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The Best Cuban Sandwich Recipe

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First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich!  It’s sweet, tangy, eggy, and best of all, delicious!

First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious! | HostessAtHeart.comI know you remember the beautiful Cuban Medianoche Bread that I recently posted.  Here is the Best Cuban Sandwich that could ever come out of my kitchen.  It is sweet, tangy, eggy, and everything that I could want in a Cuban sandwich.

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My mother-in-law gave me a panini press/grill not long ago.  I had been wanting one and she never used hers so I was the beneficiary!  John and I love a great Cuban sandwich, and I set out on a quest to make one in my kitchen.  Now that I had a panini press, I could make them without a foil covered brick or a cast iron skillet…or so I thought.

First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious! | HostessAtHeart.comI got all of the ingredients that I needed, marinated and roasted the most amazing pork shoulder, and baked those amazing Cuban Medianoche Bread rolls.  All I had to do was put it together and put it in my panini maker until golden brown.

First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious! | HostessAtHeart.com[Tweet “First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! #food #recipe”]This recipe is featured in the cookbook “Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban by “The Three Guys” from Miami.  They 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.  I did that and then squished my 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.

First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious! | HostessAtHeart.comWell, even though I’ve created the Best Cuban Sandwich, my panini skills need a bit of work.  You asked me to post some less than perfect results.  My perfectionist self is doing it under duress.  The next attempt was better, but no pictures are available.  John got a hold of it and that’s the end of the story and of The Best Cuban Sandwich…for now.

Don’t have time to make it now?  Pin it for later!


First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious! | HostessAtHeart.com
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The Best Cuban Sandwich
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
3 hrs
Total Time
3 hrs 20 mins
 
First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious!
Servings: 4 Sandwiches
Hostess At Heart: Hostess At Heart
Ingredients
Sandwich
  • 4 Cuban Medianoche Bread rolls
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 pound Cuban pork
  • 1 pound sliced ham (sweet cured or bolo ham - I used honey ham
  • 8 slices of Swiss Cheese
  • Dill pickle slices
  • Mustard optional I used a Dijon but a spicy brown would be great or just yellow too.
Cuban Pork
  • 4 to 6 pound shoulder roast
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon 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 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 cup olive oil Spanish if you have it. I used Italian
Instructions
Pork Shoulder
  1. Mash the garlic, salt and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in sour orange juice, onion and oregano. Let mixture sit for 30 minutes.
  2. Heat the 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 mixture until well blended. Let cool before using as a marinade.
  3. 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.
  4. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  5. Remove lid from 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. 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.
  6. Bring the pan juices to a boil and simmer until the juice is reduced by half. Sprinkle juice onto the pork when you put it in the sandwich.
Sandwich Assembly.
  1. 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 and juices, ham and cheese. Be generous!
  2. Butter a hot griddle or pan. Place the sandwich on the pan and using a heavy skillet, bacon press or foil wrapped brick, flatten the sandwich for approximately 3 minutes and then flip to the other side.
  3. You don't want you pan so hot that your bread burns but it needs to be hot enough to melt your cheese.
  4. Slice the sandwich diagonally and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes

Cooking time depends on the size of your roast.
The Three Guys from Miami recommend that you let your meats and cheese come to room temperature so the bread wont 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 mushy.

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: http://icuban.com/food http://icuban.com/food

You only need 1 pound of the pork for 4 sandwiches, but make plenty for future Cuban sandwiches!  I froze my leftover pork for a future dinner of the Best Cuban Sandwich.

It’s always fun to share so let’s head over to Fiesta Friday and Saucy Saturdays!

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First, comes the bread and then comes the Best Cuban Sandwich! It's sweet, tangy and eggy, and best of all, delicious! | HostessAtHeart.com
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Comments

  4. I have a panini press that I don’t use nearly enough. My husband loves Cuban sandwiches. I will have to give these a try. Your photos are gorgeous–all that melty cheese is making my mouth water 🙂

    Reply

    • I needed a panini press class, Lucy before I dove into this sandwich. I don’t know why I didn’t experiment first. Regardless it was delicious! Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have an amazing weekend!

      Reply

    • Oh Katie, your kiddos would love these and since I cooked an almost 5-pound pork shoulder I have leftovers in the freezer for the next time I whip up that bread. Thank you so much for stopping by and have a marvelous weekend!

      Reply

    • The best were in Florida Dan! They ruined me for any others until these. I appreciate you stopping by and leaving me such a sweet comment! My pictures are a work in progress….

      Reply

    • Oh Jasmine, I don’t think he will be disappointed. Please give it a try and let me know what your husband thinks. We have one place in town that we can get them and they’re good. We keep trying them at other places and they’re are just meh. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend!

      Reply

      • Just a cold front that is supposed to produce rain, but nothing from that awful storm out there. I really feel for Florida. Really scary what that monster is doing!

        Reply

        • It’s 39 here this morning and it rained all day yesterday with tornado watches. Go figure. My son lives in Miami and we were pretty nervous but it looks like they dodged the worst of it. Cold and rain…time to bake!

          Reply

  10. I had a Cuban sandwich once and it was in Costa Rica! I love your recipe it brings back memories of our first vacation without the kids!
    I’ll be making this for him. I wonder if he’ll remember too!?! Lol
    Thanks!
    Michelle

    Reply

  11. OMG! That sandwich looks heavenly. I love the thick slices of pork shoulder, the gooey cheese and that bread – i would kill for that bread. You have me drooling right now!

    Reply

  12. I love a good sandwich and if I had this one I am not sure I would have made it to photograph is before it was in my belly! Yum! I had a panini press but got rid of it when I moved as I have to admit I never used it and now am thinking it might have been a bit rash!
    Thank you for co hosting Fiesta Friday and have a great weekend! 🙂

    Reply

    • Thank you Petra! I’ve done that too I hate having stuff I don’t use and then have fleeting thoughts that maybe I should have hung on to it. I’ve lived a long time without one and if this wasn’t given to me I might not have one yet. You can use another pan or a brick too.

      Reply

  13. Oh my gosh, Julie! I can’t believe that I have been known to say that I don’t like sandwiches! These look like something I actually want to eat! Yum!

    Reply

  14. Ok, ignore what I said on your other post. THIS IS my favorite medianoche snack! Ok, not snack, but a full meal. This is my favorite medianoche meal! What?! You mean you never had a medianoche meal?!

    Reply

    • Thank you, Angie! I’d had a couple good Cubano sandwiches but they don’t exist in Nebraska so had to learn to make this sandwich. I will be searching the Three Guys cookbook for more. We sure loved their recipes.

      Reply

  16. I never had a Cuban sandwich but obviously I have been missing something good. Sour orange juice – that’s a new one! Thanks for co-hosting this week 🙂

    Reply

    • Thank you Judi! Sour orange was a new one for me too and not available where I shop. I used the citrus mix and it was really good. I just love hosting FF. They are the best bloggers ever. I wish I had more time to do it more often. People that don’t do it don’t know what they’re missing!

      Reply

    • Thank you, Matt! You will love this bread! I’m going to make it again and love that I have leftover pork in the freezer. It’s like dinner money! I sure hope you will stop back and let me know what you think. Enjoy your day! Julie

      Reply

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