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Make life delicious with this turkey pesto sandwich! It’s a simple carved turkey sandwich with provolone, pesto and sundried tomatoes. Lunch just got a whole lot better. You can even make a chicken pesto sandwich instead!
So, do lunches get a little boring for you guys some days? My husband and I both work from home, so we have the benefit of not having to pack a lunch, but this also means we end up eating leftovers on most days; however, sometimes those leftovers do not seem all that exciting!
You know what’s better than leftovers? A warm, toasty, flavorful sandwich! Since we don’t often have pre-cooked meat in the fridge for said sandwich, we’ll often keep it a veggie sandwich or make one using deli meats. Then, we discovered store-bought oven-roasted carved turkey breast! Our sandwich game has been UPPED with this turkey pesto sandwich!
Ingredients For Turkey Pesto Sandwich
All you need to make this turkey sandwich is:
- carved turkey breast
- provolone cheese
- bacon
- pesto
- sundried tomatoes
- your favourite bread
- unsalted butter
Turkey Breast: Use leftover holiday turkey or a good quality turkey deli meat. If you are working with chicken instead of turkey, that’s fine too! Make a delicious chicken pesto sandwich instead following these same directions!
Bread: We love using thick sliced sourdough bread for this sandwich, but you can use any type of bread.
Bacon: I have used turkey bacon. in this sandwich as well as regular bacon. If you prefer to skip the bacon, you can leave that out too!
Cheese: Feel free to swap the provolone cheese for something else. It’s all up to you!
Pesto: You can use store-bought pesto, or make your own. Try my favourite walnut basil pesto recipe.
Instructions For Turkey Pesto Sandwich
1. If you’re using the bacon, start by frying it up in a pan, then remove it to a plate and blot the excess grease off.
2. Spread the pesto on both slices of bread, then top one half with turkey breast, followed by the bacon, the cheese, and sundried tomatoes. Place the other half of the bread on top, and smear it with butter.
3. Place the buttered side of the sandwich down on a heated griddle or skillet, and smear the top half of the sandwich with butter. Fry the sandwich for a few minutes, before carefully flipping and frying on the other side, until golden and brown.
Pro Tip: I like to cover the skillet with a lid while cooking the sandwich to ensure the cheese gets nice and melty!
Serve the sandwich up immediately! It’s the best when it’s all toasty and warm!! I’ve got a few salads and soups below that you should think about pairing this sandwich with.
Can You Use Leftover Turkey for This Sandwich?
This is the PERFECT sandwich for using any leftover turkey breast you might have from a holiday gathering. If you slice the meat thin, it works so well in this sandwich. While I’m generally a fan of dark turkey meat, I like to use the white turkey breast meat for this sandwich.
I would recommend using thinly sliced turkey, rather than a large chunk or chunks of meat. It will work better when grilling and flipping the sandwich, so the meat doesn’t fall out!
If you don’t have any leftover turkey on hand, we like to use a good quality, packaged deli meat like this carved turkey breast from Lilydale.
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Serving Suggestions and Similar Sandwiches
This turkey pesto sandwich is great all on its own, or you can pair it with a salad! I highly suggest pairing this sandwich with my roasted corn and chickpea salad!
You can also make a chicken pesto sandwich keeping everything else the same but using roasted chicken breast (sliced thinly) or a good quality chicken deli meat!
This sandwich goes well with any of the following soup & salad ideas!
I also have a few other turkey sandwiches on the blog, including:
Also, if you like pesto you have to try my easy pesto chicken!
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Turkey Pesto Sandwich
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 1 sandwich 1x
Description
Make life delicious with this turkey pesto sandwich! It’s a simple carved turkey sandwich with provolone, pesto and sundried tomatoes. Lunch just got a whole lot better.
Ingredients
- 2 thick slices sourdough bread
- 3–4 tbsp pesto sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- 100g oven roasted turkey breast, sliced thinly*
- 2–4 slices of bacon, cooked according to package directions
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- 4 large sundried tomatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp (60 mL) unsalted butter, room temperature divided
Instructions
- Heat a large griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Place two slices of sourdough, side by side on a cutting board. On both slices of sourdough, spread the pesto evenly.
- On one slice, top with the cooked turkey breast, followed by the bacon, provolone cheese, and sundried tomatoes. Place the second slice of sourdough on top.
- Smear the top of the sandwich with 1 tablespoon of butter, and then place that side of the sandwich down on the large griddle or skillet. Smear the remaining tablespoon of butter over the top. Toast the sandwich in the pan until golden brown and the cheese begins to melt, about 4-5 minutes per side. Place a lid on top of the pan while cooking to speed up the cheese melting. Enjoy immediately!
Leftover sandwiches can be kept for 1-2 days in the refrigerator, in an airtight container.
Notes
*Swap the turkey breast for chicken breast and make a chicken pesto sandwich instead!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: sandwiches
- Method: pan fried
- Cuisine: american
*Note* this post was originally published in 2019. I’ve since redone the text but the recipe remains generally the same.
Anytime I see a sandwich with pesto I’m immediately starving. Pesto makes everything THAT much more delicious! This is an epic sandwich! Have a great week, Katherine!
I TOTALLY AGREE! Thanks Kelsie! I just love pesto on my sandwiches so much!
Katherine YUM! From the buttery thick sourdough bread, to the melty cheese, tangy pesto and of course the delicious nitrate free (yay!) turkey…this is my ideal lunch!!!
Yay, nitrate free! Haha we actually buy this turkey all of the time, so I was happy to create a sandwich using it. Thank you Haylie!
There was a market near my parent’s shore house that used to make a sandwich just like this Katherine and it was my favorite! Instead of the sundried tomatoes they used roasted red peppers. I’ve got to try your combination. Bet it’s just as delish!
Oh, roasted red peppers would also be delicious on this! I love that this brings back memories for you, Mary Ann! Thank you!
Love a good sandwich, Katherine! And pesto on anything, I’m all in! And that melting cheese…. yum!
Pesto on sandwiches is just the best, isn’t it!? The melted cheese is the best! Thank you Laura!
This turkey sandwich is a winner, Katherine!! It looks and sounds so flavorful, especially with pesto and sun dried tomatoes! I could have this for lunch every week😋
You know what, Thao? We DID eat it every day for a week!! Hah thanks my friend!!
I love a good sandwich and pretty confident that I could enjoy for every meal! These one has some of my absolute fave ingredients! Looks so hearty and delicious, Katherine! I see this one in my future real soon 🙂
Cheesy, toasty sandwiches are just the best! I’m pretty sure you’d love this one too Dawn!! Thank you!!
This sandwich is HONESTLY making me crave this right now!!!!! It looks so good Katherine!
Thank you Christie!!! You would absolutely LOVE this sandwich!!
I would definitely enjoy this for lunch! I absolutely LOVE the pesto & turkey combination – delicious!
Pesto and turkey goes so well!! Thanks Jessica!!
Now this is a sandwich! This would make a great dinner with a side salad.
Absolutely. We love sandwiches for dinner actually, when we’re looking for something easy!
This is the king of sandwiches right here!! Love that carved turkey. I bet it tastes amazing!!
The carved turkey is the best!! Thanks Kelly!!