Subs, subs, and more subs – How to mass produce sandwiches for a crowd

My family loves subs. The kids, the adults, the animals….we’re all happy for gatherings because it’s almost guaranteed that we’ll have subs on at least once and nobody’s wallets will be broken in the process.

There are pictures from one of our dozens of gatherings in the last few years, but I don’t recall which. When I run across more pictures, I’ll update with some of the variations we’ve created. This set is pretty basic.

If you check a chain grocery store like Kroger’s, they’ll usually have these loaves of bread for about a dollar a piece. They’re gigantic but delicious.

Don’t slice them all the way through. You want to create a pocket for all the goodies instead of them slipping and sliding out.

Add your mayonnaise and Italian dressing to both top and bottom, but don’t overdo it. If you’re going to be eating soon, put the dressing first to cut down on some of the mess.  If these will be going in the fridge for a while, put the mayo first to create a barrier between the bread and dressing so the bread doesn’t get soggy.

A little goes a long way. You can see that I used half slices of one of the meats and the cheese doesn’t create a solid layer. There are enough toppings that you don’t need a huge amount of each.

Use fresh veggies, but don’t limit yourself to tomatoes and lettuce. Onions, avocados (replace the mayo with a layer of avocado to cut some calories/fat), cucumbers, and lots of veggies from your garden work awesome.

Notice that because the bread is so huge, there’s a cut down the middle first, so the pieces come out closer to square shape.

Also, at the far left of the picture, you can see that we put the whole subs right back in the plastic bags the bread came in. This keeps all the goodies inside and makes it a breeze to put in and out of the refrigerator if need be.

It’s also great to write across the label if you happen to have different subs. We sometimes have ones that are vegetarian or with extra dressing (or no dressing at all). No need in having to open them up to inspect the ingredients when you can just label it ahead of time and be on your way.

~Edit~ Here are a couple pictures from when we were getting ready to move. I put together 6 large sub sandwiches, stored them in the fridge, and pulled them out for various meals while we were packing, cleaning, and loading the trucks. Keep in mind that the sandwiches will hold up for a day or two (if they last that long, pfft), but you should leave the dressing/mayo off until time of serving then.

Also shared with Let’s Do Brunch linkup.