Stanley Tucci's Favorite Snack Is A Childhood Classic

He's a famous actor and director who's appeared in dozens of movies and television shows. He's won Emmy awards and Golden Globes while also receiving nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony. But these days, despite all his Hollywood acclaim, Stanley Tucci might be more known as the guy who makes shows about Italian food. Tucci hosted "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" — a six-part series on CNN in 2021. In 2025, he hosted "Tucci in Italy" on National Geographic. The man knows what he's talking about when it comes to authentic Italian. 

But even with Tucci's love of all things Italian food, there's one classic American pantry staple that he can't live without: peanut butter. In a 2023 interview on Instagram, Tucci says his favorite quick snack is simply peanut butter on a sandwich. Also, in a rapid fire round of questions with Katie Couric on TikTok, Tucci got a little more specific — saying his favorite midnight go-to is "peanut butter, banana, honey on toasted bread."

It might be a surprise that a man so well-known for authentic Italian food and fine dining keeps it as simple as a peanut butter sandwich as his go-to snack. But let's be honest — who doesn't love peanut butter? So that got us to thinking — what else could be paired with peanut butter to make a killer sandwich?

We've told you about our opinion on the best and worst peanut butter brands. To sum it up, you can't go wrong with Skippy Creamy or Skippy Natural. With that as a starting point, you can pair this delicious peanut butter to make all types of creative sandos.

For starters, let's go one more round with Stanley Tucci and one of his favorite sandwiches as a kid. That's the classic fluffernutter — a simple combination of peanut butter and marshmallow cream on white bread. In an interview with Good Morning America, Tucci spoke of his mother and the incredible sandwiches she would send to school with him as a kid. Tucci said his mom's lunches were amazing, but sometimes he wanted something different. "On occasion there was a friend of mine who used to have — just fluffernutter sandwiches, and I would get a hankering and trade him some beautiful sandwich," he told GMA.

Building off of Tucci's peanut butter creations, we have our own ideas. How about a next-level PB&J that amps up both the savoriness and sweetness with a couple of slices of bacon, basically a toned down version of Elvis Presley's favorite sandwich? That might hit the spot as a midnight snack. Some other options for a PB&J with a spin — sub the bread out for some freshly baked biscuits, add a touch of Nutella to mix with the peanut butter, or toast the bread grilled cheese style to make a grilled PB&J. We have plenty of ways to take your PB&J up a notch.

The moral of the story is you just can't go wrong with peanut butter. It's one of those versatile food items, both savory and sweet, that just makes everything you pair it with so much better.