As I was browsing Ree Drummond’s website recently (as I often do when I am hungry for some good-old fashioned American comfort food), I saw the yummiest looking sandwiches she posted. She made “waffle-wiches”, which is basically like a panini, only you make it in the waffle maker instead. I love paninis but don’t have a panini press, so I was so excited to try this at home. I was especially excited because she made reubens and those are one of my very favorite sandwiches that I hardly ever have. She also made a turkey bacon, a roast beef and a fluffernutter.

This is the perfect timing because did you know that November is the month to celebrate sandwiches? It’s national sandwich month and now you can make all sorts of yummy grilled sandwiches with very little fuss and muss by making them right in your waffle maker! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this than by whipping up any (or all!) of these four delicious sandwiches.


Making these grilled sandwiches in the waffle-maker with less than 3 minutes cooking time could really be a game-changer for you! I never mind making grilled cheese-type sandwiches on the stove top, but this is SO fast and easy. It’s a little bit sad because I now live in a house with an electric stove again--the last three houses I lived in had gas ovens--and it now takes five times as long with my electric stove as it used to! To me, a gas stove is the Chevy Corvette of the stove world and it is hard to go back to the navy Chevy Malibu after you drove the sweet bright yellow Chevy corvette for over five years. So in  the time the pan on my stovetop heats up and gets hot enough to start cooking, these babies would already be nice and golden brown and gooey and ready to devour. It's pretty awesome! 

Grilled Reuben Waffle-wich


Any day is a perfect day for a perfectly grilled, melty cheese oozing out, Reuben sandwich. It is really simple too--you simply start by turning your waffle iron on to medium-low heat. Next, take two pieces of rye bread (or any bread you have on hand) and spread both sides generously with Thousand Island dressing. Next, add two slices of Swiss cheese, generous layers of pastrami, ¼ cup of sauerkraut, another two slices of Swiss cheese and you are good to go! Just don’t forget to butter the outside of the bread generously with butter for all of these sandwiches so they can get perfectly golden brown and crispy on the outside.

Grilled Turkey and Bacon Waffle-wich


Next up is a turkey bacon waffle-wich and no, I’m not talking about turkey bacon, we are talking about delicious smoky sliced turkey and crispy, thick-cut bacon. Start with two slices of white or wheat bread and add a layer of dijon mustard and mayo. Add 2 slices of cheddar cheese, a generous layer of sliced turkey, lots of crispy bacon, thinly sliced red onion, fresh spinach and top with 2 more slices of cheese. 

Roast Beef Waffle-wich


For the roast beef version, start by slathering two slices of whtie bread with some horseradish mayo. Add two slices of Provolone cheese, plenty of good-quality sliced roast beef, pepperoncinis, two more slices of Provolone and voila!

Fluffernutter

In case you dont’ know what a fluffernutter is, it’s a pretty nostalgic simple sandwich that was popular in the 70’s and 80’s that is simply a sandwich with peanut butter and spreadable marshmallow fluff on white bread. We are going to give this old sandwich a bit more volume by adding a sliced banana in it as well to make it more hefy like the other sandwiches. Ree was smart and gave us a sweet option to balance the other savory options and I love that. I am all for that!

Which of these sandwiches would you want to try? How are you going to celebrate national sandwich month properly? Please tell us about your favorite sandwich in the comments below. 

Ree Drummond’s Reuben Waffle-Wich



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    Mary Richardson
    Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2014
    Email the author! mary@dvo.com