Our Guide to Making the Ultimate Hot Brown Sandwich

It’s Uncle Sam(wich) week here at Sporked! All week long, we’re celebrating Independence Day by highlighting the best regional sandwiches and all the ingredients you need to make them at home. For more tasty sandwich fixins, see the full collection of rankings, product recommendations, and more.

Picture it: 1920s Louisville, Kentucky. The Brown Hotel. You’re dancing up a sweat even though it’s a chilly winter night. You need fuel to keep the party going, and what do you find on the plate before you? An open-faced work of art that would come to be known as the hot brown sandwich.

According to legend (there’s no official record of the sandwich’s origin), the hot brown sandwich was created by Fred Schmidt, head chef at the Brown Hotel, which was known to host raucous dinner dances at the height of the Prohibition era. Schmidt would typically cook up ham and eggs to satisfy hungry revelers, but one night he went off script and whipped together a sandwich with the ingredients he had on hand: sliced turkey, thick cut bacon, a cheesy Mornay sauce, and charred slices of fresh tomato, all atop a thick slice of white bread. It’s a sandwich so good that people still flock to the Brown Hotel for a taste of the genuine article, but if you won’t be in Louisville anytime soon, don’t worry. We rounded up everything you need to make this open-faced masterpiece in your very own kitchen—dancing optional but highly recommended.

Dietz & Watson Sliced Black Forest Smoked Turkey Breast

The Turkey

If you want a good hot brown at home, great turkey is the foundation. A hot brown doesn’t have to be made with smoked turkey, but if you want that extra layer of flavor, opt for this Dietz & Watson smoked turkey breast. Its smoke is pleasant, not overpowering. The turkey itself doesn’t taste processed and it’s not soaking wet—why is so much packaged deli turkey so dang wet? The flavor of this turkey is going to work really nicely with the piquant bite of the cheddar cheese sauce, but we’ll get to that in a sec…

Read the full ranking of the best deli turkey

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

The (Other) Turkey

Hillshire Farm Premium Carved Oven Roasted Turkey Breast.

If you want turkey that looks and tastes more like turkey that was carved straight off the bird, go with Hillshire Farm Premium Carved Oven Roasted Turkey Breast. You get meaty, moist, and flavorful slabs of turkey without having to host Thanksgiving dinner first. If you’re looking for the best turkey for a hot brown, this is the heartier option.

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

wright bacon review

The Bacon

Wright Hickory Smoked Bacon

Let’s round out our stack o’meat with some really, really good bacon. A hot brown calls for thick cut bacon arranged in an X shape atop the sandwich (sauce and all). Wright Hickory Smoked Bacon is our pick for your at-home hot browns. Visually, these are hearty, thick-cut pieces of bacon that look like they were tailor made to adorn comfort food. Of course, this bacon’s appeal doesn’t stop at looks—it’s smoky, savory, and bursting with pleasantly fatty flavor. We tried a lot of bacon to find the best bacon, and when it comes to the best thick cut bacon, you can’t do better than Wright.

Read the full ranking of the best bacon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

best cheddar cheese

The Cheese (Sauce)

Old Croc Sharp Cheddar

Making your own cheese sauce for a sandwich is ambitious, to say the least. But before you skip this step, we can assure you that it’s actually pretty easy (just whisk together some milk and flour! melt in cheese! voila!), and if you make your Mornay with this Old Croc cheddar, it’s going to be delicious. Many hot brown recipes call for a white cheddar for a more American-esque flavor, and while this is Australian cheddar, it’s both the best white cheddar we tried in our cheddar cheese taste test and the best cheddar period. It is sharp but not bitter and it’s full of those little crystals you find in well-aged cheese. Old Croc cheddar is plenty flavorful on its own, but if you want your hot brown to have additional nutty funk, pick a cheese from our best parm ranking to add to the mix.

Read the full ranking of the best cheddar cheese

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

best white bread

The Bread

Nature’s Own Perfectly Crafted Thick Sliced White Bread

A hot brown calls for white bread. Not rye or wheat or fancy brioche—just good ol’ fashioned white bread. A lot of brands will get lost in the sauce (literally) in this application, but Nature’s Own thick sliced white—the best white bread in two separate Sporked taste tests—is perfect for the job. It’s soft and subtle, but still thick and sturdy enough to support this beast of a sandwich, in all its beautiful, Kentuckian glory.

Read the full ranking of the best white bread

Rating:

10/10

Sporks


About the Author

Madison Ramirez

Madison Ramirez is an LA-based writer who struggles with food getting cold on her while she’s too busy rambling about how its texture compliments its taste. Whether it’s a gourmet meal with the most tender steak known to man, or a pepperoni and cheese Hot Pocket, she has almost too many thoughts and opinions on it all.

Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!

Your thoughts.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *