Give Sandwich Bread 10x The Flavor With This Ingredient

There are plenty of culinary tricks to make a favorite sandwich better. From Julia Child-inspired tips to simply using better-quality ingredients, you don't have to search too far to find a cornucopia of ideas. However, there is one flavorful technique you might want to incorporate into your sandwich-making routine that requires one ingredient and zero professional chef skills. Take a peeled clove of garlic and rub it over your crusty, toasted bread before layering on any other accoutrements. 

This is an easy upgrade. After you slice the garlic clove in half, you want to rub it onto the bread, cut side down. This will release some of those allicin compounds, leaving the pungent taste and perfume of the garlic on the bread. Brush the slices with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. The addition of olive oil's mild and rich buttery taste to the garlic, enhanced by the mother of all seasonings, leaves you with a sandwich foundation packed full of flavors that can transform a grilled chicken Caesar salad, a traditional tuna fish salad sandwich, or a Spanish-style breakfast sandwich. But before you get started, choose your bread wisely.

The sturdiness of your sandwich bread matters for this flavor trick. No flimsy pieces of commercially sliced white or wheat bread pulled out of the plastic bag. These will tear or crumble, causing the loss of a perfectly good carb. Choose a substantial bread. A French baguette or sourdough for garlic bread grilled cheese is a nice option. Or slices from an Italian loaf stand up well to this tasty enhancement.

But perhaps the most important thing to remember is this: Toasting the bread is key. When you drag the garlic clove over the surface of a piece of warm, hearty bread, it acts like a rough, rustic grater or sandpaper. Along with the little bits of garlic, some of those allicin compounds we mentioned earlier are left behind, imparting a subtle but sharp flavor.

Once you've rubbed the garlic on your toast, layer your meats, cheeses, lettuce, and tomato slices, along with your favorite spreads and condiments. This will be a sandwich like none other. Of course, there are sandwiches you may want to stay clear of garlic. For example, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich might clash with garlic notes, but if you want to be the Guinea pig and try it, please do and let us know how it turned out. Otherwise, stick with savory options over sweet, and you won't go wrong.