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Cuban Sandwich Recipe | Sandwich Cubano

A Sandwich Cubano is a jazzed up pork sandwich made with smoked pork, ham, salami, pickles, banana peppers, mayo, mustard and swiss on a toasted hoagie roll. Make 8 very large sandwiches for the hungry friends in your lives or make 16 smaller ones for game day. This recipe can easily scale up to suit all or your entertaining needs.

Sandwich Cubano on a white plate.

Sometimes it seems every industry has its own signature food associated with their workers.  This happens around the world throughout history.

Take the Cornish Pasty for example.  Tin miners in Cornwall wrapped up these portable meat pies and carried them to work down in the mines.  The thick edge of the pastry allowed the miners to eat their lunches without contaminating their food with the toxic tin dust.  Remember Pebre Sauce?  The Catalan engineers in Santiago Chile missed their Romesco sauce from their homeland and made do with the ingredients they had on hand, hence Pebre was born.

Today I share with you the preferred lunch time cuisine of the late 1800’s-early 1900’2 Cuban cigar and sugar factory workers of Southern Florida.  It isn’t clear who invented the sandwich as there was a lot of travel between Cuba and Florida leading to a Cuban sandwich diaspora.

Historian Loy Glenn Westfall states that the sandwich was “born in Cuba and educated in Key West”

Wikipedia

The sandwich has a few variations including a salami addition by the Italians which co-habitated the neighborhoods in Florida and tomato and lettuce additions which are frowned upon by Cuban purists.  Add some roasted or smoked pork, ham, swiss cheese, pickles and mustard and you have the Sandwich Cubano.  Eat it without pressing or finish this sandwich in a sandwich press.

Whether you prefer a pressed sandwich vs. un-pressed or salami vs. no salami one thing is certain. People are passionate enough about a sandwich to hold an annual festival in its honor.

How to Make a Sandwich Cubano

Pork, ham, salami, cheese, pickles on a cutting board.
  • Assemble the ingredients.
  • Toast buttered hoagie rolls and meat in skillet or on a griddle. Optionally you can toast the buttered hoagie rolls in the oven and cook them all at once.
  • Slather toasted hoagie rolls with mayo and mustard.
  • To assemble the Cuban sandwich, layer the pork on the bottom, then ham, salami, cheese, pickles and peppers.
  • Fold and enjoy as is or press it with a panini press. Don’t have a sandwich press? Check out this panini article where I press a sandwich without a sandwich press.
Hoagie roll and meat in a cast iron skillet.
Hoagie roll with mayo.
Hoagie roll with mayo, pork slices and salami.
Sandwich Cubano on a white plate.

Ingredient Considerations

  • Two types of pork are always used. Roast pork is common. I smoked a pork butt in my smoker. It worked great for this sandwich. For a shortcut, visit your local deli and see what kind of smoked or roasted pork they carry. Ham is usually the other pork used.
  • Salami. It is not original to the sandwich that left Cuba but is common in Florida where the Italians and Cubans lived in the same neighborhood.
  • Lettuce and tomato are a late addition and sandwich purist will shun this abomination.
  • Cuban bread. I don’t have any where I live so I found some flat, soft hoagie rolls in the bread aisle.
  • Mustard. Plain is traditional but you can get creative here without too much consternation.
  • I use mayo but it is not original to the sandwich.
  • Pickles were original to the sandwich but I also add some pickled banana peppers. They’re pickles too!

This is a traditional sandwich but don’t be afraid to experiment a little. Remember, the best sandwich is one that is shared.


Did you make this recipe?  Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below!  Take a picture and tag us @FusionCraftiness #FusionCraftiness on Instagram for a chance to be featured in our Insta Stories:)


Did you make this recipe?  Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below!  Take a picture and tag us @FusionCraftiness #FusionCraftiness on Instagram for a chance to be featured in our Insta Stories:)

Sandwich Cubano on a white plate.

Cuban Sandwich Recipe | Sandwich Cubano

Yield: 8 large or 16 small
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

An easy, classic pork sandwich from Florida and Cuba. Made with smoked pork, salami, ham, swiss, pickles and mustard.

Ingredients

  • 8 hoagie rolls
  • 4 Tbs butter
  • 1 lb smoked pork or pork roast, sliced
  • 24 slices salami
  • 16 slices thinly sliced ham
  • 8 slices Swiss cheese
  • pickles
  • banana peppers
  • mustard
  • mayo

Instructions

  1. Butter both halves of hoagie rolls.  In a large skillet or griddle, toast meat and hoagie rolls over medium heat until bread is toasted and the meat is heated and slightly charred.
  2. Slather mayo and mustard on homies as desired.
  3. For each sandwich, place pork, 2 slices of ham, 3 slices of salami, 1 slice of swiss, pickles and peppers on bread.
  4. Fold and enjoy as is or press in a panini press.

Notes

  • For an extra melted swiss, place meat on hoagies, top with cheese and heat in microwave until hot and melted.  Then add everything else.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1/2 sandwich
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 359Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 1109mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 33g

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Bianca

Tuesday 29th of October 2019

I had a Cuban sandwich at Jimmy Johns. It was really good but this looks much better. I'm going to make this today, can't wait!

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