How To Make The Viral Chopped Italian Sandwich At Home

A new sandwich took the internet by storm in 2023. A tangy and meaty heavy-hitter that's built to satisfy a big appetite, the viral sensation is called the chopped Italian sandwich. It's an Italian chopped salad in sandwich form, made by stacking lettuce, ham, salami, pepperoni, fresh purple onion, tomatoes, and cheese, then chopping the ingredients into fine squares and dousing them with a serious amount of vinegar and mayonnaise dressing. The sandwich is basically a reimagined Italian sub. Introduced to the world by Big Erics BBQ, the TikTok that started it all now has almost 10 million views and there are plenty of other videos online with creators replicating the viral sandwich.

The best part about this sandwich is the range of flavors and ingredients, plus the fact that you don't actually have to do all that much chopping. You're not slicing up every ingredient individually — instead, you layer the ingredients in a pile and then dice them up all at once. Top with a bunch of dressing and seasonings, then shove the chopped ingredients in the sandwich. The top comment on the viral video really sums up the best part about this sandwich: "crazy idea, add all the ingredients then chop once."

To make your own chopped Italian sandwich at home, start with the basic ingredients in an Italian cold cut sub, including a foot-long loaf of your favorite Italian sandwich bread. The viral sandwich video starts with a bag of shredded lettuce, though you could shred some lettuce yourself if you want. Then layer on cold cuts (try these unexpected deli meat options perfect for an Italian sandwich), veggies, and other ingredients like sliced provolone cheese, pepperoncinis, and roasted red peppers to the pile. Then chop the whole thing up "until you lose patience," as one TikToker put it.

All those delicious ingredients will mix as you're chopping, but you'll also give it a good toss when you add the dressing. Once it's chopped as fine as you'd like, top the pile with a large dollop of mayonnaise, some red wine vinegar, Italian dressing, and maybe a little bit of olive oil. Add salt and pepper and then pop the mixture in the fridge for a while to chill. Once you're ready to eat, slice some fresh Italian bread, fill it with the chopped salad mixture to complete the viral sandwich, and enjoy.