As the Mayor of Flavortown, Guy Fieri has plenty of ways to turn your average sandwich into a lunchtime staple.
In a previous interview with Business Insider, Fieri shared his top tips for home cooks looking to make restaurant-quality sandwiches in their own kitchens.
The celebrity chef said a good sandwich starts with a solid foundation of sturdy, flavorful bread and combines a wide array of textures and flavors to keep the taste buds hungry for more.
Inspired to upgrade my own basic lunches, I decided to put his sandwich tips to the test.
With Fieri’s tips in mind, I headed to the grocery store for very specific ingredients
Fieri mentioned using rolls or breads with a slightly sweet flavor to balance savory fillings, so I chose a simple potato bread.I also followed his advice when choosing the other ingredients for my sandwich
“I love the acid of giardiniera. I love the crunch of giardiniera,” Fieri told BI. “I like really crispy lettuce. I like heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced. I like sweet onions. I enjoy really good mustard.”
Per the chef’s recommendation, I grabbed a jar of giardiniera — a pickled assortment of jalapeños, cauliflower, and carrots.
I also found a picture-perfect heirloom tomato, fresh butter lettuce, and a red onion that I planned to quick pickle. For the protein, I opted for basic plant-based “turkey” slices.
I already had some brown mustard and cheese at home, but I also picked up the ingredients for Fieri’s famous donkey sauce, including roasted garlic, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
Before anything else, I roasted the garlic for the donkey sauce and pickled the red onion
Despite Fieri’s advice to add giardiniera to my dish, I was skeptical because I’m not a big fan of carrots or cauliflower. However, I do love pickled onions, so I was excited to see whether that addition would elevate my sandwich.
For the pickling, I followed this simple recipe from The Kitchn, dicing one red onion into small pieces and boiling water in my kettle.
I filled a sealable glass jar with salt, sugar, and white vinegar and added a splash of boiling water to dissolve the mix, pouring the rest over the onions in a strainer.
I then transferred the onions to the glass jar and sealed it, leaving it at room temperature for 30 minutes before putting it in the fridge.
Roasting the garlic took the longest, as it requires baking an oiled head of the ingredient in foil for about 45 minutes. But once I got that out of the way, the donkey sauce came together in no time and made a generous amount.
Once the prep work was out of the way, I assembled my sandwich
I placed two slices of bread in the toaster oven because, according to Fieri, “we gotta toast it” for a good sandwich — and I wholeheartedly agree.
In the meantime, I cut thin slices of heirloom tomato, rinsed and dried my lettuce, and laid out my meat alternative, cheese, sauces, and pickled ingredients.
When I pulled the warm bread out, I quickly spread brown mustard on one slice and donkey sauce on the other. I added the tomato and pickled ingredients, then the cheese, lettuce, and “turkey.”
This meal was definitely shaping up to be much heftier than my typical lunchtime sandwich, which usually just has some hummus, cucumbers, tomato, lettuce, and maybe cheese and “turkey.”
Finally, I cut the bread diagonally and took a bite.
Fieri said he loves juxtaposition, and this sandwich delivers that in spades
The chef is a self-proclaimed “juxtaposition guy,” so it’s fitting that this sandwich had a lot of contrasting components.
I loved the variety of textures and temperatures, as the cold, crisp lettuce and slightly soft tomato paired wonderfully with the warm bread, crunchy veggies, and creamy sauce.
And for the most part, I enjoyed the many flavor profiles, from the savory “turkey” and cheese to the slightly sweet pickled onions and bread. I honestly could do without the giardiniera, but that wasn’t surprising since I don’t love carrots or cauliflower, especially on a sandwich.
However, with the two sauces, juicy tomato slices, and pickled toppings that carried some moisture, the sandwich quickly got messy and started dripping.
Fieri’s tips changed my mindset about making sandwiches
Overall, I loved this more playful and experimental approach to making a sandwich.
I rarely venture past the basics, but these tips made me realize how easy it is to elevate such a simple lunch by whipping up homemade sauces or adding pickled onions and jalapeños.
Instead of eating something basic, I found myself taking an easy trip to Flavortown.
This story was originally published on July 23, 2021, and most recently updated on March 12, 2026.
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