In Praise of the Thanksgiving Sandwich

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My father, the wisest and kindest man on the planet,1 believes that any food worth eating can be turned into a sandwich. I take this parental proverb to heart every Thanksgiving. For as long as I can remember, I’ve eaten my Thanksgiving dinner in sandwich form.

A Thanksgiving dinner sandwich isn’t just delicious. It’s transcendent. In fact, it’s beyond transcendent. How would you describe it, Homer?

If you’re ready to graduate from ordinary Thanksgiving dinner to super-spectacular-sandwich Thanksgiving dinner, here are some pointers:

  • King’s Hawaiian rolls are the best ones to use.2 If you can’t find King’s Hawaiian rolls, opt for small, soft rolls. Something like ciabatta is way too hard.
  • Use just one or two pieces of turkey so you have plenty of room for everything else.
  • Put the gravy directly on top of the turkey to improve your sandwich’s structural integrity.
  • Go light on the mashed potatoes since they’re just going to ooze out the sides.
  • You can’t have enough dressing3, 4 or cranberry sauce. Honestly. Put on more than you think you need.
  • Skip the green bean casserole. Nothing good ever comes from putting anything green on a sandwich.

Once you have a Thanksgiving dinner sandwich, you’ll never go back to forks and knives again. Enjoy!

Let’s Give Thanks for Footnotes!
  1. I wasn’t paid to write this. ↩︎
  2. I wasn’t paid to write this. ↩︎
  3. The best dressing in the world is made by the Complimentary Spouse.4 He makes homemade cornbread and biscuit dressing — he even makes the cornbread and biscuits from scratch, using a recipe passed down from his mom and grandmother! ↩︎
  4. I always called it stuffing, but Britt insists it’s dressing. It’s a Northern v. Southern thing. Since he makes it, I’ll defer to him. ↩︎