Try This! Perk Up Sandwiches with Seasoned Salt

We couldn't face the idea of yet another sandwich for lunch the other day, yet no other brilliant ideas were forthcoming and we didn't want to spend the money to eat out. Desperately scanning our kitchen for something, anything, to add variety, our eye fell on a jar of seasoned salt...

We smeared both sides of the bread with a bit of mustard and mayo so the salt would have something to stick to and then sprinkled a little pinch on top. We made the rest of our sandwich as usual, packed it away for later, and forgot about it.

We weren't sure how big of a taste difference the salt would actually make, so it was a complete surprise when we took a bite and our mediocre sandwich had a whole new personality!

The flavor of the seasonings (in this case a smoked paprika) was subtle, but definitely present in every bite. We loved the unexpected hits of pure salt, and what's more, the salt made the sandwich slightly crunchy.

What's that phrase? Desperation is the mother of invention? That was definitely the case with our salted sandwich. Give it a try!

(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)

Comments (7)

An interesting idea. I don't really make sandwiches, but will keep it in mind in case I do.

posted by Kalinda on February 27th 2009 at 1:54pm
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ive recently been putting freshly ground garlic, pepper, and sea salt on sandwiches (and well, almost anything that needs a bit of a kick) with similarly great results. Just combine whole pepper, sea salt crystals, and dehydrated garlic into a pepper mill. You can also buy mixtures of this at the store but usually they are heavy on the salt so I made my own blend. Adds a great kick to a a basic turkey sandwich and many other things; pasta, soup, meat, rice, bread etc.

If you dont have spread or other wet condiment on on your sandwich i have found a very quick shot of cooking spray (usually applied for toasting in my case anyway) will make the spices stick well to dry sandwich bread.

posted by adamwa on February 27th 2009 at 1:56pm
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Rather than use seasoned salt, why not just seasonings? Last summer I got very into sprinkling Old Bay on the mayo&mustard of my seitan & veggie sandwiches. Delish.

posted by surplusj on February 27th 2009 at 2:03pm
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I do this with my grilled cheese.

posted by meleyna on February 27th 2009 at 2:20pm
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Thinly sliced green onions perk up almost any sandwich, too.

posted by renata on February 27th 2009 at 3:31pm
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I would suggest just using the spices rather than seasoned salt. Your mayo and mustard likely already contain salt, not to mention whatever other fillings you might add to your sandwich.... so if you add more salt, you may get quite an unhealthy quantity of sodium. People tend to be obsessing about transfats or organic/local of late, but sodium content is also an important part of the healthy eating puzzle too.

posted by angorian on February 27th 2009 at 5:31pm
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this might sound kind of strange, but i recently slipped a little tomato paste on my grilled cheese and it was really really good. i have the double strength kind in a tube so it's thick but it added a lot of flavor and is much better than watery, out of season tomatoes! i'm betting it would be tasty on other kinds of sandwiches too.

posted by ellenp1214 on February 27th 2009 at 8:58pm
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