Real N'awlins Muffuletta Recipe

Prep Time:

40 mins

Additional Time:

8 hrs

Total Time:

8 hrs 40 mins

Servings:

8

Jump to Nutrition Facts

The muffuletta, the classic New Orleans sandwich, is surprisingly easy to make at home. This muffuletta recipe — complete with flavorful cold cuts, sliced cheese, and homemade olive spread — is authentically delicious.

What Is a Muffuletta?

A muffuletta is both a type of sandwich invented by Italian immigrants in New Orleans and the type of bread it's served on. A muffuletta consists of a halved muffuletta loaf with deli meats (usually salami, ham, and mortadella) and olive spread. The large sandwich is cut into quarters, so one loaf of bread produces at least four servings.

What Meats are On Muffulettas?

This traditional muffuletta is made with genoa salami, mortadella, and sliced cooked ham.

What Else Will You Need?

Muffulettas are made with Italian bread (use store-bought or make your own), cheese mozzarella and provolone) and olive salad. For the homemade olive salad, you'll need: green and kalamata olives, pepperoncini, pickled cauliflower, cocktail onions, garlic, capers, celery, carrots, spices, olive oil, canola oil, and red wine vinegar.

How to Make a Muffuletta at Home

You'll find the full, step-by-step recipe below — but here's a brief overview of what you can expect when you make muffulettas at home: Make the olive salad, assemble the sandwiches, and cut into quarters. If you have time, let the muffulettas sit in the fridge for an hour or two to allow the flavors to meld and the olive juice to soak into the bread.

Recipe Tip

Since you're going to all the trouble of making the olive salad, consider doubling the recipe so you'll have some extra waiting around for when you get another muffuletta craving — it keeps for at least a month.

What to Serve With Muffulettas

Make it a meal by pairing your homemade muffulettas with French fries, a cup of gumbo, or one of our best Cajun Side Dishes. Try one of these tasty options:

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

"Perfect," raves GoldenEye. "Exactly like having muffuletta in New Orleans! It was so good and I made another one the next week!"

"This is awesome," according to Kelli H. "Great flavor and texture. Best the second day. If I'm going to eat it the same day, I make it in the a.m. and let it soak up the dressing all day. Definitely a must-have in my recipe box!"

"This was absolutely incredible," says one Allrecipes community member. "It's extremely flavorful and surprisingly easy to make. By far the best olive spread I've ever had. I can't wait to make it for company!"

Editorial contributions by Corey Williams

Ingredients

Olive Salad:

1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, crushed
½ cup drained kalamata olives, crushed
½ cup pepperoncini, drained
¼ cup roughly chopped pickled cauliflower florets
¼ cup marinated cocktail onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar

Sandwiches:

2 (1 pound) loaves Italian bread
8 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami
8 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham
8 ounces sliced mortadella
8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
8 ounces sliced provolone cheese

Directions

To make the olive salad: Roughly chop together green olives, Kalamata olives, pepperoncini, cauliflower, cocktail onions, garlic, capers, celery, and carrot.
Combine with oregano, basil, black pepper, and celery seed in a medium bowl. Add in olive oil, canola oil, and vinegar. Mix together and transfer the mixture into a glass jar (or other nonreactive container). Pour in more oil to cover if needed.

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Cover jar or container and refrigerate at least 8 hours to overnight.

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To make the sandwiches: Cut loaves of bread in half horizontally; hollow out some of the excess bread to make room for filling.

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Spread each piece of bread with equal amounts of the olive salad, including oil.

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Layer bottom half of each loaf with 1/2 of the salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, and Provolone slices.

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Replace top half on each loaf and cut the sandwiches into quarters.

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Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Serve immediately, or wrap tightly and refrigerate for a few hours; this will allow for the flavors to mingle and the olive salad to soak into the bread.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)

987	Calories
63g	Fat
63g	Carbs
41g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 8
Calories 987
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 63g	81%
Saturated Fat 19g	97%
Cholesterol 97mg	32%
Sodium 3465mg	151%
Total Carbohydrate 63g	23%
Dietary Fiber 4g	15%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 41g	83%
Vitamin C 16mg	18%
Calcium 575mg	44%
Iron 6mg	32%
Potassium 482mg	10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

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