If there’s a club sandwich on the menu, I will never not order it…or at the very least, never not consider ordering it. I’ll usually try to convince myself that getting the club is the best option. There’s just something so amazing about a sandwich with three slices of bread, just loaded with bacon, roasted turkey, ham, mayo and of course finished with lettuce and tomato because we do make healthy choices in life. Turkey clubs remind me of being a child and going to the local diner and feeling like an adult when the massive sandwich with a big mountain of fries was placed in front of me. Don’t even get me started with the sword toothpicks because let’s be honest, that was one of the main reasons why I loved ordering them. What kid (or certain adults) wouldn’t love a tiny plastic sword holding your food in place?! It’s a dream come true. These Turkey Club Sandwiches are also a dream come true, and now there’s no need to venture out to your local diner to get subpar food. I know it might seem like a turkey club is so simple to make and how could you really mess it up? I’m here to tell you that you can most definitely take some wrong turns, but luckily you’ll be good to go from now on.
Let’s start by roasting a turkey breast. Create a “roasting rack” on a small baking sheet by cutting up an onion, lemon and a carrot. Then scatter in an even layer. Drizzle a bone-in turkey breast with olive oil and then rub with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, granulated onion, chopped garlic, dried thyme, and paprika. Place the turkey breast on the veggie rack and top with fresh thyme and rosemary. Roast in a 350 degree F oven until it reaches 365 degrees F in the thickest part. It should take about 1 hour, but keep checking it every 15 minutes after that until it’s done. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing.
While the turkey breast roasts, you can cook the bacon in the oven as well. Lay the slices in an even layer and bake until crispy. This is much easier than cooking the bacon in a skillet, but you can do that if you’d like.
**Tip: Lining the baking sheet with foil will make clean up and disposing of the bacon grease even easier!**
Ideally this would be perfect for all of those Thanksgiving turkey leftovers you have lying around, but just in case you don’t have leftover turkey this year (or it’s not Thanksgiving while you’re reading this) then I’ve included a way to roast your own turkey breast!
Some important factors to keep in mind, in order to make these club sandwiches as delicious as possible: you need country white bread. It’s a most. Clubs aren’t for wheat bread. Mayo is also very important. So make sure you use good quality mayo. Splurge! The ingredients are few and far between and so you want them to be high quality.
Each club should be comprised of 3 slices of toasted white bread, each one slathered with mayo (with the center slice being mayo’d on both sides. Assemble each sandwich in this order:
Toasted bread
Mayo
Lettuce
Black Forest Ham
Roasted Turkey
Bacon
Mayo’d Center Bread
Lettuce
Black Forest Ham
Roasted Turkey
Bacon
Tomato Slices
Mayo
Bread
Carefully cut each triple decker sandwich into quarters and skewer each piece with long picks to keep them in place. When I was little, my favorite part about club sandwiches were the sword toothpicks! I found these on Amazon, and are very important when making club sandwiches at home. Okay, maybe not that important, but still fun!
I can’t have a sandwich without chips, and so naturally I like to serve these clubs with kettle chips, but fries or tater tots would be great as well, especially if you want that authentic diner experience at home.
**Tip: Just warm up some frozen fries or tots in the oven until crispy because who has the time to make homemade fries or tots when you’ve just made homemade clubs!**
If you want to spruce these clubs even more (although not traditional) you could add cheese or avocado to the mix and that would be just as tasty. I don’t really care what you add or don’t add, just as long as you make the sandwiches and make all of your/my childhood dreams come true.
The Classics: Turkey Club Sandwiches
Ingredients
Turkey:
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 1 medium carrot cut into chunks
- 1 small lemon quartered
- 1 5 to 7 pound bone-in turkey breast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Sandwiches:
- 16 slices bacon
- 12 slices white bread toasted
- 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 8 slices black forest ham
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Scatter the onion, carrot and lemon pieces on a small baking sheet, set aside.
- Drizzle the oil over the turkey breast and then season with salt, pepper, garlic, onion, paprika, dried thyme and chopped garlic, rubbing the spices to coat the breast evenly. Place on top of the vegetables on the baking sheet and then top with the fresh herbs. Place the pan in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Roast for 1 hour, cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Start checking after 1 hour of roasting and continue checking every 10 to 15 minutes until the breast is cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for about 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.
- Place the bacon on a baking sheet, in a single layer. You might need two baking sheets to fit it all. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven until crispy, about 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how thick your bacon is. Transfer the bacon onto a plate lined with paper towels.
- To assemble the sandwiches, spread mayo on one slice of toasted bread. Top with a piece of lettuce, a slice of ham, a few slices of carved roasted turkey and 3 half slices of bacon. Next, slather both sides of another piece of toasted bread and place on top of the bacon. Lay another slice of lettuce, 2 slices of tomato, more slices of turkey, another slice of ham and 3 more half slices of bacon. Spread another slice of toasted bread with mayo and then place on top. Cut into quarters and skewer each quarter with a long toothpick. Repeat three more times to make 4 large triple decker clubs. Serve right away. Enjoy!
