I love grilled chicken sandwiches. I went through a long phase where the only thing I would order if I went out to lunch was a grilled chicken sandwich with cheddar and bacon. The quality of the sandwich varied greatly from location to location. However, one thing I never understood was that some restaurants don't marinate their chicken first. I know, that's crazy, right? And trust me: there isn't enough cheddar in Wisconsin to hide a bland piece of grilled chicken. It's so simple to marinate your chicken like I do with this delicious grilled chicken sandwich with romesco sauce.
For this Grilled Chicken Sandwich Marinating the Chicken is Key
The best reason to marinate is simple: flavor. If you checked out my butternut squash risotto recipe, you'll remember my thoughts: risotto doesn't taste like anything. We have to make it taste like something. Same with chicken breast. There is really no flavor to white meat chicken. We have to put flavor into it. When grilling chicken breast - the best way to do this is either marinating the chicken OR maybe brushing the chicken with a marinade fresh off the grill.
For this marinade I used parsley, cilantro, onion, lemon zest, dijon, and olive oil. You can marinate it for half a day, but I do usually put it in the fridge overnight. It's the perfect marinade for boneless chicken breast. You can use the grilled chicken to make this sandwich (obviously). But you can also slice the leftover chicken and make a salad. You can eat it with a side of veggies. It's pretty versatile. But do make sure you grill it. This will give you the best results.
The Romesco Sauce Might Be the Star of This Dish
Even though I love, love, love the marinated grilled chicken breast - the sandwich is brought to another level with the romesco sauce. If you've never had romesco sauce, this is your moment. This roasted red pepper sauce is fantastic and, like the grilled chicken, so versatile. You can enjoy it on any number of foods: grilled chicken, fish, grilled veggies, dipping sauce for fresh French bread, a spread to top some kind of crostini with, and of course sandwiches! This would be a good spread for a roasted veggie sandwich too. You will have extra romesco sauce and lucky for you, I've created another post about romesco sauce and all the things you can do with it. If you're totally into romesco you gotta check it out.
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This Grilled Sandwich Can Be Served Hot or Cold. Perfect for Picnics!
A few times a year, we will take a drive to Vermont to a "secret spot" we found. I usually make this sandwich for our picnic. Or if we're craving veggies, I make my Ultimate Roasted Veggie Sandwich. We lay out a blanket on the grass with a view of a beautiful pond and eat our gourmet sandwiches. They are just as delicious as a cold sandwich as they are as a hot sandwich. Really. I cook everything the day before, assemble the sandwiches in the morning and off we go! Pure bliss.
As usual, I recommend using a high-quality bread, but I realize we have busy lives and can't always get to a local bakery. You could use store bought brioche, ciabatta or French bread for this sandwich (if you must).
I hope you give this one a try - it's one of my all-time favorite sandwiches. Remember, you're on the internet looking at food recipes right now which means you like to eat and maybe you like to cook. Or you don't know how to cook, but you fantasize about all the recipes you'd like to try. Well, there is no better time to try something new, in my opinion. If you're new to home cooking you've got to start somewhere. If you are someone who already loves to cook - wonderful! I have written instructions as well as videos for every recipe. Enjoy your time in the kitchen and make delicious food for yourself and your loved ones. You're all worth it!
Looking for More Awesome Sandwiches? I Gotcha Covered:
- Anthony Bourdain's Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich
- Korean Bulgogi Sandwich with Spicy Cucumbers & Cheddar
- Crunchy Cheesy Patty Melts on Grilled Sourdough
- Cheesy Sausage & Broccoli Rabe Sub
- Fried Green Tomatillo Sandwich with Bacon & Dill Sour Cream
- Croque Monsieur: The Best Ham & Cheese Sandwich You'll Ever Eat
- The Kackle Burger
- BBQ Chicken Panini w/Cheddar & Basil
- French Onion Grilled Cheese w/Bacon
- The Ultimate Roasted Veggie Sandwich
Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Romesco Sauce, Dill Havarti & Arugula
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 sandwiches 1x
Description
Fantastic marinated grilled chicken sandwich with homemade romesco sauce, dill havarti and arugula. Eat it hot or cold – it’s a gourmet.
Ingredients
*NOTE: time above does not include letting chicken marinate overnight.
Marinade for Chicken:
- ¼ of a large onion
- 2 large cloves garlic
- ½ bunch parsley
- ½ bunch cilantro
- 1 tablespoon Dijon
- zest from one lemon
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup olive oil, more if needed
Chicken
- 3 boneless chicken breasts (sliced in half length-wise/6 pieces total)
- salt and pepper
Romesco
- 2 12-ounce jars roasted red peppers
- 3 cloves garlic, browned
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 cup cubed bread (french or ciabatta)
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¾ cup almonds (I used marcona - see notes)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (more if needed)
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
Bread & Cheese
- 6 rolls (brioche rolls, ciabatta rolls, French bread all work well here)
- Six slices of dill havarti cheese (see notes below)
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Instructions
- The marinade: put all marinade ingredients in a mini food processor and blend. I do rough chop the onion and garlic before putting in the processor. Since I add Dijon here, I don’t put any salt in the marinade. If you taste it and think it needs a pinch you can go ahead and add. If the marinade is too thick you can thin it out with a little more olive oil.
- The chicken: Take your chicken and slice it like you are butterflying it but run the knife to split the breast in two pieces. If you’re making the original recipe amount, the three boneless chicken breasts will give you 6 pieces of chicken for 6 sandwiches. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the chicken pieces then poke with a fork.
- Take all the chicken and put it in a Ziplock bag or large bowl. Pour the marinade in the bag and massage to coat all the pieces. Make sure all chicken is coated. Marinate for 4-6 hours or overnight. I usually do overnight.
- The romesco sauce: First, heat garlic in a pan with oil until it’s browned – should take a few minutes.
- While garlic is browning cut your bread in cubes.
- When garlic is brown, set garlic aside and using the same olive oil fry your bread cubes until golden brown.
- Put the roasted red peppers in your food processor. Add garlic, almonds, bread cubes and oil – BLEND. Take a taste and add your salt here if you used the already salted marcona almonds. Add your red wine vinegar here too. BLEND again. It's ready now.
- Grilling the chicken: I preheated my outdoor grill and let it get hot for 10-15 minutes on med to high heat. I grilled the chicken for about 6-7 minutes on each side until the chicken was cooked all the way through. UPDATE HERE: This timing is off slightly because when I made this I had an old crappy outdoor grill and now I have a new wonderful grill. Timing on these should be about 4-6 minutes on each side (lid closed). Your chicken may be bigger or smaller than mine. Most important thing is the internal temperature of chicken should be 165 degrees before consuming.
- After the chicken is cooked, you’re ready to assemble your sandwiches.
- While the chicken is resting a couple of minutes, you can slice the dill havarti cheese. In the video, you’ll see I’m slicing my dill Havarti right from a block of cheese. (see notes below for add'l info)
- Toast your brioche rolls right before assembling and serving.
- Put the chicken on your toasted brioche (or other high-quality roll – ciabatta or french bread works well too). Spread romesco sauce on top of roll. Add the sliced dill havarti. Add arugula and you’re ready to go! Enjoy!
Equipment
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Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup (2 Cup)
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Buy Now → Notes
- Marcona almonds can be a bit pricey. They have no skins and are usually already salted. You can certainly use regular almonds as well. Since they are salted, I do wait to add the salt to my romesco until after I’ve blended the almonds in.
- Store leftover romesco sauce in a sealed container and drizzle a little olive oil on top.
- The dill havarti cheese. They often do not have this at the deli counter of my local grocery store. However, they always have it in the special cheese section of the store with the goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, gruyere, etc. It is usually sold as a block of cheese so you will have to slice it yourself - you can see this in the video. I used a cheese slicer to slice off the havarti from the block of cheese.
Teresa Cross
Where's the information in the recipe about the dill havarti?
Stacey
Hi Teresa! Thanks for your question because I didn't realize that was missing from the ingredient list! Sorry about that. I added the information and an additional note in the notes section. Typically, I can't usually find sliced havarti at the deli counter of my grocery store. But it's always over with the other cheeses like goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, etc... You buy it in a block and slice it yourself. It is a fantastic cheese and adds a great layer of flavor to this sandwich.