Ultimate BLT Breakfast Sandwich

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Like many people, I believe that most meals can be improved with the addition of a runny egg. When my boyfriend and I decided to follow a vegan diet for a month, eggs were the one thing I craved above all else. I never previously thought the food I would miss most would be the humble egg. This sandwich takes a delicious fried egg and adds it to one of my favorite sandwiches, the BLT, to create the best breakfast sandwich that you have ever tasted. This Ultimate BLT Breakfast Sandwich hits the spot for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I generally have a rule where I will not purchase a dish at a restaurant if it is something that I could easily make at home. However, there is one meal that is the exception to this rule, and that is the classic BLT. Made with toasted bread, slathered with mayonnaise, piled with salty, crispy bacon, layered with fresh, punchy sliced tomatoes, and topped with a heap of crisp shredded lettuce. I am drooling and craving another one just thinking about it.

How to Make the Ultimate BLT Sandwich:

This sandwich has that classic combo of bacon, lettuce, and tomato, but improves upon it by adding melted cheddar cheese, spicy sriracha mayo, and a fried egg with a runny yolk. I topped this upgraded classic sandwich with avocado and red onion, which really added a great bite and additional creamy component. This dish is just as simple to put together for one person as it is for a large crowd. The majority of your time is spent cooking the bacon; everything else takes minimal time and effort to prepare and can be done while the bacon is in the oven.

How to cook the eggs:

(or My favorite ways of making eggs for sandwiches)

I got such a craving for a BLT the other day at home and happened to have a number of ingredients on hand allowing me to make my most epic and delicious BLT yet! I will no longer make a BLT any other way; it must always include a fried egg, from this point on. That runny yolk adds such a richness to the rest of the sandwich, really taking it to the next level of scrumptiousness.

Runny Yolk:

My favorite way to make an egg is to steam-fry it. In a pan over medium-high heat, melt a 1/2 tbsp. of butter. Add the egg to the pan, and reduce the heat to low. Cook the egg for a minute, until the white starts to set. Place a lid on the pan to finish cooking the egg, about another minute. Check the egg every so often to ensure that you do not overcook the yolk. Finish the egg with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. I prefer this method because I like to ensure that my whites are fully set, while the yolks remain runny. Another benefit, is that you do not risk breaking the yolk when flipping the egg in the pan. Feel free to cook the egg using your favorite cooking method.

Hard Yolk:

If you prefer a fully cooked or hard yolk, you can fry the egg in a hot pan with melted butter. When the white begins to set, break the yolk and swirl it around the white in the pan. Reduce the heat to low, and place the lid on the pan to finish cooking until the egg is set. Finish it off with a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper.

Sriracha Mayo:

Adding sriracha mayo gave the perfect kick to the sandwich, and is perfect for those of you that love to add hot sauce to your eggs! You can always decrease the amount of sriracha that the recipe calls for, but I think this component really adds another essential layer to all the flavors in the BLT Breakfast Sandwich.

Shredded Lettuce:

This sandwich uses shredded iceberg lettuce, rather than romaine or green leaf. For whatever type of lettuce you use, I do recommend shredding it for the sandwich as it helps soak up the juices from the other ingredients and will not slide off the whole sandwich when you take one bite. Iceberg lettuce is what I think of when I picture a traditional BLT, but more than that, it is what I happened to have on hand in my refrigerator.

Iceberg has really no nutritional value, but that is not why it is on this sandwich. Each ingredient’s only purpose is to add to the overall flavor of the sandwich to create the most delicious breakfast sandwich experience that you could have. I generally do not like iceberg lettuce, but that crisp, cool, and watery crunch adds the perfect counter-balance to the many saltier components of the dish.

Toasted Sandwich Bun:

The last major difference with my breakfast sandwich is that I toasted a sandwich bun rather than a traditional sliced sandwich bread. Because of the ingredients that I used, I decided that the bun would hold the ingredients better and allow the sandwich to maintain its integrity. Regular sandwich bread is less likely to be able to hold all of the ingredients, and would increase the chances that the sandwich would fall apart when you pick it up.

You could always use a sturdier bread, such as sourdough. The main issue with that is extra crispy bread cutting the roof of your mouth and forcing all the ingredients to be pushed out of the sandwich. Using sandwich buns provides the necessary bread thickness to support the sandwich ingredients, and gets toasty without becoming destructive to your mouth.

How to Store the Ultimate BLT Breakfast Sandwich:

If you have any leftover ingredients, I recommend storing them individually in baggies or storage containers. Leftover avocado should be rubbed with lime juice, if available, and wrapped with plastic wrap. I do not recommend storing any cooked eggs or finished sandwiches, these will not keep well. If there is leftover bread, it can be frozen and quickly defrosted for future meals. I find this keeps the bread freshest, if used before any frost develops on it in the freezer.

Recipe Step-by-Step

Cook Bacon until Crispy :

• Preheat your oven to 400°. Line a large baking sheet with tine foil (for easy clean-up) and add the bacon.

• The easiest way to make bacon for a crowd is in the oven. This also ensures that the bacon cooks flat and straight, which is helpful for putting on a sandwich. The bacon also seems to cook more evenly in the oven. If you are only making a sandwich for 1 or 2 people, it may still be easier to cook on the stove-top, but that is your preference.

• Bake for about 20 minutes until crispy. Start checking oven at around 15 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn. After the bacon is cooked, pull it out of the oven, and place the bacon on a paper-towel lined plate to soak up any excess grease.

Prepare the Sandwich Toppings:

• Cut the core out of 2 roma tomatoes. Slice them into 4 pieces each, allowing for 2 slices of tomato per sandwich.

• Slice the avocado and red onion, if using.

• Prepare the lettuce.

• Mix 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 2 tsp. sriracha.

• Toast the buns or bread, with cheese on one half of bun.

Cook the Eggs:

• The last step should be to prepare the eggs. I like to get my sandwiches built and then fry up the eggs to add at the end. Eggs do not take very long to cook and this will ensure that your full attention is on them. Focusing on the eggs means you will be less likely to overcook someone’s yolk, and each person can pop their own egg yolk.

• Refer to the two methods of egg preparation listed above for tips on how to cook the egg. I prefer my eggs with a runny yolk and fully cooked white, but have also provided tips on cooking a egg with a hard yolk for the sandwich. I encourage you to try both of those methods if you have not done so before. Otherwise, feel free to cook the eggs your preferred method.

Build the Ultimate BLT Breakfast Sandwich:

• Add about a tablespoon of sriracha mayo to each bun.

• Layer about an 1/8 cup shredded lettuce on the bun, followed by 2 slices of bacon cut in half. Layer the 4 smaller pieces of bacon side by side on the bun.

• Place a few thin slices of red onion on top of the bacon, followed by the sliced tomato, and lastly the sliced avocado.

• The last step is to top the sandwich with the fried egg.

Ingredient Substitute:

If you have a different type of lettuce on hand, feel free to use that instead. I would recommend only using other “mild” flavors of lettuce, i.e. romaine, green leaf, butter lettuce.

Serving the Sandwiches:

Serve your Ultimate BLT Breakfast Sandwiches with the top bun on the side so your guests can break the yolks themselves and have the satisfaction of watching that yolk run down the side of their sandwich. The recipe above and below is made for 4 sandwiches, but you can modify the recipe to fit the exact number of people eating.