Southern Living recommends lengthwise slices so they stay on the bread. Their article has lots of interesting banana lore while claiming without evidence that only Duke’s mayo can be used.
The banana sandwich is a depression-era improvisation which is still popular down south, though we had never heard of it until reader Rob Smith gave us a heads up over in the comments on our Best Mayonnaise Taste Test post. And guess what, it’s really good. The sweetness of the banana and the mayo complement each other beautifully and the soft white bread is like a billowy cloud, holding the ingredients together without adding its own texture. Makes 1 banana sandwich.
Ingredients:
2 slices cheap white sandwich bread
½ banana, not green but not overripe, sliced lengthwise into strips
1 T or more mayonnaise
Method: spread the mayo to all edges of both bread slices then layer banana on top. Close it up, slice in half for easier handling, and enjoy.
Variation: Banana Sandwich with BBQ Potato Chips
Banana Sandwich with BBQ Potato Chips.
Rob Smith recommends adding barbecue-flavored potato chips to the sandwich for “sweet savory with a hint of spice”. We tried and, sorry, not a fan. If you do this crumple the potato chips so the sharp edges don’t tear up the delicate white bread.
Variation: Elvis-Style Banana Sandwich
Reader Chuckeye Dave reminds us this was the King’s favorite sandwich. The internet tells us he added bacon and peanut butter to a banana sandwich and then fried it in butter. We think it makes more sense to use that good bacon grease so that’s what we did and we like it. Makes one sandwich.
Ingredients:
2 slices cheap white sandwich bread
½ banana, not green but not overripe, sliced lengthwise into strips
1 T or more mayonnaise
1 T or more creamy peanut butter (it needs to be soft so it won’t tear the bread)
2 slices bacon, toasted crisp
Bacon fat from cooking bacon
Method: assemble banana sandwich per above and spread peanut butter on the open slice of bread (the one without the bananas). Layer on the bacon strips and close it up. Fry both sides until brown in the bacon grease in the pan. Slice in half and serve.
Banana Sandwich Elvis- Style.
If you move on to grilled (fried?) cheese sandwiches, use mayonnaise instead of butter to fry. A slice of in season tomato, ham, maybe bacon…, is OK too.
Would you put dollops of mayo in a skillet like shortening or just coat the outside of the sandwich then lay it into the skillet?
I just coat the outside of the bread, but I also add a small amount of butter as, please don’t hate me….use light mayo generally, so it needs the butter boost when griddling.
Hmmm… the light mayo gets its texture from cornstarch or equivalent replacing some of the oil, yes? That wouldn’t be very satisfactory for griddling so I agree you need the added butter.
Coat the outside. I would do that with soft butter rather than melt it in the skillet, but I seldom use soft butter. Easy enough to try.