Despite or because of their simplicity, tomato sandwiches are ripe for customization. For devotees, the general concept — juicy tomato slices seasoned with salt and pepper and stuffed between mayo-spread bread — becomes a canvas for individual preferences and evolving tastes.
“I can confidently say I’ve eaten tomato sandwiches for as long as I can remember, but the ways I eat them and prepare them have changed over the years,” says Kevin Johnson, chef and owner of The Grocery in Charleston, South Carolina.
He’s not alone. Some tinkerers experiment with different types of bread or mayonnaise, while others incorporate everything from crispy bacon to lemony tonnato and beyond. Read on for six ways that chefs make tomato sandwiches their own.
Add greens for texture and flavor
Complementing ripe tomatoes with crisp herbs or lettuces keeps sandwiches feeling fresh, chefs say. Johnson likes the peppery bite of arugula or watercress, while Claudia Fleming, the executive culinary director of Daily Provisions in New York City, opts for romaine. Isaac Toups, the chef and owner of Toups’ Meatery in New Orleans, tops his tomato sandwiches with a few slices of torn basil, another summer bumper crop.
Treat the bread with care
“A perfect tomato sandwich is made with white bread, not toasted,” says Toups, a traditionalist. With its doughy texture and understated flavor, sliced white bread allows the tomatoes to take center stage and keeps the entire sandwich feeling soft in your hands.
But some prefer a more substantial base to keep the sandwich balanced and structurally sound. “It needs to be a hearty sourdough, or even a decent wheat bread at the very least,” Johnson says. “I toast the bread just a little bit so that it can keep away any sogginess from the juicy tomatoes, and then you have to let the bread cool so it doesn’t warm the tomatoes.”
Toasting is also a must for Kristen Hall, chef and owner of La Fête in Birmingham, Alabama. “I actually didn’t grow up eating tomato sandwiches because I found them too soft,” she says. Once she tried toasting thick-cut white bread or brioche slices, she was hooked, Hall says.
Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Sally McKay
Season the tomatoes
Sprinkling sliced tomatoes with salt and freshly ground pepper plays up their natural sweetness and acidity, especially when you’re blessed with juicy, in-season produce.
Nina Compton, chef and owner of Compère Lapin in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a 2017 F&W Best New Chef, takes things a step further. “I season the tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and a splash of fish sauce for extra umami,” she says.
Consider mayo a primary ingredient
Few pantry ingredients inspire brand devotion like mayonnaise. Chefs swear by their favorites: Fleming opts for Hellmann’s, while Chelcea Dressler-Crowley, the vice president of Messermeister, believes that only Duke’s, Kewpie, or housemade mayonnaise will do.
Toups and Compton swear by the tang and creamy consistency of New Orleans’ own Blue Plate. “If you want to jazz it up, a naughty addition of ranch dressing is fantastic — it makes the tomatoes really sing,” Compton says.
Or rethink the mayo entirely
Others eschew mayonnaise altogether (gasp). Hall rubs pieces of toasted bread with a cut garlic clove, then adds salted butter. To gild the lily, Hall roasts the garlic first. “It’s the perfect breakfast,” she says.
Beef it up
“The tomato sandwich is a Southern staple — it shouldn’t be too fussy or have too many ingredients,” Toups says. “I will make an exception for thinly sliced bacon, cooked to almost burnt, if I want to upgrade.”
Fleming takes a more expansive approach. “The bacon is the second most important aspect of the sandwich,” she says. She’s partial to giving thick-cut, minimally smoked strips a good sear. “The sweetness of the heritage pig fat is a great partner to the acidic tomato.”
It’s not the only trick up her sleeve. “When I’m feeling fancy, I eliminate the bacon, slice the tomatoes thinly, and replace the mayo with a lemony tonnato sauce sprinkled with olives,” Fleming says. Garnished with arugula and served on toasted focaccia, it’s more of a meal than a snack.
Johnson also riffs on the theme. “I love to make open-faced tomato sandwiches,” he says. “Add an over-easy egg to each, then a few slices of seasoned avocado, and finish with a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of good olive oil.”
