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The Best Cuban Sandwich Recipe

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First, comes the sweet buttery bread and then the Best Cuban Sandwich! It’s loaded with Cuban pork roast, cheese, ham, and pickles.

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPGRADED FROM 10/6/16 TO IMPROVE READER EXPERIENCE.
Oval Medianoche bread roll filled with dill pickle slices, ham, roasted pork, and swiss cheese on a grey metal plate and then grilled. White dishes of a sriracha aioli and pickle slices sit next to a basket of Medianoche rolls.

Cuban Sandwich Recipe is a complete meal between two slices of bread. It’s sweet, tangy, eggy, and everything that I could want in a Cuban sandwich.

Do you remember the beautiful Cuban Medianoche Bread that I posted? Well, the Best Sandwich that’s ever come out of my kitchen was the reason for that beautiful Cuban bread recipe.

Our son lives in Miami and John and we had our first experience with Miami Cuban food shortly after he moved there.

We fell in love with their authentic Cubano sandwich, and I set out on a quest to make one in my own kitchen.

Since first making my Cuban recipe I’ve learned that there is also a Cuban sandwich called a Medianoche.

The recipe that we used is featured in the cookbook “Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban by “The Three Guys” from Miami.

They use the Medianoche bread and call it a Cuban Sandwich but technically it could be a Medianoche.

I’m just the cook so if you’re passionate about the difference, take it up with the pros!

Close up of half a grilled bread roll filled with pickles, ham, roasted pork, and swiss cheese on a metal plate.

What is the difference between a Cuban sandwich and a Medianoche?

A Medianoche consists of roast pork, ham, mustard, Swiss cheese, and sweet pickles. It is a close cousin to the Cuban sandwich.

The chief difference being that a medianoche is made on soft, sweet egg dough bread similar to Challah rather than on crustier Cuban bread.

Cuban bread is a fairly simple white bread, similar to French bread and Italian bread.

There is only one way to build this sandwich!

“The Three Guys” from Miami state there is only one way to build this sandwich. On buttered Medianoche bread, place the pickles, roasted pork, ham and then cheese in that order. Mustard is optional.

We combined Dijon mustard with a little sriracha sauce. The difference is amazing.

Ingredients

  • Bread Rolls
  • Cuban Roast Pork
  • Sliced Ham
  • Swiss Cheese
  • Dill Pickles
  • Mustard – optional

NOTE: You only need 1 pound of the pork for 4 sandwiches, but we baked the entire pork roast so I had plenty for future sandwiches!

We froze my leftover pork for a future dinner which makes a delicious no-fuss meal when we are too busy to cook or just don’t feel like it.

Pin this yummy sandwich to your favorite sandwich board!

Oval Medianoche bread roll filled with dill pickle slices, ham, roasted pork, and swiss cheese on a grey metal plate. A white dish of a sriracha aioli sits in the background next to a basket of rolls.

You May Need:

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  • Panini Press – This is the one that I have. I like that the grates are reversible and become a griddle and that they can be removed for easy cleaning.
    • You can also use a grill pan with a sandwich press or foil-covered brick.
  • Slotted Spatula – Also called a fish spatula. I use mine for everything. It’s basically replaced my turner spatula.

If you like my Cubano recipe, here are a few more I think you’ll love!

Oval Medianoche bread roll filled with dill pickle slices, ham, roasted pork, and swiss cheese on a grey metal plate. A white dish of a sriracha aioli sits in the background next to a basket of rolls.
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5 from 19 votes

The Best Cuban Sandwich

First, comes the sweet buttery bread and then the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's loaded with Cuban pork roast, cheese, ham, and pickles.
Prep Time 25 mins
Cook Time 3 hrs
Marinating Time 2 hrs
Total Time 5 hrs 20 mins
Servings 4 Sandwiches
Author Hostess At Heart

Ingredients

Sandwich

  • 4 Cuban Medianoche Bread rolls
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 lb Cuban Roast Pork
  • 8 slices sliced ham (sweet cured, Serrano, or bolo ham – I used honey ham
  • 8 slices Swiss Cheese
  • Dill pickle slices
  • Mustard optional I used a Dijon but a spicy brown would be great or just yellow too.
  • *Sriracha Optional

Cuban Roast Pork (Mojo – Marinated Pork)

  • 4 pound Pork shoulder roast
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 cup sour orange juice I used 2/3 cup 100% orange juice (not from concentrate, 1 lime juiced and 1 lemon juiced)
  • 1 cup minced onion
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 cup olive oil Spanish if you have it. I used Italian

Instructions

Cuban Roast Pork

  • Mash the garlic, salt and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle or a food processor. Stir in sour orange juice, onion and oregano. Let mixture sit for 30 minutes.
  • Heat olive oil in a 2 quart saucepan until hot but not frying hot. You'll see some movement in the oil. Remove the oil from the heat and quickly AND CAREFULLY whisk the garlic-orange juice mixture until well blended. Let cool before using as a marinade.
  • Pierce the pork roast several times all over with a fork or sharp knife. Place it in a roasting pan and pour garlic mixture (save a little for basting while roasting) over pork. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for two or three hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  • Remove lid from the pork and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 225°F and roast until the meat is soft and you can pull it apart easily with a fork, about 2 hours and 20 minutes. Baste occasionally while roasting. I roasted mine to an internal temperature of 175°F. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Sandwich Assembly.

  • Butter the inside of the top and bottom of the bread and *mustard if using. Put the pickles on the bread, followed by the roasted pork, ham, and cheese. Be generous!
  • Butter a hot griddle or pan. Place the sandwich on the pan and using a heavy skillet, bacon press or foil wrapped brick, or panini press, flatten the sandwich for approximately 3 minutes and then flip to the other side.
  • You don’t want you pan so hot that your bread burns but it needs to be hot enough to melt your cheese.
  • Slice the sandwich diagonally and serve immediately.

Notes

4 sandwiches only take 1 pound of meat.  I freeze what I don’t use so we always have Cubanos without having to roast the pork each time.
Cooking time depends on the size of your roast.
The Three Guys from Miami recommend that you let your meat and cheese come to room temperature so the bread so it doesn’t get over toasted before the cheese melts.
I recommend that you toast the inside of the bread so the pickles don’t make your bread soggy.
* I add a little Sriracha to Dijon mustard.  It adds a delicious little kick to the sandwich.
Recipes courtesy of the Three Guys From Miami from their book: “Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban.” Copyright ©2004 All Rights Reserved. Check out their website at: https://icuban.com/food https://icuban.com/food

Nutrition

Calories: 443kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 858mg | Potassium: 425mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 549IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 285mg | Iron: 1mg
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
Tried this recipe? That’s awesome!Mention @hostessatheart or tag #hostessatheart!

My mother-in-law gave me a panini press/grill. We’d been wanting one and she never used hers so we were the beneficiary!

Now that we had a panini press, we could make them without a foil-covered brick or a cast iron skillet…or so we thought.

We squished the bread until the whole thing slid apart as you can see. The ham slid to the back and the cheese and pork to the front.

Side by side comparison of a properly grilled panini bread roll stuffed with cheese, roasted pork, ham, and pickles

You asked me to post some less than perfect results. My perfectionist self is doing it under duress.

Even though the first attempt tasted amazing, our Panini skills needed some work as you can see! Like anything, practice makes perfect.

Comments

  2. Jennifer says

    You don’t indicate what to do with the minced onion and oregano. I assume you sauté these, then whisk sour orange concoction into it?

    Reply

  3. Michele says

    How much do we love this sandwich.??… so much so that my family requested it for the big football game day on Saturday after Thanksgiving! The pork roast was huge, but we grazed on it all day watching football and playing card games. Such a winner! Thank you!

    Reply

    • Julie Menghini says

      Thank you, Beth! I’m diving into my freezer to see if I have any of this meat left! I need me a Cubano pronto!

      Reply

  7. Sharon says

    I am always ready to bite into a great sandwich! This classic Cuban looks amazing, can’t wait to make my own at home.

    Reply

  10. Kylee says

    Would you believe I never had one of these in my life? I made these on the weekend and had no idea how it should taste, but if this is my only point of reference – cuban sandwiches are DELISH!!!

    Reply

  11. Sandra Shaffer says

    Wow, now this is a hearty sandwich! Not a fan of sweet pickles, so I’m sticking with the best Cuban sandwich. Yay, I have a panini press too!

    Reply

  12. Deb says

    I love how you spiced this up with a bit of Sriracha – extra spice sounds delicious to me! You have it perfectly grilled with oozey cheesy goodness!!

    Reply

  13. Angela says

    My goodness, what’s not to love about this sandwich!! Every layer sounds perfect!! The pork especially has me drooling! Looking forward to making this!

    Reply

  15. Noelle says

    I love making sandwhichs for lunch and this one really hit the spot!! I can see myself making this again really soon

    Reply

  16. Mary Bostow says

    Delicious sandwich, EASY to make. I would make this again, everyone enjoyed them and asked for seconds…

    Reply

  17. Pam says

    We love Cuban sandwiches, but would you believe I have never thought of making them at home! Great idea, and great recipe. Thanks!

    Reply

  19. michele says

    On the hunt to try the soft egg bread version now that Ive had the cuban variety! Loved the crunchy bread and the crunch of the pickles with the melty cheese and tender pork! LOVED a lot! Thanks!

    Reply

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