 Victoria Sponge “Sandwich”
If you’re from the UK or Ireland, you might not be surprised to see Victoria sponge or simply Victoria sandwich listed in the list of most popular sandwiches. But if you are from another part of the world, maybe you’re not even sure about what a Victoria sponge is.
A Victoria sponge sandwich is a sponge cake filled with cream and jam. The top of the cake is not iced or decorated apart from a dusting of icing sugar.
