Lunch · American

Turkey Club Sandwich

Name: Turkey Club Sandwich
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 6 slices thick cut bacon; 6 slices white or sourdough sandwich bread; 4 tbsp mayonnaise; 6 oz (170 g) sliced roast turkey, deli or leftover; 2 large lettuce leaves, butter or green leaf; 1 large ripe tomato, cut into 6 slices; salt and black pepper; 4 sandwich picks, optional

The turkey club is the sandwich that made lunch counters famous, and the home version beats it for one simple reason, you control the tomato and the bread. A deli tomato is pale and January tasting no matter what month it is. Yours can be an actual ripe one.

A club is a triple decker, three slices of bread, two layers of filling, cut into triangles and held with picks if you are feeling official. Bacon, turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo. That is the whole canon, and this recipe stays inside it.

Twenty minutes, two clubs, four triangle halves each if you are sharing. The oven cooks the bacon while you prep everything else, which keeps the stovetop clean and the bacon flat.

Jump to recipe

By the TasteBoard team. Timed in a home kitchen, with total time added up and safe temperatures checked.

Photo: @PattayaPatrol / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

30 min promise: 20 min total
Prep: 12 min
Cook: 8 min
Total: 20 min
Servings: 2
Course: Lunch
Calories, about: 610 per serving

Ready in 20 min, honestly. No hidden waiting.

Instructions

1Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C) and lay the bacon on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, and pull the bacon when it is deep golden brown and still slightly flexible. It crisps as it cools on paper towels.
2While the bacon bakes, toast the 6 slices of bread to golden. Let them cool 1 minute so the mayo does not melt into a puddle.
3Spread mayonnaise on one side of every slice. All six. This is the moisture barrier, it keeps the bread crisp against the tomato.
4Season the tomato slices with a pinch of salt and pepper on a plate. Salting them on the sandwich makes the bread soggy before you get there.
5Build the first layer on a plate: slice of bread mayo side up, then half the turkey folded in ripples, then the lettuce.
6Add the second slice of bread on top of the lettuce, mayo on both sides facing out, and press down gently.
7Build the second layer on top: the bacon in a loose lattice so no bite is bacon only or bacon free, then the tomato slices, then the third slice of bread, mayo side down.
8Press the whole sandwich lightly with your palm, cut corner to corner into 4 triangles with a sharp serrated knife using a sawing motion, and pin each triangle with a pick if you are serving it properly.

Tap a step to mark it done, saved on this device only. Timer buttons count down right here and beep when time is up.

Why you will love it

Twenty minutes, and the oven does the bacon hands free while you assemble.
Two triple decker clubs, about 610 calories each, an estimate, which is honest for a real club.
Oven bacon comes out flat and crisp instead of curled and chewy, and no splatter.
The layering order is written out, because a badly stacked club slides apart on the first bite.
It costs a fraction of the deli price and the bread is toasted exactly as long as you want.

Tips

Rippled, folded turkey instead of flat stacked slices is the difference between a dry sandwich and a club that reads deli. Flat slices compress into a dense layer, ripples stay airy.
The knife matters. A serrated knife with a gentle sawing motion keeps the layers from sliding out. A hard press straight down shoves everything sideways.
Tomato goes on top of the bacon, never against the bread. Even with the mayo barrier, tomato against bread is a countdown to soggy.
Oven times run long on thick cut bacon, pull a test slice at 10 minutes and bend it, it should bend then start to crack, not snap clean.

Swaps and variations

Avocado mash with lemon instead of mayo on one layer: creamier, about 40 more calories per club, both estimates, and it will not keep as long if you are storing half.
Cooked chicken or leftover rotisserie instead of turkey: the club structure survives any poultry, and honestly the chicken club is just as classic.
Lettuce out, arugula in: peppery instead of crisp, and it stands up better if the sandwich waits an hour.

What to serve

Our broccoli cheddar soup beside it is a full lunch counter plate.
Potato chips and a half sour pickle, the traditional side with no imagination required.
A cold lemonade or iced tea in warm months, this is a warm weather sandwich even in winter.

Storage and reheating

A club is a now food. Assembled, it keeps about 2 hours before the tomato starts working on the bread, and the toast loses its crunch by hour one. If you must prep ahead, cook the bacon and keep it in the fridge up to 4 days, and toast plus assemble right before eating. Do not refrigerate an assembled club, the bread goes damp and clammy, and do not try to revive one, start over, it takes 20 minutes. Pack components separately for a lunchbox and assemble at the table.

Calories shown are an estimate from standard ingredients, not medical advice. Brands and amounts change the number.

Questions cooks actually ask

Why three slices of bread?

Because that is what makes a club a club, the middle slice splits the filling into two stable layers, turkey below and bacon and tomato above. Two slices make it a regular sandwich, still delicious, just not a club.

Can I make it with less bread?

Yes, drop the middle slice and fold the whole filling into a double decker instead. The calorie estimate drops by about 80 per sandwich, both estimates, and it is easier to bite. The traditionalists will never know if you do not tell them.

Can I use turkey bacon?

You can, bake it at 400 F (200 C) on foil for 8 to 10 minutes until crisp. It is leaner so it crisps faster and burns faster, so watch the last 2 minutes. The flavor is smokier and saltier, the texture slightly more brittle.

How do deli clubs stay so crisp?

Two tricks you can copy, mayo on every facing surface, and assembly immediately before serving, not before. A club that waits is a club that has already peaked, which is why good diners refuse to make them to go.

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Turkey Club Sandwich

Instructions

Why you will love it

Tips

Swaps and variations

What to serve

Storage and reheating

Questions cooks actually ask

Cook something similar next

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Keep exploring

All lunch recipes

American recipes

High protein recipes

Back to school recipes

10 Easy Lunch Ideas That Travel Well