A great BLT recipe comes down to three things: crispy bacon baked in the oven, tomato salted before it goes near the bread, and mayonnaise spread right to the edge of the toast. But most BLTs don't fail in the pan. They fail in the ten minutes after you build them, and the cause is almost always the tomato.
The fix is one extra step you can do while the bacon bakes, and it is the difference between a sandwich that sags by the second bite and one that still crunches at the last.
How Do You Make a Classic BLT Sandwich?
Bake streaky rashers at 200°C while the tomato sits under a pinch of salt, then toast the bread and build. Start to finish, it takes about half an hour. This classic BLT sandwich recipe has five core ingredients, so the quality of each one shows.
Irish streaky rashers bake flat and crisp evenly, which makes them the easiest route to bacon that crunches when you bite it. Back rashers are meatier and need longer, or a few minutes under the grill. Thick-cut bacon works too, but expect a chew rather than a snap.
Choose a ripe tomato that feels heavy for its size, ideally a vine tomato. A juicy tomato is exactly what you want, as long as you deal with the juice first. For lettuce, butter lettuce gives soft, sweet leaves, while cos (sold as romaine in some shops) gives more crunch.
If you want fresh leaves without a separate shop, Croghan Organic Salad Leaves are a local, organic mixed bag that arrives weekly.
Recipe card
Makes: 2 sandwiches | Prep: 15 minutes, plus 10 minutes resting the tomato | Cook: 15 minutes
Ingredients
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8 streaky rashers (about 150g)
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4 slices of sliced sourdough
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2 ripe vine tomatoes
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4 tbsp mayonnaise
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4 to 6 butter lettuce leaves or a handful of salad leaves
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1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
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Flaky sea salt and black pepper
Method
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Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Line a baking tray with foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer, not overlapping. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes until crisp, checking from 12. Move the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
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Cut the tomatoes into 1cm slices and lay them on paper towel. Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky salt and leave for 10 minutes, then pat dry. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
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Toast the bread until golden and firm, not just warm.
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Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread, right to the edges.
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Build each sandwich in this order: one slice of toast, lettuce, tomato, bacon, then the second slice of toast.
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Press down gently, cut in half and eat straight away.
If you cook with back rashers, grill them for 4 to 5 minutes on each side instead of baking.
How Do You Keep a BLT From Going Soggy?
Keep every wet ingredient away from the bread: dry the tomato, drain the bacon and seal the toast with mayonnaise. The culprits are tomato juice and steam from warm bacon. Bare bread lets both straight in.
Tomato first. Salt draws water out of the slices, so ten minutes on a paper towel removes the juice that would otherwise soak into the toast. What stays behind tastes more of tomato.
Bread matters more than most recipes admit. Sliced sourdough has the structure to toast hard and stay that way, where soft white sandwich bread collapses under a warm filling.
Look for a crusty white loaf with a long fermentation. Carraig Rua Organic French Sourdough is made with a 36 to 48 hour fermentation, and the sliced loaf toasts to a firm base. One loaf covers several sandwiches, so the upgrade adds little to the cost of each BLT, and the full range of breads and baked goods has other loaves worth toasting.
A layer of mayonnaise spread to the very crust works as a seal between the toast and everything wet. Leave the edges bare and the moisture finds them.
Give the bacon two minutes on the paper towel so the fat drains before it meets the bread. Order matters too.
What Is the Correct Order for Layers in a BLT?
Toast and mayo on the bottom, then lettuce, tomato, bacon, and a second slice of mayo-spread toast on top.
Lettuce goes down first because it acts as a barrier between the tomato and the bread. Bacon goes on last, resting on the tomato, so it stays crisp. Season the tomato, not the bacon, because the rashers are salty enough already.
Serve it warm. The bacon should still be hot and the tomato and lettuce cool, which is the whole point of the contrast. Build it just before you eat it and don't wrap it for later.
What Is the Best Sauce for a BLT Sandwich?
Plain mayonnaise is the classic, and most days it is enough. For a simple BLT sauce, mix 4 tbsp mayonnaise with 1 tbsp sour cream and 1 tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard. It is tangy and creamy, and it spreads just as well.
No mayo? Butter the toast, or use relish or brown sauce instead.
For a sweeter, spiced edge, stir a spoonful of tomato relish into the mayo. Ballymaloe Original Relish has been made for over 30 years from tomatoes, sultanas and a blend of spices.
You'll find it alongside more table sauces and condiments. Irish artisan preserves, jams and honeys covers how relishes and chutneys are made well.
What Makes a BLT Irish?
Ask for bacon in Ireland and you'll usually get rashers, and that changes the sandwich. An Irish version often sits on sliced soda bread or a toasted sliced pan, with relish in place of mayo. A British BLT leans on similar back bacon and often a bottle of brown sauce.
Brown sauce is worth borrowing. From Dorset With Love brown sauce is spicy and tangy, made with apples, dates and treacle, and it suits a bacon sandwich. HP sits in plenty of Irish presses too, and Irish pantry staples covers what else belongs there.
The other Irish move is the eggy-bread BLT, where the bread is dipped in beaten egg and milk and fried before the bacon, lettuce and tomato go in.
How Can You Upgrade a BLT Sandwich?
Add ripe avocado slices and you have a BLAT. Add a fried egg and the yolk becomes its own sauce. Mature cheddar melts into warm bacon and suits the sandwich well, and if you press the whole thing in a hot skillet you have a BLT grilled cheese.
If you've added cheddar, spread a little chutney on the toast to match. Cottage Delight Caramelised Onion Chutney is made by slowly caramelising fresh onions in oak-aged balsamic vinegar with spices, and the sweet onion cuts through salty bacon. Sliced pan-fried chicken breast turns it into a proper lunch.
If you have bacon and tomato left over, chop them into a BLT salad with crisp lettuce, or fold them through a BLT pasta salad for the next day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Bacon Is Best for a BLT?
Streaky rashers, every time. Back rashers give a meatier bite, but they need longer to crisp.
Which bread suits a BLT?
Sliced sourdough, toasted until firm. White bread works if you toast it harder than feels necessary.
Is a BLT eaten warm or cold?
Warm bacon, cool tomato and lettuce, eaten straight away.
Does cheese belong on a BLT?
Not on a classic. A thin slice of mature cheddar is fine if you want one.
Order Sourdough and Relish for Your Next BLT
The bread and the spread are the two easiest upgrades to a BLT. The breads and baked goods collection has a crusty loaf worth toasting, and the table sauces and condiments collection has a relish worth stirring into your mayo.
If the loaf or the relish is the only thing missing from your kitchen, both are a click away.
