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.
“Why not just throw it between two pieces of bread and make it a sandwich?” This is not only what I said out loud to myself while trying to make the leftovers in my fridge more appealing, but also what Salvatore Lupo, Sicilian immigrant, deli owner, and creator of the famous muffaletta sandwich, reportedly said over a century ago.
According to our article explaining the muffaletta, this robust sandwich—a New Orleans institution—has three major components: olive salad, provolone, and cold cuts. In terms of meat, it’s a bit of a choose-your-own adventure situation, as long as you include a coarse-ground cured sausage (like salami or sopressa), cured whole cuts (like prosciutto or capicola), and emulsified sausage (like mortadella or bologna). If getting yourself to the Big Easy is actually big hard, don’t fret! We’re here to direct your toward the best ingredients to make the ultimate muffaletta in the comfort of your own home.
- Boscoli Family Olive Salad
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Tangy and chunky—but still spreadable—this store bought olive salad is the secret weapon to making the best muffaletta at home. It includes chopped green and black olives, along with celery, peppers, carrots, cauliflower, and capers. The olive oil in which everything marinates is absolutely delicious, and will soak into the bread just enough. You cannot have a muffaletta without olive salad. And this is the best muffaletta olive salad that’s available outside of New Orleans.
Read the full ranking of the best muffaletta olive salad
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Applegate Uncured Genoa Salami
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For the coarse-ground-cured-sausage portion of your at-home muffaletta, we recommend Applegate Genoa salami. It’s flavorful, tender, and it comes so thinly sliced that it practically melts in your mouth. The last thing you want when you’re making a muffaletta at home is salami so tough to bite into that your whole sandwich pulls apart as you eat. If you want big flavor and also want to avoid winding up with a lap full of meat and olive salad, Applegate makes the best salami for a muffaletta.
Read the full ranking of the best salami
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Appleton Dry Cured Ham Prosciutto
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This prosciutto is fatty and sweet, with an almost fruity flavor that’s a perfect complement to the saltier meats on your at-home muffaletta. Plus, it’s from Aldi, so it’s pretty affordable as prosciutto goes—no need to skimp. We’re making a muffaletta that would impress any native New Orleanian.
Read the full ranking of the best prosciutto
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- Boar’s Head Original German Recipe Bologna
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https://sporked.com/article/best-american-cheese/The third and final meat in our maxed-out muffaletta: bologna. Specifically, Boar’s Head Original German Recipe bologna. This is not the bologna of your childhood, which, admittedly, is good in its own right—this is so much more. It’s perfectly spiced and has a nuanced flavor that goes beyond Oscar Mayer’s saltiness. And since it’s a fresh-sliced deli meat, you can decide whether to get paper-thin slices or big fat ones to make an extra filling muffaletta. When it comes to bologna, this is the best of the wurst, whether its in a muffaletta or one white bread with some American cheese.
Read the full ranking of the best bologna
Credit: Merc / Ralphs
- Boar’s Head Deli Picante Provolone
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There’s a lot going on in this sandwich. Rich and oily olive salad soaking into everything it touches. A mountain of salty, fatty deli meats. And now cheese—delicious, dairy-forward, slightly sharp provolone cheese. Boar’s Head makes the perfect prov to balance out all the meaty, tangy flavors in your ultimate muffaletta. Make sure to order more than you need for your sandwiches—this is also the perfect fridge cheese to snack on in front of the open fridge door.
Read the full ranking of the best provolone cheese here!
Credit: Merc / Pavilions
