Whether you're looking for a party sub, a cold dinner idea or simply wanting an easy to pack picnic lunch, this giant sub sandwich is perfect for them all! Made with just a few ingredients this recipe is both easy and frugal!

I'm sure we've all seen a giant sub sandwich before. One giant party sub that can feed a small army if you tried, we'll this giant sub may not feed an army but it will feed a family of 4 or 5 just fine. We often slice it into 4 sections and allow everyone to fill up on their quarter sub for a cold dinner during hot summer days because it's pretty filling.
To stretch the sandwich out to feed even more people, it can be cut into 8-10 pieces about 2 inches wide and several inches tall.
We like grabbing our Italian loaves of bread from Walmart's clearance rack so that they are marked down to $.49 instead of $1 but either way, this large sub recipe is pretty cheap to pull together.
🥘 Ingredients
- Italian loaf of bread
- Lunch meat
- Condiments (mustard, mayo)
- Lettuce
- Pickles
- Sliced Cheese
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Bread knife
- Butter knives
- Cutting board
🍴 Recipe Tips
When traveling with your sandwich, we often bag ours up in serving-sized pieces or if going on a picnic, we slice the sub up and place it back into the bread bag that the loaf originally came in and close the end. It makes it much more convenient for traveling.
By cutting the sandwich before leaving the house, it prevents you from tearing the sandwich apart at your destination or carrying around a large knife in public. Neither option sounds great.
You can customize your huge sub sandwich to your own liking. No mayo, no mustard, add tomatoes, onions, black olives, salami, etc. The possibilities are endless for a customized and unique sandwich experience.
💭 FAQs
You can use French bread if desired but we personally prefer the softer Italian bread loaf as it's much less chewy. French bread is a great option if you want the thicker crust and chewiness though! (We love French bread, but not for this).
This sandwich is best eaten within 2 hours of making but can last up to a day or two if stored in an airtight container in the fridge. You don't want to leave the sandwich sitting out too long at room temperature due to the condiments and cheese. Mayo doesn't do well with heat. But thanks to the thickness of the bread, it can be placed in the fridge for even longer storage if you don't finish it all at once.
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make giant sub sandwich with these simple step-by-step instructions:
- Lay your loaf of Italian bread onto a cutting board and use a large bread knife to cut the sandwich along the side/middle area so that it creates a top and bottom half.
- Lay the two halves side by side with the cut sides facing up. On one, spread your mayo over the top. Spread the mustard over the top of the other half. Coat the tops well to avoid blank spots but use more or less of the condiments as desired.
- Cover the top of one half with cheese slices and arrange the lettuce leaves over the top of the other half.
- Fit and fold the lunch meat slices as needed to cover the top one of the halves.
- Add your additional topping to the top of the other half. This is your pickles, tomatoes, onions, olives, etc.
- Take the half that doesn't have the topping and place it over the top of the half with the toppings. Then flip the whole sandwich over so that it is upright if needed.
- Use a large bread knife to slice the sandwich into serving-sized pieces.
- Serve with any side dishes desired. Potato chips, cold fruit, lemonade are all good suggestions.
More great recipes to try
- Quick Microwave Smores
- Momma’s Easy Egg Salad Recipe
- Creamy Orange Fluff Salad
- Dill Pickle Potato Salad
- Peanut Butter Yogurt Fruit Dip
- Microwave Grilled Cheese
📖 Recipe
Giant Sub Sandwich
Equipment
- Bread knife
- Butter knives
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Italian Bread ($1.00)
- 4 ounces Sliced Turkey Lunch Meat ($1.16)
- 4 ounces Sliced Ham Lunch Meat ($1.16)
- 6 slices Cheddar Cheese ($1.02)
- ⅛ cup Yellow Mustard ($0.05)
- ¼ cup Mayonaise ($0.10)
- Pickles ($0.05)
- Iceberg Lettuce ($0.20)
Other optional toppings
- Sliced Tomatoes
- Sliced Onions
- Sliced Black Olives
Instructions
- Lay your loaf of Italian bread onto a cutting board. Using a large bread knife cut the sandwich along the side/middle area so that it creates a top and bottom half.
- Lay the two halves side by side with the cut sides facing up. On one, spread your mayo over the top. On the other, spread the mustard. Spread well to coat so that there are no blank spots on the bread. You can use more or less as desired.
- Top one half with your slices of cheese so that it's well covered. Arrange leaves of lettuce on the other.
- Take your meat and fold the slices as needed to cover the sandwich well.
- Add any pickles, tomatoes, onions, or olives over the top of the other half.
- Take the half that doesn't have the additional toppings and turn it and place it on top of the others, so that the fillings are touching and the bread is on the outside. Then flip the whole sandwich so that the top is facing up.
- Using a large bread knife, cut the sandwich into serving sized pieces. I find it best to cut the sandwich in half and then repeat by cutting each half in half until I get to the desired slice size.
- Serve with any potato chips, cold fruit, or lemonade as desired.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- When traveling with your sandwich, we often bag ours up in serving-sized pieces or if going on a picnic, we slice the sub up and place it back into the bread bag that the loaf originally came in and close the end. It makes it much more convenient for traveling.
- By cutting the sandwich before leaving the house, it prevents you from tearing the sandwich apart at your destination or carrying around a large knife in public. Neither option sounds great.
- You can customize your huge sub sandwich to your own liking. No mayo, no mustard, add tomatoes, onions, black olives, salami, etc. The possibilities are endless for a customized and unique sandwich experience.
- You can use French bread if desired but we personally prefer the softer Italian bread loaf as it's much less chewy. French bread is a great option if you want the thicker crust and chewiness though!
Storage
- This sandwich is best eaten within 2 hours of making but can last up to a day or two if stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You don't want to leave the sandwich sitting out too long at room temperature due to the condiments and cheese. Mayo doesn't do well with heat. But thanks to the thickness of the bread, it can be placed in the fridge for even longer storage if you don't finish it all at once.
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