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How to Make a Caprese Sandwich

How to Make a Caprese Sandwich

Last Updated on 10th March 2022 by

A caprese sandwich tends to be a very vegetable heavy sandwich, with lots of ingredients that make for a very thick sandwich. When you’re making a caprese sandwich, make sure you use a thick bread that can handle all of the fillings.

If you use a lighter bread like sliced white bread, it won’t be hardy enough to hold the vast number of the toppings.

Pesto is one of the key ingredients here, and you want to make sure you’re using a good quality pesto, either one you make yourself or something decent you bought from the grocery.

You can also add a lot more ingredients to the sandwich than what I’m going to list for you. This is the kind of sandwich that can benefit from variety, versatility, and creativity. Feel free to add whatever other veggies you want to it.

How to Make Caprese Sandwich

So, let’s start with thick bread that is able to bear the load of the caprese sandwich ingredients, and then make sure you have plenty of fresh ingredients.

It uses a balsamic glaze, and you can make that yourself or buy it already made up. Here’s the ingredient list and how to put this sandwich together:

Ingredients:

  • Bread (sourdough, Italian, or French bread work best)
  • Sliced Roma tomatoes
  • Pesto
  • Sliced mozzarella cheese
  • Butter
  • Arugula
  • Balsamic glaze (made from honey and balsamic vinegar)

Directions:

  1. (Optional) To make the balsamic glaze, simmer vinegar and honey together on medium heat, and then set aside to cool once it has warmed but not boiled. Allow it to cook until about half of it has evaporated out.
  2. Spread pesto on both of your bread pieces.
  3. Add the arugula, tomatoes, cheese, and basil on next. Feel free to season with salt and pepper at this stage, if you like.
  4. Then, drizzle some of the balsamic glaze over the toppings and place the top piece of bread on the sandwich. 

What you have now is a pretty basic caprese sandwich, and there are some variations you can try to make it a little bit different or to modify it to fit your tastes. I’m going to share a couple variations with you below.

How to Make Panera Modern Caprese Sandwich

You can take your finished caprese sandwich and then heat it on a grill to get a sandwich that’s practically identical to the Panera version. You would typically use sourdough bread for this version.

If you don’t want to grill or you don’t have a grill available, you can use a skillet instead. Before you cook up your sandwich over the fire, you’ll want to butter it on each side.

Once you grill or stove has heated up, put the buttered sandwich in there and cook on both sides until it takes on a golden brown color on the outside. Then, it’s ready to serve.

You may prefer to heat the bread first, grilling that before you put in your ingredients. It will probably be easier to work with, so you can go that route if you prefer. If you are cooking the bread with everything in it, just be careful as you flip it over, as it’s easy to lose some of the ingredients.

However, you don’t have to worry about all of your ingredients warming up too much, as you only be cooking it for about a minute on each side.

Keep the heat low so that only the bread cooks and your ingredients don’t, or just make things simple and cook the bread on its own and then add your fillings.

How to Make Starbucks Chicken Caprese Sandwich

If you’re interested in making your caprese sandwich taste like Starbucks’ own chicken caprese version, then you’ll want to use grilled chicken. The chicken can be dry fried in a nonstick skillet on the stove, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Use thin slices of chicken breast meat for the sandwich.

The chicken can cook on the grill or in a skillet. You want to cook for about 5 to 6 minutes each side using a medium high heat. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and you can check it by using an instant read thermometer and inserting it into the thickest part of the chicken meat.

Once it’s cooked, allow the meat to rest separately on a plate for about 5 minutes before adding it to the sandwich. This gives the juices time to seep into the chicken and keeps them from oozing out and taking a lot of flavor with them.

Your sourdough bread should be lightly toasted, and you can do that on a grill for more authentic look and texture or just use your toaster. Make sure you don’t overcook the toast though, it should be only lightly grilled or toasted.

Add mayo to the sandwich as well as basil, and after you add your cheese on, grill the sandwich in a skillet on the stovetop or on the grill for just a minute or two so that the cheese melts.

How to Make Caprese Sandwich with Avocado

Instead of pesto, you may want to use avocado in your caprese sandwich. If you’re using avocado slices, then pesto or mayonnaise can be used as a dressing for the sandwich.

When slicing the avocado, it’s best to remove the skin and create thin slices that fit well into your sandwich. Make sure you choose a ripe avocado that’s not overly soft.

If you want to make the avocado into a paste, mix it with garlic powder and salt, with perhaps a spritz of lime juice for added flavor. For a very creamy avocado paste, add in Greek yogurt and mix it all together.

You could also buy avocado paste already pre-made in the grocery, but it’ll be much fresher if you make it yourself by using fresh avocado.

So, there you have a few options for caprese sandwiches, and you can feel free to experiment and make it just the way you like it.

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I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!

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