Subway's Italian B.M.T. Copycat Recipe

Subway's Italian B.M.T. sandwich (B.M.T. stands for "Big. Meaty. Tasty." just in case you didn't know) is one of the brand's classic favorites, filled with spicy pepperoni, Genoa salami, and Black Forest Ham. But, you don't have to roll through the line at Subway in order to enjoy the same flavors. In fact, you can make the sandwich right at home, following the recipe developed by Susan Olayinka at The Flexible Fridge, to make a sandwich that just may be even better than the original. 

When you're in charge of selecting the bread, veggies, and cuts of meat yourself (yeah, yeah, we know Subway let's you do that, too, but you can have an even broader selection in the deli section at most grocery stores when you're in charge), you can stock up on premium options and experiment until you find the perfect baguette, meat, and veggie combination. But, to get started, you need the perfect template, and Olayinka's quick and easy recipe delivers the goods.

As you know, at Subway, there is no "one size fits all" sandwich, and part of the reason the brand keeps going strong is that they make it so easy for their customers to personalize their own meal. That being said, each sandwich starts with a basic template. And in the case of this copycat B.M.T. recipe, you need to start with a 6-inch baguette (go crazy finding the right bread to suit your tastes!), three slices of salami (Genoa is the most authentic), six slices of pepperoni, three slices of ham (Black Forest if you want to keep it classic), an assortment of veggies, and the sauce of your choice. Of course, that's where things get interesting. To keep things simple, consider trying romaine lettuce, tomato, red onion, and cucumber, with a simple spread of mayonnaise as the dressing.

Making a Subway-style sandwich is fairly simple and straight forward. Start by slicing your bread horizontally down the center to open it up. Then, prep your veggies by chopping the lettuce and slicing your tomato, cucumber, and red onion into thin cuts. You don't actually need much of each item — ¼ cup of romaine chopped, ½ tomato, and ¼ each of the onion and cucumber. That being said, you can always prep more to make more sandwiches (or a 12-inch version), or you can put the rest in baggies and store them in the fridge to use the next day.

Also, if you are going to get creative with your veggies, now's the time to decide what else you want to add to your sandwich. Olayinka suggests sliced olives, bell peppers, spinach, kale, or shredded carrots. The nice thing is most of these items can be purchased pre-sliced or diced at the grocery store, so it's easy to grab what you want and simply add it to your sandwich.

Once your bread and veggies are prepped, it's time to start sandwich making. Make your base layer with your lettuce (it's less wet than tomatoes or cucumbers, so it won't leave your bread as soggy), then add your tomato, cucumber, and onions on top. When thinking of how to layer additional veggies, other leafy greens can be placed along with the lettuce, but any other smaller, sliced veggies should be added to the top.

It should come as no great surprise that the next step is to layer the meat on top of the veggies. If you want to stick to Subway's formula, fold each slice of ham in half and place it on top of your veggies, overlapping the slices as you go to make it feel like you're getting even more meat with each bite. Follow suit with the salami, then add your pepperoni on top.

All that's left is to add your favorite sauces! Remember, if you selected a dense baguette, you're probably going to want a sauce that adds enough moisture to keep your sandwich from feeling dry. Mayonnaise is good for this, because it adds that nice creamy flavor along with moisture, but the sky's really the limit. Olayinka suggests trying ketchup, Chipotle sauce, Blue cheese dressing, sweet chili sauce, or barbecue sauce. You could even opt for a mix of vinegar and oil in true Subway fashion.

When your masterpiece is complete, take a cue from Olayinka for the ultimate combo. She always completes her sandwich order with a cookie or a bag of baked chips when she's at Subway, and you can easily do the same right at home.