How to make the ultimate club sandwich – A double decker toasted sandwich with crispy bacon, succulent chicken, lettuce, tomato and delicious homemade mayonnaise.
I’ve decided that in future I really should check the weather forecast before I decide what I’m going to post. It’s currently 27ºC outside (which I know isn’t high compared to some places but it definitely feels hot to me) and all I can think about is ice cream. However, at the weekend when I planned out this post and took the pictures it wasn’t nearly as warm and this ultimate club sandwich was the perfect indulgent lunch. If all you’re in the mood for is a lolly or ice cold drink then make sure you bookmark/pin this for when the weather changes and you need an amazing sandwich to cheer you up 🙂
What makes the perfect club sandwich?
A traditional club sandwich consists of toasted bread, filled with mayonnaise, chicken breast, bacon, lettuce and tomato. There’s usually an extra slice of toast in the middle to make it double-decker (and therefore a bit more fancy and indulgent).
- You must use toast – it’s just not the same with bread.
- Don’t bother with fancy, crusty bread – in my opinion the soft, supermarket bread (thick sliced) works best. Eating a triple decker sandwich can be tricky enough (especially for someone dainty like me), crusty bread presents an unnecessary additional challenge. Also, the fact that the bread is toasted gives it a lovely crunchy texture, hard crusts are just unnecessary.
- Just bacon, chicken, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise – I’ve see people trying to sneak all sort of other bits and pieces in before like cheese or a fried egg. Not for me.
- It must be served warm – Freshly made toast and hot chicken and bacon (no need to heat the lettuce though!).
- Use large pieces of chicken and bacon – otherwise it’ll end up falling out into your lap rather than staying in your sandwich where it should be.
- Use homemade mayonnaise – because it just tastes nicer.
I know some people have an opinion about how to make up each of the layers and which should go where. In my opinion go for whatever you think looks prettiest. I choose to put the chicken and lettuce on one layer and the bacon and tomato on the other, but that’s just me.
What do you think?
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The Ultimate Club Sandwich
INGREDIENTS
- 3 slices thick sliced white bread
- 3 rashers unsmoked streaky bacon
- 3 chicken breast mini fillets - or half a chicken breast cut into strips
- 1 tomato - I use vine tomatoes as I find they are juicier and have more flavour
- 2 lettuce leaves - I use round lettuce
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise - I prefer to make my own but you can also use ready made.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make your mayonnaise (if you're not using ready-made)
- Cook your chicken and bacon - I like to bake mine at 220ºC/200ºC for about 15 minutes until the bacon is crisp and the chicken is thoroughly cooked. The cooking time for the chicken will vary according to how thick the pieces are. If you're oven cooking, check it after 10 minutes and put if back in for longer until it is piping hot all the way through. You can also grill or fry the chicken and bacon if you prefer.
- Toast your bread.
- Slice the tomato.
- Build your sandwich - Spread mayonnaise on a slice of toast, add two of your fillings (I go for the chicken and lettuce), add another slice of toast, spread with mayonnaise, add the remaining fillings, top with the final slice of toast.
- Enjoy!
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
- Scrap the double decker and only use two slices of toast.
- Cut down on the amount of chicken and bacon (if you switch to a single decker then you won’t need as much meat to fill it).
- Use ready-made low fat mayonnaise
If you’d like to know the estimated nutritional information making one of these adjustments (or similar) then let me know in the comments and I’ll work it out for you.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Dairy-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Lupin-Free
Patricia Mulroy says
Hi Charlotte. Wonder if you could add porridge oats to your calculator. Enjoying looking through your fab recipes and looking forward to recreating. Thank you
Rachael Huntley says
Loved your club sandwich so much I made my own one! It caused so much debate about what a proper club sandwich consists of in my house I ended up writing my own post about it! http://www.diaryofasaucepot.com/2015/07/the-ulimate-club-sandwich-debate.html
Charlotte Oates says
I loved your post. I think me and my husband still disagree a bit. He’d choose to put a fried egg in, although accepts it’s not as traditional.
Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes says
Ooo yes please! This sandwich looks amazing 🙂 I could eat one right about now actually! #CookBlogShare
Charlotte Oates says
It’s nearly dinner time, why not! 🙂
Angela at Daysinbed says
Now that looks tasty! I’d love to try making a huge club sandwich at home! ‘m sure its something my daughter and hubby would like too!
Angela xx
Charlotte Oates says
You definitely should try it – it’s very yummy!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oh wow! This looks so good! I would love one for my lunch please 🙂 x #CookBlogShare
Charlotte Oates says
Of course, let me know your address and I’ll send it over! 🙂
Dave says
Sorry sorry! That truly wasn’t my plan. I’m deffo not militant about meat, very much a freedom of choice supporter! As long as meat doesn’t get wasted, that’s so wrong…
Charlotte Oates says
Only joking 🙂
Dave says
Me too! Pig murderer!! 😉
Dave says
It looks awesome. There aren’t many times that I truly miss eating meat, but this is one of them. Bacon in sandwiches was the very last meat that I gave up – this recipe is proof of why!
Charlotte Oates says
Go on. Eat one. Surely one tiny (and delicious) bacon sandwich wouldn’t hurt 🙂
Dave says
Haha you’re right and very tempting…but it’s not me I’m worried about hurting! It really does look good though…
Charlotte Oates says
Now you’ve made me feel bad
Fionnuala says
Lucky you with only 27°C. It was 36°C here yesterday and set to get hotter as the week goes on!
I love that you have made this with homemade mayo. A properly made Club Sandwich is one of my favourite pub / cafe lunches.
Charlotte Oates says
Urgh. I get grumpy with anything over 25 degrees! (or under 20 – I have a very small happy weather range).
I’m not a huge fan of ready made mayo but I can eat spoonfuls of the homemade stuff by itself (then I remember how many calories are in it and stop myself).