Hello, I’m Jens! I often try viral recipes, so I’m excited to announce a new weekly series where I’ll try a different food that’s trending in pop culture.
Last month, Bella Hadid posted a TikTok of her enjoying a sandwich with a friend while on a hike.
“We used to come here in high school to smoke cigarettes, tell stories and make these sandwiches,” she captioned the video.
Of course, people were mesmerized by what the model put on her sandwich.
The comments section was filled with recipe requests.
On the same day, Bella released a second video that could be seen as loose instructions on how to make the sandwich, although there were no voiceovers or instructions.
This month, about three weeks after the first video, the model released an official sandwich recipe, which has had over 9.1 million views to date.
I was definitely curious because the thing looks like a LOADED sandwich – and it doesn’t look like she’s skimping on spices either. At the same time, it looks relatively easy, so I knew I had to put it to the test.
I also trusted Bella’s taste because I made her viral salad recipe earlier this year and it was really delicious. So I guess you could say I felt it was my civic duty to see if the sandwich was good. Here’s how it all went:
I also know I’ll be getting comments on this, so I just want to DISCLIP that I’m NOT a sandwich expert – I don’t usually eat sandwiches or make them at home, so this is a great guide for me on how to make one feels chic yet accessible. I hope this recipe inspires people for lunch!
Following Bella’s official sandwich recipe on TikTok, I gathered the ingredients. I have Italian bread, sliced turkey breast, salami, provolone cheese, red onion, tomato, lettuce, a lemon, hot peppers, olive oil, balsamic glaze, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, dried basil, dried oregano, and Chili uses flakes.
I started by making the vinaigrette that was used to coat the salad mix. To make this, I mixed together about 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon balsamic glaze, a few dashes of salt and pepper, and a sprinkling of dried basil, dried oregano, and chilli flakes. I then put these aside.
In another small bowl, I made the basil aioli to spread on the bread. I mixed 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, and a generous pinch of dried basil. I then put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to chill.
After the spices, I chopped up a few lettuce leaves and an eighth of a red onion.
After tossing the veggies into a bowl, I added a squeeze of lemon juice and the vinaigrette from earlier. I mixed everything together and set it aside.
I then cut my piece of bread in half and then started assembling my sandwich.
First, I spread a generous amount of sliced pepperoncini peppers on the bottom of the bread.
After the peppers, I spread a layer of the salad prepared earlier.
On the other half of the bread I spread an even layer of basil aioli.
I then folded 4 slices of turkey on top.
Back to the other half of the bread, I laid out five pieces of salami.
After the meat was in place, I folded two slices of provolone cheese and added them to the sandwich.
Finally, I rounded off the cheese with three thinly sliced pieces of tomato and sprinkled some salt on top.
And there we have it! I gave the sandwich a nice diagonal cut and took the first bite.
After trying this, I realized I had probably been making WRONG sandwiches my entire life. All the ingredients worked so well together and every bite was packed with flavor and substance. The basil aioli really did wonders for the bread, adding a really satisfying herbal flavor to the whole thing. The vinaigrette also gave the sandwich a nice acidity so it didn’t feel too heavy. All in all I would say it was a success and I would highly recommend people to give it a try!
It probably took me about 20 minutes to make the sandwich so not too bad! It would definitely be quicker if you prepared the spices ahead of time (which you certainly could)!
Have you tried this sandwich recipe yet? Let me know what you think!
I also made a TikTok of this entire process in case you’re more of a video person:
