One of the most famous food creations out of New Orleans is the New Orleans muffaletta sandwich. First created over 100 years ago, it is an Italian-style sandwich not found in Italy, with soft bread, an olive salad spread, and lots of meat and cheese that has stood the test of time.
Made with a Sicilian style round sesame bread and an Italian style olive salad/spread, cheese and Italian meats make this an incredibly flavorful sandwich. Despite the ingredients, however, the muffuletta (or muffaletta) sandwich is wholly a New Orleans invention and not found in Italy or Sicily.
The name comes from the muffuletta bread that was used to create it. This Sicilian loaf is typically large, round, somewhat flat, and topped with sesame seeds. The bread has a light crust and a soft and spongy interior texture. Meanwhile, the olive salad is a mixture of olives and pickled vegetables that create a salty, briny flavor that adds texture to every bite.
Finishing off the filling for the sandwich are some Italian meats, usually 2-3 options, and 1-2 kinds of cheese. Provolone is classic, but other options exist as well. Despite being over 100 years old, the recipe hasn’t been changed or modernized very much at all.
Outside of New Orleans, the muffuletta bread can be all but impossible to find. Some alternatives include focaccia and Italian bread for a long sandwich instead of a large round version. I also have a homemade muffuletta bread recipe here, which is quite easy to make.
The olive salad can sometimes be found in grocery stores or ordered online, but I also have a recipe for olive salad here as well. For the most part it’s a simple chopped mix of green and black olives, giardiniera, onion, herbs, vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper.
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🥘 Ingredients for a Muffaletta Sandwich
I have an entire post for both the muffaletta bread and olive salad, as linked to above. However, I’ll list the ingredients and how to make them here as well but move quickly through them. Please see their posts for more information and more in-depth process photos and explanations.
Muffuletta Bread
Yeast – Use warm water, a packet of yeast (instant or active dry), and a bit of granulated sugar.
Dough – I like a combination of all-purpose and bread flour here to give the bread just the right chew and structure. After mixing with the yeast mixture, also add kosher salt and extra-virgin olive oil.
Topping – After shaping and before final rise, coat the top in a layer of white sesame seeds.
Olive Salad
Olives – Use a mix of green and black olives. I prefer Italian Castelvetrano and Greek Kalamata olives here. Optionally, I also add a bit of capers.
Giardiniera – I use a mild Italian style giardiniera that is pickled vegetables such as cauliflower, carrot, celery, red bell pepper, and usually pepperoncini. Usually, the giardiniera doesn’t have enough for my taste, so I add some additional roasted red peppers and pepperoncini as well.
Liquid – Use a combination of both red or white wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil.
Vegetables & Herbs – I prefer shallot here, but you can substitute almost any regular onion. Use either fresh garlic cloves or granulated garlic. Add a mix of fresh or dry oregano, thyme, and optionally basil, then fresh parsley.
Seasoning – Keep this simple with some ground black pepper and kosher salt.
Muffuletta Sandwich
Bread – Use fresh or homemade muffaletta bread, but if you can’t find it or don’t want to make it, that’s fine. Look for freshly made focaccia or an Italian loaf from a bakery or the bakery section of a grocery store.
Olive Salad – Use my recipe to make this from scratch quickly, or you can try to find it at a grocery store or online. If you try to find it at a store, if they sell it, it’s usually found in the aisle with pickles and olives, typically on or near the top shelf.
Olive Oil – After slicing the bread in half horizontally, I like to brush or drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil onto both cut sides.
Meats – Typically muffuletta sandwiches use a combination of Italian cold cuts. The original recipe usually mentions mortadella, genoa salami, and deli ham (or capicola). I suggest picking 2-3 of these options: mortadella, genoa salami, capicola, deli ham, pepperoni, soppressata, hard salami, or prosciutto.
Cheese – The traditional cheese here is usually sliced provolone. I normally like a combination of both provolone and either Swiss or mozzarella. As above, choose 1-2 of these options (one should be provolone): provolone, smoked provolone, mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, Swiss, Emental, gouda, or Monterey Jack.
📜 The Origin of the Muffaletta Sandwich
New Orleans has always been a melting pot of different cultures and nationalities. In the 1880s and into the early 1900s many Sicilian immigrants made their home there, setting up their own shops near the French Market area. Eventually this area became known as “Little Palermo”.
Before the sandwich, the bread came first. The Sicilian immigrants brough the muffuletta loaf with the from Sicily. It was often eaten during religious holidays and eventually local bakeries began keeping it in stock
While there are numerous origin stories for the sandwich, the most accepted tale comes from 1906. Salvatore Lupo was the owner of Central Grocery and served a lot of Sicilian workers. They would come in and get a mixture of Italian cold cuts, some cheese, olive salad, and some bread. Then they would go outside and try to balance everything in their hands while eating small bites from each purchase. Eventually, Salvatore asked them if they would like him to just make it all into a sandwich instead, and the legend was born.
Over 100 years later, the Central Grocery is still open and popular in the neighborhood. They also still make their sandwich daily to order and sell their own branded jars of olive salad.
🔪 How to Make New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwich
Once the bread and olive salad are made, or bought, the process is basically just putting the sandwich together. As mentioned above, I’ll do a quick run through for the homemade muffaletta bread and olive salad before the sandwich. View the linked posts for more in-depth information and process photos.
Muffuletta Bread
In a glass measuring cup, warm the water to roughly 95°-105°F or 35°-40°C. Add the yeast and sugar and let it proof for about 10 minutes.
Pour the yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached. Add the combined all-purpose and bread flour in increments to the bowl, mixing until a loose dough forms. Finally, add the salt while mixing, and then the olive oil.
Set the speed on 2 and let the dough knead for about 8 minutes, until it doesn’t stick to the bowl and is no longer tacky. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
Once doubled, punch down and move to a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. Shape into a flattened circle about 10-inches wide and cover with sesame seeds. Cover again and let rise a second time for 45-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. After about 5 minutes, more to a cooling rack. Once cooled you can slice in half horizontally and use it right away or store it at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Italian Olive Salad
Start by finely dicing a shallot, mincing some garlic cloves (if using), and finely chop any fresh herbs you’re using. Set these aside for now.
Add all the ingredients from olives down to wine vinegar to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times, remove top and scrape the bottom and sides, then pulse again a few times. The ingredients should look like roughly diced vegetables, but don’t blend them into a paste.
Transfer the mixture to a large, non-reactive bowl. Add shallots, garlic, herbs, and seasoning and stir together. Finally, add the olive oil and stir again. Transfer to a canning jar(s) and refrigerate overnight before using.
Muffuletta Sandwich
Once everything is ready to go, start by slicing the muffuletta bread in half horizontally and separate the top and bottom. Brush or drizzle the cut sides of the bread with extra-virgin olive oil.
Add as much or as little olive salad as you prefer to the bottom, top, or both sides of the bread. Try to drain some of the liquid before spreading the olive salad on the bread.
Now layer on the meats and cheeses. This can vary from person to person, so you could do cheese on bottom, on top, both, or in-between. The meat can be layered together below the cheese, or mixed in with the cheese, totally up to you. I think I had mine layered as genoa salami, mortadella, Swiss/mozzarella, capicola, then provolone.
From here you can slice into large quarters, slightly smaller 8-piece wedges, or even smaller wedges if served as an appetizer and serve immediately. However, for the best flavor I recommend wrapping the whole thing in plastic wrap and refrigerating overnight, or at least 3-4 hours. This lets the olive oil and olive salad soak into the bread and gives time for all the flavors to meld together.
You can serve this at room temperature or cold once ready. Personally, I like to toast it in a 350°F oven for 8-12 minutes. I like it slightly warmed and the cheese melted, but don’t toast so long that the crust becomes hard and crumbly. Keep the crust a bit soft still.
💭 Tips for Muffuletta Sandwich
- Muffuletta Bread – Ideally this should be made the day you’re putting the sandwich together, or the day before. If purchasing the bread or an alternative, also buy it the day you’re making the sandwich or the day before at most.
- Olive Salad – If you’re making this yourself, be sure to make it a day or more before you plan to build the sandwich. Refrigerating overnight or 24 hours before using it allows the flavors to marry and deepen.
- Muffuletta Sandwich – For the best flavor, put it together and wrap well in plastic wrap or foil, then refrigerate overnight before serving.
- Weight it Down – Another common step is after you make the sandwich, weigh it down with something heavy, like a cast iron pan for at least 2 hours or overnight as well.
- Core Out Bread – I don’t mind skipping this, since the bread should be very soft and when you take a bite, it compresses down easily. However, I’ve seen a lot of people remove some of the bread from the top half if it domed more than you’d like. Remove from the center and fill in the cavity with olive salad.
- Serving Temp – Normally served cold, you can also leave it on a counter for 1-2 hours to be closer to room temperature. My personal favorite, however, is serving it warmed with melted cheese. Remove the plastic wrap and bake it in a 350°F oven for 10-20 minutes. I like it warm to hot with the cheese melted, but don’t toast to the point where the crust is hardened and flakes away. Cover with some foil if need be.
🍽 Recommended Equipment
Other than a good quality, long, serrated bread knife, there’s not much needed to build a New Orleans muffuletta sandwich itself. Here’s a few recommendations for the bread and olives, however.
Stand Mixer – If you do any amount of baking, I highly recommend investing in a decent stand mixer. This makes almost all baking easier as well as some savory recipes that need blending. The dough hook attachment typically comes standard with them as well. That hook makes kneading dough easier and faster.
Silpat – I love using Silpat silicone baking mats for lots of baking recipes. The one used here is a Silpat bread mat, which is slightly different than ones used for cookies. Either way, they work well, are reusable, and clean up easily.
Food Processor – A bit of an investment, but less expensive than a stand mixer. A decent food processor makes the chopping process for this recipe a lot easier and faster. Food processors have many uses as well, so it’s worth getting one if you do much cooking or baking at home period.
❄️ Storing a Muffaletta Sandwich
Once everyone is full and the sandwich has cooled (if you heated it up), you can store it back in the refrigerator. Wrap the New Orleans muffuletta sandwich tightly in plastic wrap again and it will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, minus 1 day if you refrigerated it ahead of time (like you should have!)
Technically you can also wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and again in foil, then store it in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. However, I don’t suggest freezing as the olive salad and deli meats will have an unpleasant texture when thawed.
📋 Recipe
New Orleans Muffaletta Sandwich
Ingredients
Muffaletta Bread:
- 1 cup water, warmed
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 packet yeast, 2 ¼ teaspoons, instant or active dry
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups bread flour, see note
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
Olive Salad:
- 1 cup Castelvetrano olives
- 1 cup Italian giardiniera
- ½ cup Kalamata olives
- ½ cup pepperoncini, stems removed, optional
- ½ cup roasted red peppers, jarred version, optional
- 1 tablespoon capers, optional
- 1 tablespoon pimiento, optional
- 3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
- 1 small shallot, finely diced, about 2-3 tablespoons
- ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic, or 3-4 cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon fresh
- ½ teaspoon dried basil, or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, or ¾ teaspoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Muffaletta Sandwich:
- One 10-12-inch muffaletta bread loaf
- 1-2 cups olive salad, to taste
- Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste, for brushing onto bread
- ½ pound sliced genoa salami, see note
- ½ pound sliced capicola
- ½ pound sliced mortadella
- ¼ - ½ pound sliced mozzarella or Swiss cheese
- ¼ - ½ pound sliced provolone cheese, see note
Directions
Muffuletta Bread:
- In a glass measuring cup, warm 1 cup of water to roughly 95°-105°F or 35°-40°C. Add 1 packet of instant or active dry yeast and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and let it proof for about 10 minutes.
- Add the yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached. Add the combined 1 cup all-purpose flour and 2 cups of bread flour in increments to the bowl, mixing until a loose dough forms. Finally, add 2 teaspoons kosher salt while mixing, and then 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.
- Set the speed on 2 and let the dough knead for about 8 minutes, until it doesn’t stick to the bowl and is no longer tacky. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
- Once doubled, punch down and move to a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. Shape into a flattened circle about 10-inches wide and cover with about 2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds. Cover again and let rise a second time for 45-60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. After about 5 minutes, more to a cooling rack. Once cooled you can slice in half horizontally and use it right away or store it at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Italian Olive Salad:
- Start by finely dicing 1 small shallot, mincing 3-4 garlic cloves (if using) or ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic, and finely chopping any fresh herbs you’re using (1 tablespoon oregano, 1 ½ teaspoons basil, and ¾ teaspoon thyme). Use 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, but can use 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon dried basil, and ¼ dried thyme instead of fresh. Set these aside for now.
- In a food processor, add 1 cup Castelvetrano olives, 1 cup Italian giardiniera, ½ cup Kalamata olives, ½ cup pepperoncini (stems removed), ½ cup roasted red peppers, 1 tablespoon capers, 1 tablespoon pimientos, and 3 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar. Pulse a few times, remove top and scrape the bottom and sides, then pulse again a few times. The ingredients should look like roughly diced vegetables, but don’t blend them into a paste.
- Transfer the mixture to a large, non-reactive bowl. Now add the reserved shallot, garlic, herbs, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Mix everything thoroughly and finally add ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil and mix again.
- Transfer to a canning jar(s) and refrigerate overnight before using.
Muffuletta Sandwich:
- Once everything is ready to go, start by slicing the muffuletta bread in half horizontally and separate the top and bottom. Brush or drizzle the cut sides of the bread with extra-virgin olive oil (roughly 2-4 tablespoons).
- Add as much or as little olive salad as you prefer to the bottom, top, or both sides of the bread. Try to drain some of the liquid before spreading the olive salad on the bread.
- Now layer on the meats and cheeses. This can vary from person to person, so you could do cheese on bottom, on top, both, or in-between. The meat can be layered together below the cheese, or mixed in with the cheese, totally up to you. I think I had mine layered as ½ pound sliced genoa salami, ½ pound sliced capicola, ¼ - ½ pound sliced Swiss or mozzarella cheeses, ½ pound sliced mortadella, then ¼ - ½ pound sliced provolone cheese.
- From here you can slice into large quarters, slightly smaller 8-piece wedges, or even smaller wedges if served as an appetizer and serve immediately. However, for the best flavor I recommend wrapping the whole thing in plastic wrap and refrigerating overnight, or at least 3-4 hours. This lets the olive oil and olive salad soak into the bread and gives time for all the flavors to meld together.
- You can serve this at room temperature or cold once ready. Personally, I like to toast it in a 350°F oven for 8-12 minutes, longer if needed. I like it slightly warmed and the cheese melted, but don’t toast so long that the crust becomes hard and crumbly. Keep the crust a bit soft still.
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