Best sandwich for diabetics, best sandwich for a picnic…

We’ve identified:

• Best sandwich for diabetics
• Best sandwich for a picnic
• Best low calorie sandwich
• Best sandwich for breakfast
• Best sandwich for lunch
• Best sandwich for dinner
• Best vegan sandwich
• Best low carb sandwich

Now let’s find out more about them...

Best sandwich for diabetics

The best sandwiches for diabetics will avoid spiking blood sugar, and instead stabilise it, releasing energy slowly and steadily.

So you’ll need to use wholegrain bread, which has the added benefit of being packed full of fibre for healthy digestion. For the filling you should opt for healthy fats and protein-rich foods - so hummus (made from chickpeas, olive oil and tahini) and roasted vegetables like peppers and tomatoes are an ideal choice.

Top tip!

To keep all ingredients diabetic friendly, make your own hummus. And when you do add a cube of ice as you blend the chickpeas and oil, this will help introduce air into the hummus and make it lighter and creamier.

Allergy alert

Wholemeal bread is generally made with wholemeal flour, which is wheat and therefore a Cereal containing Gluten. Tahini, a key ingredient in hummus, is made with Sesame.

Both Cereals containing Gluten and Sesame are both among the 14 major food allergens.

Best sandwich for a picnic

The perfect sandwich for a picnic should be easy to transport and not too messy to eat. A filled loaf is both these things and tasty to boot.

They are made by slicing the top off a study bread circular loaf like ciabatta or crusty white and scooping most of the centre out (but still leaving a thick edge of bread) and filling the cavity with layers of mozzarella cheese, spinach, parma ham or other deli meat, tomatoes and pesto. You then put the bread top back on like a lid, and clingfilm the loaf until needed.

You can then slice it up when you unpack the picnic, and the thick bread layer should stop the filling from getting everywhere.

Top tip!

Use sundried tomatoes rather than raw or cooked tomatoes, as they have less water content and are less messy to eat.

Allergy alert

Most bread is made with wheat flour, a Cereal containing Gluten. Mozzarella is a cheese and therefore a Milk derivative. Pesto is made with parmesan - another cheese, and pine nuts - a (Tree) Nut. Cereals containing Gluten, Milk and Nuts are all in the 14 major food allergens.

Best low calorie sandwich

The best low calorie sandwiches use tortilla wraps instead of bread, as they are less dense and calorific. Fillings wise you’ll want lean protein (white meat, fish), vegetables (especially crunchy lettuce for texture) and instead of butter or mayonnaise you should go for a vinaigrette. We suggest a turkey, tomato, alfalfa sprout and lettuce wrap with a mustard vinaigrette (made by combining olive oil, mustard powder and apple cider vinegar).

Top tip!

Add a squeeze of lemon juice to the vinaigrette to make all the flavours pop!

Allergy alert

Like bread, tortilla wraps are usually made with wheat flour - a Cereal containing Gluten (some tortillas are made with corn but these are more commonly used for tacos). Mustard is also one of the major food allergens.

Best sandwich for breakfast

In the morning the body needs protein, to aid with cognitive function and stabilise blood sugar to avoid those mid-morning energy crashes - so the best breakfast sandwich will contain eggs (fried, scrambled, poached, boiled…). Eggs are a high-protein food and a great choice for keeping you fuller for longer, plus aiding with weight management. They’re also rich in vitamin D, vitamin A and the antioxidant selenium, to get the day off to a good start. And egg pairs beautifully with bacon, another classic breakfast food - opt for streaky bacon, as the fat marbled through it will distribute the meaty flavour evenly across the sandwich.

Top tip!

No matter how you decide to cook your eggs, mid-way through cooking break the yolk and spread it evenly throughout the whites - this will ensure its rich flavour and silky texture is in every bit of the sandwich.

Allergy alert

Eggs are one of the 14 major food allergens, as are Cereals containing Gluten. Most bread is made from wheat or rye, both Cereals containing Gluten.

Best sandwich for lunch

For lunch you can’t go wrong with a Ploughman’s sandwich - derived from the traditional British Ploughman’s Lunch, itself a sort of deconstructed sandwich of bread, cheese, pickles and sometimes other ingredients such as fruit, ham and hard boiled eggs.

A Ploughman’s sandwich’s main components are mature cheddar cheese, Branston pickle and thick slices of crusty bread (wholemeal or white). It’s a hearty and filling choice, but easy to put together and perfect to eat on the go.

Top tip!

Add a thin layer of dijon mustard to your sandwich, it’s sharp tang and creamy texture will perfectly compliment the pickle and give it a kick.

Allergy alert

Crusty white bread and wholemeal bread are both made with wheat, a Cereal containing Gluten, whilst cheese is a derivative of Milk - both of which are among the 14 major food allergens. Pickle may contain Sulphites, another allergen, and if Mustard is used it should be noted this is also a major allergen.

Best sandwich for dinner

There are many sandwiches hearty enough for an evening meal but it’s hard to look past something meaty and satisfying like a traditional Greek gyro.

It consists of spit-roasted meat like pork or lamb stuffed into a pitta bread with other ingredients like tomatoes, red onion, lettuce and sauce - usually the tzatziki or dill and cucumber yoghurt but sometimes chilli. As a sandwich it’s very filling, and has a real sense of occasion.

Top tip!

For a lighter option perfect for warm summer nights, replace the pork or lamb meat with grilled turkey. Be sure to pat any excess liquid off the raw turkey slices and brush both sides with melted butter or oil before popping under the grill to ensure it’s not dry or flavourless.

Allergy alert

Pitta breads are made with wheat, a Cereal containing Gluten, and therefore a major food allergen. If butter or yoghurt are used for the sauce in the gyro, it should be noted they are both derived from Milk, another major food allergen.

Best vegan sandwich

The best vegan sandwich is one with a filling that is plant-based but protein-rich, to balance out the carbohydrates of the bread. Chickpeas are a filling legume that can be used as a good source of protein, and can be a simple or fancy sandwich filling depending on how they are deployed - the chickpea spread hummus is an easy filling that simply needs placing between 2 slices of bread, whilst combining chickpeas with chopped onions, raisins, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder males for a vegan take on the classic Coronation chicken sandwich

Top tip!

Chopped apple is a great addition to a hummus or coronation chickpea sandwich - it adds crunchy texture, complements the creamy savoury chickpeas, and has a zesty freshness too.

Allergy alert

Most bread is made with wheat or rye flour, meaning it contains a major food allergen - Cereals containing Gluten. And whilst chickpeas themselves are not an allergen, one of the main ingredients in hummus is tahini, which contains the major allergen Sesame, and if mayonnaise is used, it is made with the major allergen Eggs.

Best low carb sandwich

The best low carb sandwich is a breadless sandwich of course! This means using lettuce leaves in place of bread slices to hold in the filling - iceberg lettuce makes the best bun replacement. For the filling, a sturdy mixture of tinned tuna, mayonnaise and capers, alongside seasonings like pepper and mustard powder, will have the right texture to be contained by the lettuce and remains low in carbohydrates.

Top tip!

Squeeze out excess liquid from your tuna fish before combining it with mayonnaise - this will allow the fish to absorb the mayonnaise fully, for a richer and more intense flavour.

Allergy alert

Tuna is a Fish, one of the 14 major food allergens, whilst mayonnaise is made with Eggs, another of them.