This Cuban sandwich is a perfect, filling lunch or a fun, late-night snack. It’s piled high with pork, ham, mustard, pickles and Swiss cheese and then grilled to perfection. You’re going to love this Cuban Recipe!
Hello Reader! I try my hardest to research recipes as best as I can before posting to ensure I am representing each culture correctly. If this recipe is from your country and I have made a mistake or you have suggestions for how to make it more authentic, I would love to hear! Please leave a comment below letting me know what should be different, and I will rework the recipe. It is always my intention to pay homage and respect to each cultural dish that I cook. Thanks for reading!
Recipe Origins
Just like Cuban Black Beans and Picadillo, the Medianoche Sandwich is a popular recipe in Cuban cuisine, as well as in Cuban communities across the United States.
It is filled with ham, pork, pickles, mustard, and cheese, then served on a challah-like bread and (typically) closed in a panini press to toast it.
But where does the Medianoche Sandwich get its name? Directly translated, medianoche means “midnight” in Spanish.
As the origination story goes, in Havana, the capital of Cuba, Medianoche sandwiches are served outside of many of the popular nightclubs. After the clubs close down, partygoers stop at the nearby sandwich shops and pick up a Medianoche sandwich for a bite to eat before heading home.
Consequently, the sandwich is named after the time of day that it’s most popularly eaten!
This tale, however, has been disputed by readers from Cuba, and it’s safe to say that they know best 😉 Regardless, this sandwich is amazing and I can’t wait for you to try it!
If you think these flavors sound delicious, check out German Beef Rouladen with Gravy, which also uses pickles, pork, and mustard as filling.
Why Make this Recipe
- “Travel” to Cuba: If you’ve ever wanted to visit Cuba, making a Medianoche Sandwich at home is a great way to “travel” there from your kitchen! Taste the cuisine of Cuba without ever leaving home.
- On the Spot Meal: This recipe is a great on-the-spot meal, especially if you’ve prepped the pork ahead of time! If the pork is already ready to eat (even better, if you’re using leftovers), you can make and toast this sandwich in under 10 minutes.
- Filling: I just love when a sandwich can fill me up like this Medianoche Sandwich can (check out this Peameal Bacon Sandwich from Canada for another filling sandwich)
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe?
Ingredients
- Pork: Use a boneless, center cut pork loin. Using a bone-in pork loin (pictured above) can work in a pinch. Do not use a pork tenderloin (see FAQ section below for the difference).
- Ham: It’s often easiest to use a spiral-cut ham from the deli counter. If a spiral-cut ham is not accessible, you can also use a thinly-cut ham steak.
- Mustard: Yellow mustard is standard, but if you’d prefer other types of mustard (dijon, honey mustard, etc) you can easily sub those in!
- Pickles: You can cut baby dill pickles in half horizontally to place them on your sandwich. If you prefer sliced pickles or a different flavor, you can substitute whatever sounds good.
- Bread: Buy bread (Pan Suave) from a Cuban bakery if possible. If this is not possible, you can use challah, brioche (this is what I used), or another light, eggy bread.
Tools
- Glass Dish or Roasting Pan
- Meat Thermometer
- Panini Press or Cast Iron Skillet
Watch the Recipe Video
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How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Roast the Pork
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pork loin in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, then salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle one side of the pork loin with honey. Turn the pork loin over so that the honey-coated side is down.
Roast the pork loin for about 30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the meat reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the pork from the oven. Shave off thin slices of the pork lengthwise.
Step 2: Build the Sandwich
Lay out your rolls or bread, and equally layer the filling for each sandwich.
Start with pork, then ham, then Swiss cheese, then pickles, and mustard on top.
Step 3: Toast the Sandwiches
Heat a skillet and melt the butter. Put the sandwiches into the skillet. Place a 10” cast iron skillet on top of the sandwiches to press them down, grilling until crispy. Flip and do the same on the other side.
Expert Tips
- If you don’t want to use the cast iron skillet method, you can also simply put the Medianoche sandwiches in a panini press and grill them that way.
- Cut your sandwiches on a diagonal to serve!
- For a delicious side, serve your medianoche sandwich with tostones.
- If you are preparing to make this medianoche sandwich after a night out or for a quick lunch, I’d recommend roasting the pork ahead of time. It will stay good stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- If you don’t have a panini press OR two cast irons (one for roasting and one for pressing down on the sandwich), you can also use a foil-covered brick to press down on the sandwich.
Recipe FAQs
A Medianoche Sandwich and a Cuban are almost the same sandwich. They both have pork, ham, pickles, mustard, and Swiss cheese.
The main difference between the two types of sandwiches is the bread. Cuban sandwiches (also called Cubanos) are made on Cuban bread, a crustier, flakier type of bread.
Medianoche Sandwiches, on the other hand, are normally made with challah bread, brioche, or something similar. The bread on this sandwich is a lighter, eggier bread than Cuban bread.
Before I actually knew that there was a difference between a pork loin and a pork tenderloin, I messed this up a lot. Turns out, these are two completely different cuts of meat!
A pork tenderloin is a long and thin piece of meat. It comes from the muscle that runs along the backbone of the pig.
Pork loin, on the other hand, is smaller and flatter. This cut of meat comes from the back of the animal.
For this recipe, you’re going to need a pork LOIN (AKA the smaller, flatter cut of pork). Make sure to get the right kind so that the cooking instructions work correctly!
It’s atypical to have the recipe for a Medianoche Sandwich to call for Honey Roasted Pork. However, this was one of my favorite parts of the meal! A lot of the ingredients in a Medianoche Sandwich are more briney and harsh, a flavor profile I’m a bit averse to.
I wanted to cut the bitterness of the food, so the honey roast on the pork was just enough to add a little sweetness to the sandwich.
If you don’t have honey or don’t want to add it to your pork, you certainly don’t have to! The pork roasting instructions will stay the same either way. It’s up to you if you’d like the sweet taste.
As I mentioned earlier, a Medianoche sandwich normally calls for a challah-like bread called Pan Medianoche or Pan Suave. I also tested this recipe with Telera Rolls and absolutely loved the way they turned out! Matt even said that “the bread made the sandwich”.
Use challah bread if you can find it, but if you can’t, don’t stress! Just make sure to use a hearty, dense bread that won’t fall apart easily (there’s a lot of goodness to maintain in this sandwich).
And remember: if you end up using Cuban bread, that will work just fine! You’ll just technically have a “Cubano” instead of a “Medianoche”.
If you liked this Medianoche Sandwich recipe, you might also like these other yummy sandwiches from around the world!:
- Panzanella Sandwich
- Churrasco Steak Sandwich from Chile
- Papas Rellenas from Cuba
- Colombian Arepas Recipe
- Gyro Meat Recipe from Greece
Medianoche Sandwich
Equipment
- 8×8 Glass Dish
- Food Thermometer
- Knife/Knives
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Oven Mitt
- Roasting Pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork loin center cut chop, boneless
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp honey
- 3 Brioche Buns
- ½ -¾ lb Deli Spiral Sliced Ham
- 6 slices swiss cheese
- 9 baby dill pickles, sliced in half lengthwise
- 6 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbsp butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the 1 lb center cut pork loin in a roasting pan. Drizzle with ½ tbsp olive oil, then salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle one side of the pork loin with 1 tsp honey. Turn the pork loin over so that the honey-coated side is down.
- Roast the pork loin for about 30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the meat reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the pork from the oven. Shave off thin slices of the pork lengthwise.
- Lay out your 3 brioche rolls or bread, and equally layer the filling for each sandwich. Start with sliced pork, then spiral cut ham, then 2 pieces of Swiss cheese, then 3 baby dill pickles, and 2 tbsp mustard on each sandwich.
- Heat a skillet and melt the 2 tbsp butter. Put the sandwiches into the skillet. Place a 10” cast iron skillet on top of the sandwiches to press them down, grilling until crispy. Flip and do the same on the other side.
- Enjoy! Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you thought.
Notes
- Pork: Use a boneless, center cut pork loin. Using a bone-in pork loin (pictured above) can work in a pinch. Do not use a pork tenderloin (see FAQ section below for the difference).
- Ham: It’s often easiest to use a spiral-cut ham from the deli counter. If a spiral-cut ham is not accessible, you can also use a thinly-cut ham steak.
- Mustard: Yellow mustard is standard, but if you’d prefer other types of mustard (dijon, honey mustard, etc) you can easily sub those in!
- Pickles: You can cut baby dill pickles in half horizontally to place them on your sandwich. If you prefer sliced pickles or a different flavor, you can substitute whatever sounds good.
- Bread: Buy bread (Pan Suave) from a Cuban bakery if possible. If this is not possible, you can use challah, brioche (this is what I used), or another light, eggy bread.
- Cut your sandwiches on a diagonal to serve!
- For a delicious side, serve you sandwich with tostones
- If you are preparing to make this sandwich after a night out or for a quick lunch, I’d recommend roasting the pork ahead of time. It will stay good stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- If you don’t have a panini press OR two cast irons (one for roasting and one for pressing down on the sandwich), you can also use a foil-covered brick.
Kevin Bone says
These are delicious.
For accuracy, the medianoche and sandwich cubano don’t exist in Cuba. They are inventions of the Miami diaspora. Outside of a Havana nightclub you would be lucky to find a pan con jamonada y queso. Currently, this is impossible as there is no bread, no jamonada and even less queso. 😉
I’m an American (“yuma” in Cuba) who is currently living in Mexico with my Cuban wife. We are supporting our family in Havana. I introduced her to the Cuban Sandwich and the Medianoche in Miami.
The Foreign Fork says
I really appreciate the information Kevin! I have never been to Cuba, so its a bummer to hear that the research I did was incorrect. But the best way to learn is by people that live there, so thank you so much for commenting! I will update the article with this. Thank you!