Air Fryer Italian Sandwiches + Grinder Salad
Crispy, buttery bread layered with ham, pepperoni, salame + provolone cheese- topped with a zesty grinder salad
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Creator: Leslie Stokes
Every mom needs one or two quick + easy meals in her back pocket for those busy week nights when she is just too drained to cook.
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For me, those nights are quiet often.
Life has been so busy lately and one night I was just not in the mood to cook dinner, so I went in the fridge and simply said “ya’ll are having sandwiches for dinner”. I came up with these and my family has been hooked ever since. In fact. we have actually made sandwich night a “thing” and I’m totally fine with it. lol
What is a grinder Salad?
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Grinder Salad is just a fancy way of dressing up a sanwhich. There is just something about chopping up everything and tossing it in mayo + seasonings that makes it taste so much better! It reminds me of getting a sandwich “mike’s way” at Jersey Mike’s- I always add pepperonchini’s!
For all of my Healthy-ish mamas-
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I usually try not to eat gluten and I also T-R-Y to cut carbs at dinner, so I like taking the bread off of my sandwich and throwing in a bowl with the grider salad.
I usually make these on hawaiian sweet rolls, but this time I tried it on pretzel rolls. Although I liked the flavor, I do prefer these on hawaiian rolls.
Ingredients:
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- hawaiian rolls
- ham
- salameÂ
- pepperoni
- shredded lettuce
- red onions
- pepperonchini’s
- tomatoÂ
- salt + Pepper
- parlsey
- garlic powder
- mayoÂ
- butter
Air Fryer Italian Sandwiches + Grinder Salad
Equipment
- air fryer or oven at 400°
Ingredients
- 1 package of hawaiin rolls or any kind of rolls/hoagies you like
- 1/4 lb ham
- 1/4 lb pepperoni
- 1/4 lb salame
- 6 slices provolne cheese
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp parsley
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- tomato slices for topping
For the Grinder Salad
- 1 bag shredded lettuce or about 3 cups
- 1/4 of a red onion- thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pepperoncinis + 1/8 cup of the juice
- 1/4 cup mayo
- salt + pepper to taste
Let's Make It
- Preheat the air fryer or oven to 400°
- Cut the rolls in half and spread a thin layer of mayo over the top and the bottom.I usually use hawaiian rolls for this recipe, but I tried some pretzel rolls this time. I liked them, but honestly, they are better on hawaiian rolls.
- Layer on the ham, pepperoni, salame + cheese.If using hawaiian rolls, I like to add the cheese to the bottom so that way it's easier to pull the tops off the sandwiches to stuff with the salad.
- Place just the bottom half of the sandwiches into the air fryer to melt the cheese and heat up the meat for about 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl- melt the butter and add in the salt, parlsey, garlic.
- Pull them out and add the top half of the buns on and the top with the melted butter. Place back in the air fryer for another 3-5 minutes.
- While the sandwiches are cooking- add the lettuce, onions, pepperonchinis, juice, mayo, salt + pepper into a bowl and stir until combined.
- When the sandwiches are browned and crispy, pull them out and add the grinder salad to the middle lay of the sandwiches and top with tomato!