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Homemade Sub Sandwiches

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These choose-your-own style Homemade Sub Sandwiches are a great way to let your kids have autonomy when making their own sandwiches. Prep the toppings the night before making lunch packing a breeze on school mornings!

homemade sub sandwich for kids wrapped in white paper with carrot stickshomemade sub sandwich for kids wrapped in white paper with carrot sticks

The fun thing about restaurant dining is everyone in your family can get something different! The very thing we avoid when we are cooking for our family at home.  If you’ve ever said before “I’m only making one meal tonight, you eat it or you don’t”, you know what I’m talking about!

But this is also the reason we love a good old home style buffet- The potato barthe oatmeal bar, the salad bar, pasta bar, taco bar, etc.  Enter, our version of a sandwich bar. These Homemade Sub Sandwiches are perfect for helping your kids learn to pack their own lunches and have much lest wasted food!

How to Make Homemade Sub Sandwiches

To make our sandwich bar just like Subway’s, we had two things in mind. One, to make our hoagie rolls. And second, to find as many veggie toppings as we could come up with.

Our bread, we adapted this recipe from Copycat Recipe Guide (and replaced the regular flour with whole wheat flour and the soybean oil with Grape Seed Oil)- Our full recipe is below.

We then baked our bread in a mini loaf pan– because we like small things!  You don’t need a loaf pan. You can also divide your bread into 8 logs and bake it on a cookie sheet.

Our-Way Mini Sub Sandwiches. Picky eaters? Satisfy each family member's unique tastes and only serve ONE meal!

Sandwich Toppings

After baking, we took out our veggies for the sandwiches and put them in a muffin tin.  These are some ideas to use for sandwich toppings:

  • Green peppers, chopped
  • Shredded carrots
  • Avocado
  • Jalapenos
  • Spinach
  • Roasted Red peppers
  • Pickles
  • Banana Peppers
  • Lettuce, shredded
  • Tomatoes, chopped
  • Cucumbers, thinly sliced
  • and Olives, chopped (sliced would work too)
collage of sandwich toppings with sandwich assembly for a homemade sub sandwich

Prepping your veggies the night before and putting them in a muffin tin makes your sub sandwich assembly SO easy. I just cover it with plastic wrap or tin foil and pull in out when we are ready to assemble our sandwiches. And there you have it! The kids can assemble their sandwiches to their liking!

muffin tin with sandwich toppings and cheese and hoagie rolls in the background

More Healthy Sandwich Recipes

Print Recipe
4.5 from 4 votes

Homemade Hoagie Rolls

Our homemade hoagie rolls are soft and chewy on the inside with a thin and crispy crust on the outside making them the perfect roll for any sandwich!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Rising1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 15 minutes
Course: bread, Lunch
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 large hoagie rolls
Calories: 222kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Pour warm water over the top and let proof for 5-10 minutes or until the yeast looks foamy and bubbling.
  • In a stand mixer with your dough hook, add melted butter, 1 cup water, 3 cups of flour, and salt. When your yeast is foamy, pour it into the bowl. Mix until combined, 1-2 minutes.
  • The dough should be soft, but not sticky. It should pull away from the edges of the bowl when mixing. If it is too sticky, add in flour 1/4 cup at a time. When the dough is soft, let the mixer knead the dough for 5-6 minutes to help create gluten which gives you a softer, chewier end result.
  • Place dough in a lightly-greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about one hour.
  • Punch dough down and place on a clean, floured surface. Divide into eight pieces. This will make eight large full-size hoagie rolls. You can divide into 16 pieces for half-size rolls.
  • Shape each piece of dough into a rectangle by placing your hands on each side of the dough and moving your hands together in a vertical motion, and then in a horizontal motion to get the dough tucked underneath itself. When you have the shape you want, place the roll onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can use a bread lame to make slashes across the top if you want.
  • Cover the rolls with clean towel, and let them rise for another 30 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and 1 tablespoon cold water together. Using a pastry brush, carefully brush the egg wash on the top of each roll. This will give you a nice golden brown shiny top.
  • Preheat oven to 375℉. Bake for 15-20 minutes for small rolls, and 20-25 for larger rolls or until the top of the loaves are golden brown.
  • Remove from oven to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting them. I recommend using a quality bread knife to slice them.
  • Add your favorite sandwich toppings and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 328mg | Potassium: 58mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 132IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Keyword : Homemade Hoagie Rolls

www.superhealthykids.com

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

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11 Comments

@Chrissy- We got a “crinkle cutter” from Bed Bath and Beyond on their gadget wall. We also have a link to an amazon one in our “Favorite products”
@magdalena, ChrissyW- Vital Wheat gluten does a great job of holding bread together. Without it, it seems to get crumbly. It’s definitely not necessary though.

What a fantastic and creative idea. This recipe would be a super fun activity to involve the kids in. You’re absolutely right about the one home meal made to share as opposed to restaurant meals where we choose our own. This recipe has the best of both worlds – it’s a healthy home cooked meal and provides a variety of choice. Also – i love how you have made your own bread. Carbs aren’t evil! Everything in moderation. You should watch this short Jamie Oliver video on ‘Don’t be Scared of Carbs’ –> http://www.jamieoliver.com/videos/don-t-be-scared-of-carbs-jamiessuperfood-daily-jamie/#8XLWSMMwcYY9e1OB.97

Hi!
Looks great! But it doesn’t say when to add the vital gluten…
I added it after the flour, when I realized it doesn’t mention it.
Thanks