Primanti Bros. Sandwich
Primanti Bros. sandwiches are a Pittsburgh classic. We talked about them last year in our post ‘Pittsburgh, in a Sandwich’ – as a refresher (and as you can see above), they make a nontraditional sandwich that is topped with French fries and coleslaw. If you’re a Pittsburgher and you have out-of-town visitors, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll take them to Primanti Bros at some point during their stay. Not everyone goes gaga for these sandwiches, but we absolutely love them. We don’t eat them often, maybe once or twice a year, but they are such an awesome treat. About five years ago when we were living away from Pittsburgh, we got homesick for a Primanti sandwich, so we went about creating our own. We couldn’t believe how close we got to the taste of the original – it even smelled the same! – definitely something you can enjoy at home!
The key components to the sandwich are the fries and the coleslaw. The French fries are not crispy, but rather have that natural cut taste and texture to them, which we achieved with our recent Straightforward From-scratch French Fries. Our sister even asked us where we found the Primanti fries recipe! That’s how we knew that French fries recipe was absolute reliable for the from-scratch Primanti Bros sandwich. Next is the coleslaw. They use an oil and vinegar-based coleslaw, not a mayonnaise version, which is a important distinction. It wasn’t exactly a coincidence that the from-scratch French fries and Oil and Vinegar Coleslaw made back-to-back appearances right before this sandwich ;-)
Now, let’s assemble the sandwich! Since this is such an unusual sandwich, we wanted to document the building process :)
Start with two slices of thick-cut Italian bread. Good Italian bread and thick slices are key here. Then, layer on your meat. Our all-time favorite Primanti sandwich is the pastrami, but you could use whatever you like. For some ideas, you can check out the Primanti menu.
Next goes the provolone cheese. (Two slices are ideal. We think we may have snuck a piece while building the sandwich, oops!)
Then a nice handful of fries.
Followed by an equal amount of coleslaw.
Topped with a couple slices of tomato.
And the rest of the bread.
This is pretty much the king of all sandwiches. And the from-scratch version certainly satisfied our craving for the real thing. If you’re ever in Pittsburgh, we highly recommend stopping by a Primanti Bros. location (they have multiple downtown and suburban locations) and trying one of these sandwiches!
If you’re from the ‘Burgh or have had them before, what’s your favorite Primanti sandwich??
One year ago: From-scratch Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
Two years ago: Better-than-Brownies Chocolate Cookies
Three years ago: Strawberry Mirror Cake
From-scratch Primanti Bros. Sandwich
Yield: 1 sandwich Primanti Bros. sandwiches are a Pittsburgh classic.- 2 slices thick-cut Italian bread
- Sliced pastrami, or your favorite type of meat
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- Handful French fries
- Handful oil and vinegar coleslaw
- 2 slices tomato
- Build your sandwich by layering the pastrami, provolone cheese, French fries, coleslaw and tomato on a slice of bread. Top with the other slice of bread. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy with some extra fries!
- Yield: 1 sandwich
- Prep: 5 minutes
- Total: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 slices thick-cut Italian bread
- Sliced pastrami, or your favorite type of meat
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- Handful French fries
- Handful oil and vinegar coleslaw
- 2 slices tomato
Method
- Build your sandwich by layering the pastrami, provolone cheese, French fries, coleslaw and tomato on a slice of bread. Top with the other slice of bread. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy with some extra fries!
