31 Super Bowl Sandwiches to Feed a Crowd

Go beyond dips, chips, and Buffalo wings with these party-ready sandwiches.

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Your Super Bowl guests probably won't complain if you feed them an assortment of couch-friendly finger foods, creamy dips, and flavorful chicken wings. But the game is on at dinnertime, so you might want to consider serving something more substantial. Sandwiches and burgers are the way to go—they're crowd-pleasing, filling, and still pretty conducive to being eaten in front of the TV. We've rounded up 31 of our favorite game-day sandwiches for you to choose from, with both full-sized sandwiches, like smashed burgers and Cubans, and party-sized behemoths, like a chicken parm that will serve a half-dozen people.

Burgers

Ultra-Smashed Cheeseburgers

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Any sports bar is going to have burgers on the menu, so why not recreate the experience at home? But this burger, with its two crispy, well-browned patties sandwiching gooey American cheese, is better than anything you'll find at most bars. It's also not too filling, so your guests will still have room for snacks.

List Link:Get the recipe for Ultra-Smashed Cheeseburgers

Smashed Reuben Burgers

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Our smashed burger technique can be served with more than just American cheese. Here we use it to make a Reuben-inspired hybrid burger. That means beef sprinkled with coriander seeds for a little corned-beef flavor, sauerkraut cooked onto the patties like onions on a slider, and, of course, the classic rye bread, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing.

List Link:Get the recipe for Smashed Reuben Burgers

Cemita Burger With Refried Beans, Chipotle Mayo, Avocado, and Oaxacan Cheese

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

On the other end of the spectrum from our ultra-smashed burger is this hefty half-pound patty. We serve it like a classic Mexican cemita, with queso Oaxaca, avocado, lettuce, and refried beans piled onto a cemita bun. To nail the flavor of a real cemita try to find papalo—cilantro is a fine substitute, but it won't be the same.

List Link:Get the recipe for Cemita Burger With Refried Beans, Chipotle Mayo, Avocado, and Oaxacan Cheese

Mini Pineapple-Teriyaki-Glazed Salmon Burgers With Avocado

<p>Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg</p>

Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg

Burgers don't have to be made of beef. For something different, try these mini teriyaki burgers made with salmon. We top the burgers with sweet caramelized pineapple and lightly mashed avocado, plus peppery watercress for balance. Avoid store-bought teriyaki sauce—making it at home is easy and the results are much better.

List Link:Get the recipe for Mini Pineapple-Teriyaki-Glazed Salmon Burgers With Avocado

Salmon Burgers With Rémoulade and Fennel Slaw

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

All too often, salmon burgers are dry, pale, and underwhelming but not these. Tender and juicy with a crunchy exterior, our favorite salmon burgers are medium-rare and served on toasted brioche buns with a generous spread of creamy rémoulade. Topped with a small mountain of fennel and radicchio slaw, these burgers are at once rich, comforting, and fresh.

List Link:Get the recipe for Salmon Burgers With Rémoulade and Fennel Slaw

Shooter's Sandwiches

Italian Sausage and Fontina Shooter's-Style Sandwich With Sun-Dried Tomato-Caper Relish

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

In theory, shooter's sandwiches are perfect for parties because you make them ahead of time and they serve lots of people. Unfortunately, traditional steak shooter's sandwiches are an exercise in mediocrity. Skip that and try this improved version made with sausage, Fontina cheese, and vegetables sautéed in the rendered sausage fat.

List Link:Get the recipe for Italian Sausage and Fontina Shooter's-Style Sandwich With Sun-Dried Tomato-Caper Relish

Roast Duck Shooter's-Style Sandwich With Pickled Carrots, Daikon, Cucumber, and Hoisin Sauce

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Moving even further from the traditional shooter's sandwich, this version takes its cues from a Chinese scallion pancake. We fill the bread with Peking duck, sweet hoisin sauce, fresh cucumbers, and pickled carrots and daikon. It's fine to use store-bought Peking duck, but do take a few minutes to make the pickles yourself.

List Link:Get the recipe for Roast Duck Shooter's-Style Sandwich With Pickled Carrots, Daikon, Cucumber, and Hoisin Sauce

Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Shooter's-Style Sandwich

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

If you've got any vegetarians coming over for the game, consider making this meatless shooter's sandwich. It's not short on flavor, thanks to roasted portobello mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, red peppers, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. Feel free to quick-caramelize the onions—with this much going on, there's not much point in taking the time to slow-cook them.

List Link:Get the recipe for Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Shooter's-Style Sandwich

Pork Carnitas and Oaxaca Cheese Shooter's-Style Sandwich With Spicy Refried Beans and Pickled Red Onions

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

A loaded torta is pretty messy to eat on the couch—turning it into a shooter's sandwich gives you the same flavors in a neater package. This sandwich is packed with homemade carnitas, refried beans, queso Oaxaca, pickled red onions, and jalapeños. Unlike most shooter's sandwiches, we recommend reheating this one before serving to melt the cheese.

List Link:Get the recipe for Pork Carnitas and Oaxaca Cheese Shooter's-Style Sandwich With Spicy Refried Beans and Pickled Red Onions

Muffuletta Shooter's-Style Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

The muffuletta is meant to sit before serving, so it's a natural choice to make shooter's style. We go traditional with the ingredients: mortadella, soppressata, capicola, provolone, and olive salad. Arranging the cold cuts in at least three thin layers and spreading olive salad on the top and bottom leads to the best flavor distribution.

List Link:Get the recipe for Muffuletta Shooter's-Style Sandwiches

More

Shrimp Rolls (New England-Style Seafood Sandwiches)

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Shrimp rolls are great for a crowd: They're relatively cheap, the filling can be made in advance, and assembling the sandwiches is as easy as can be. The key to a superlative shrimp filling is superlatively cooked shrimp, which we achieve by adding the shrimp to cold water in a pot and bringing the water slowly up to 170°F, and being careful not to let the water temperature go any higher. Of course, if you're feeling super-fancy, you could also opt to make lobster rolls. If you go that route, either Connecticut-style or Maine-style, you're going to want to cook the lobster sous vide.

List Link:Get the recipe for Shrimp Rolls (New England-Style Seafood Sandwiches)

Classic New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwich

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Of course, you could just skip the pressing and serve classic muffulettas. Even a traditional version can feed multiple people, and as I said, these sandwiches are actually designed to be made ahead of time. The most important part of a muffuletta is the olive salad—we make our own with mixed olives, giardiniera, roasted red peppers, parsley, and capers.

List Link:Get the recipe for Classic New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwich

Cuban Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga</p>

Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

This recipe takes some forethought, but if you're willing to roast a pork shoulder on Saturday, you can make incredible Cuban sandwiches for the game. Once the pork is cooked, all you need to do is sandwich it between slices of Cuban bread with Swiss cheese, honey ham, dill pickles, and yellow mustard and cook it all in a panini press. For extra flavor, go Tampa-style by adding Genoa salami.

List Link:Get the recipe for Cuban Sandwiches

Classic Reuben Sandwich (Corned Beef on Rye With Sauerkraut and Swiss)

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

We'd normally make Reuben sandwiches in a skillet, but if you're serving a crowd, that takes way too much time. Fortunately, we have a solution—if you toast the bread in the oven, top it with preheated beef and sauerkraut, and put it back into the oven to melt the cheese, you can make awesome Reubens much faster. Your guests will all be eating in the time it would have taken to make one sandwich on the stove.

List Link:Get the recipe for Classic Reuben Sandwich (Corned Beef on Rye With Sauerkraut and Swiss)

Party-Sized Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

The best chicken parm deserves a sandwich to match, so we go all out and put an entire batch onto a large, crusty ciabatta loaf with homemade red sauce and plenty of Parmesan to make a sandwich big enough to serve half a football team (or just a bunch of hungry fans).

List Link:Get the recipe for Party-Sized Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches

Italian-American Meatball Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Don't put away the red sauce—you'll need it to make these meatball sandwiches. Besides the sauce, the most important ingredient is a batch of our juicy meatballs. We make the sandwiches with soft Italian-style bread, grated Parmesan, and mozzarella. Go with sliced mozz instead of grated to get a more thorough coating of cheese.

List Link:Get the recipe for Italian-American Meatball Sandwiches

5-Ingredient Fried Chicken Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Fried chicken sandwiches might sound like too much effort for a Super Bowl party, and our ultimate fried chicken sandwiches do take some work. That's where this five-ingredient version steps in—it's much easier and at least 80 percent as delicious. Brining the chicken in pickle juice helps it retain moisture and adds flavor, while a dredge in buttermilk and self-rising flour gives the chicken a super-craggy crust.

List Link:Get the recipe for 5-Ingredient Fried Chicken Sandwiches

Pueblan-Style Cemita Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

An authentic Pueblan-style cemita starts with its namesake sesame-studded bun and the Mexican herb papalo. From there, add avocado, queso Oaxaca, jalapeño, and meat—cold cuts or boiled pig's feet are traditional, but we opt for a fried cutlet instead. If the sandwich feels unmanageably huge, try hollowing out the top bun slightly.

List Link:Get the recipe for Pueblan-Style Cemita Sandwiches

Roosevelt Avenue-Style Cemita Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

When the cemita made its way to New York City, it took on a life of its own. Unlike the Pueblan originals, these cemitas generally use griddled bread, taco-truck meats like al pastor and carne asada, and tons of toppings: avocado, lettuce, onion, tomato, refried beans, and mayo. This is still a cemita, though, so don't forget the papalo!

List Link:Get the recipe for Roosevelt Avenue-Style Cemita Sandwiches

Chorizo-Spiced Pulled Pork With Mexican Street Corn Slaw

<p>Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg</p>

Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg

This Mexican-barbecue fusion sandwich is pretty messy, but it's worth risking the cleanliness of your couch. It's made with pulled pork flavored like Mexican chorizo with paprika, ancho chile powder, salt, cumin, Mexican oregano, black pepper, cayenne, cinnamon, and cloves. For contrast, we top the pork with a bright, creamy, elote-inspired slaw made with corn, mayo, and cotija.

List Link:Get the recipe for Chorizo-Spiced Pulled Pork With Mexican Street Corn Slaw

Indian-Spiced Oven-Cooked Pulled Lamb Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Want another riff on the pulled pork sandwich? Make these pulled lamb sandwiches. The lamb is rubbed with a spice mixture made up of brown sugar, garam masala, paprika, turmeric, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper, and, once cooked, the meltingly tender lamb shreds get tossed with an aggressively seasoned barbecue sauce. The meat is great on its own, but the crunchy cabbage slaw is the secret star of the show.

List Link:Get the recipe for Indian-Spiced Oven-Cooked Pulled Lamb Sandwiches

Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This melt transforms the flavors of classic spinach and artichoke dip into a crisp, cheesy sandwich perfect for a big game-day party. You won't miss the chips and dips one bit once you bite into this crusty, golden-brown sandwich.

List Link:Get the recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Korean Beef Bulgogi Burritos

<p>Serious Eats / Emily and Matt Clifton</p>

Serious Eats / Emily and Matt Clifton

You'll thank us for stretching the definition of "sandwich" to include these beef bulgogi burritos. The flavorful wraps—stuffed full of soy sauce-marinated beef, kimchi, rice, and gochujang sour cream—are the perfect marriage of Korean and Mexican flavors and cooking techniques.

List Link:Get the recipe for Korean Beef Bulgogi Burritos

Grilled Blackened-Fish Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Grilled fish is just as flavorful as its fried counterpart and so much easier to prepare for a big crowd. Fillets of grouper, mahi-mahi, or another white-fleshed fish are coated in a paprika-based spice rub and then grilled until charred and tender. The fish is sandwiched with pieces of soft bread and topped with lettuce, tomato, and classic condiments like mayo, tartar sauce, or mayo.

List Link:Get the recipe for Grilled Blackened-Fish Sandwiches

Chacarero Chileno (Chilean Steak and Bean Sandwiches)

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Grilled beef, sliced tomatoes, and blanched green beans make for a surprisingly tasty and well-balanced sandwich. The charred beef and snappy beans offer contrasting textures, and a garlicky mayonnaise tops it all off.

List Link:Get the recipe for Chacarero Chileno (Chilean Steak and Bean Sandwiches)

Peruvian-Style Grilled-Chicken Sandwiches With Spicy Green Sauce

<p>Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt</p>

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Peruvian-style chicken—spice and vinegar rubbed, then grilled until slightly charred—is pretty perfect on its own. But paired with a creamy jalepeño sauce and squeezed between buns with mashed avocado, it's impossible to beat.

List Link:Get the recipe for Peruvian-Style Grilled-Chicken Sandwiches With Spicy Green Sauce

Vegan Cheesesteak With Yuba (Tofu Skin) and Mushrooms

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This meat- and cheese-free cheesesteak doesn't sacrifice a single bit of flavor. Thick sheets of yuba are smothered in an umami-loaded mushroom broth before they're tossed with caramelized onions and roasted mushrooms. The combination is packed into a crusty roll and doused with smooth, creamy vegan "cheese." Even the most carnivorous of your friends will be coming back to reload their plates at halftime.

List Link:Get the recipe for Vegan Cheesesteak With Yuba (Tofu Skin) and Mushrooms

Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This kimchi-brined fried chicken is the perfect pairing for all of your game-day drinking and snacking. The chicken marinates in a spicy-salty kimchi mixture before it is coated in a spicy crust and covered with a vinegary hot sauce. You can serve the fried chicken atop toasted potato buns, or go the extra mile and serve it on Stella's black sesame buttermilk biscuits.

List Link:Get the recipe for Kimchi-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich

Sheet-Pan Cuban Sandwiches

<p>Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg</p>

Serious Eats / Morgan Eisenberg

Cuban sandwiches are the perfect party meal. The only problem is that they often take quite some time to assemble—slow-roasting pork shoulder is no speedy process. This simplified version takes the stress out of sandwich-building and brings together the pressed sandwiches between two large sheet pans. Pork tenderloin cooks up quickly, and the big-batch technique renders plenty of sandwich slices for you and your friends.

List Link:Get the recipe for Sheet-Pan Cuban Sandwiches

Seafood Po' Boys, Three Ways

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Po' boys aren't the kind of sandwich you can throw together in 15 minutes—you'll have to cook your seafood—but they come together in less than an hour and are well worth your time. Here, we offer up three recipes, so you can choose whether you want your sandwich overflowing with crisp shrimp, juicy oysters, or tender white fish.

List Link:Seafood Po' Boys, Three Ways

Homemade Roman-Style Pizza Pockets (Trapizzini)

<p>Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik</p>

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Trapizzino is the perfect combination of Roman-style pizza bianca and a crusty sandwich roll. The fluffy pizza pockets are stuffed with any number of fillings, which you can let your guests choose for themselves. That means more options for them and less work for you. You can start off with classic toppings like meatballs and sautéed broccoli rabe, or stray from tradition and fill them with something like Texas-style chili.

List Link:Get the recipe for Homemade Roman-Style Pizza Pockets (Trapizzini)