Here is the recipe for my viral muffuletta sandwich. The first time I posted it on TikTok (on an old account), it got over 2 million views. I remember everyone was begging for the recipe, and now that I have a blog, I'm happy to finally share it. I made a new video too!
If there is one sandwich that I could eat for the rest of my life it would be a muffuletta sandwich. I was first introduced to this in high school by one of my Italian friends. He actually made it for me and my twin brother's birthday once.
It is absolutely insane in terms of flavors and textures. You have layers of different deli meats (some spicy, some not), creamy provolone cheese, and the most delicious olive tapenade, all sandwiched in a soft and fluffy loaf. Give it a try and I guarantee it will become one of your favorite sandwiches!
Important Ingredients
Bread: Any large loaf of bread will work. I used a round sourdough loaf. One thing I highly recommend is to rip out some of the bread from the center. An entire loaf has A LOT of bread, so if you don't rip it out, the sandwich tastes a bit too "bready." I used a knife to cut it out, but you can just pull it out with your fingers.
Deli meats: This is totally up to you, but I like to have at least one spicy meat and at least 3 different meats. I have found that the variety pack from Costco is really good for this. Options I typically use are salami, capicola, mortadella, and soppressata.
Olive tapenade: The most important things are the quality of the olives and the freshness of the parsley. Muffalettas can be dry so I like to add a good amount of olive oil here. Another thing I recommend is either including roasted red peppers or spicy pickled peppers for acidity.
Provolone cheese: This is the absolute best cheese you can use in a muffuletta. Period. I get mine from Costco in a big pack.
Should I press my muffuletta?
When I first posted my video, a lot of people asked why I pressed the muffuletta underneath 3 books and refrigerated it overnight. Honestly, this is just the technique that my friend taught me. I didn't even think not to do it at the time.
After all the questions, I did end up testing it without pressing it, and my honest opinion is that pressing it tastes way better. I don't know exactly why but it just tastes better when everything is all compressed together tightly. Resting the sandwich overnight also allows the bread to soak up the flavors from the olive tapenade.
My VIRAL muffuletta sandwich
Ingredients
Olive tapenade
- ¾ cup pitted olives (I'm using a mix of kalamata and green olives)
- ½ cup peperoncini (spicy pickles) (stems removed and seeds shaken out)
- ¼ cup chopped roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
The rest of the sandwich
- 1 loaf French or Italian bread
- assorted Italian deli meats (I get the variety pack from Costco, and I get at least one spicy one)
- provolone cheese
Instructions
- In a food processor, add the olives, pickles, roasted red peppers, parsley, capers, and garlic. Pulse until combined but still very chunky. Stir in the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and black pepper.
- Cut the loaf of bread in half. Use your fingers to pull out some of the bread from the inside of both halves- not a lot, just about ½ an inch.
- Spread the olive tapenade to both halves of the bread. Then layer with deli meats and cheese. I typically do 3 layers of meat and 2 layers of cheese (I did way more in the video for entertainment purposes but it was actually too meaty so I recommend less).
- Combine the sandwich halves.
- For the best taste, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours with 3 heavy books on top. This will compress the sandwich and make it taste better.
Leave a Reply