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:
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1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, crushed
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½ cup drained kalamata olives, crushed
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½ cup pepperoncini, drained
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¼ cup roughly chopped pickled cauliflower florets
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¼ cup marinated cocktail onions
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2 cloves garlic, minced
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2 tablespoons drained capers
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1 tablespoon chopped celery
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1 tablespoon chopped carrot
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1 teaspoon dried oregano
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1 teaspoon dried basil
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¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
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½ teaspoon celery seed
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½ cup olive oil
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¼ cup canola oil
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¼ cup red wine vinegar
Sandwiches:
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2 (1 pound) loaves Italian bread
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8 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami
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8 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham
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8 ounces sliced mortadella
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8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
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8 ounces sliced provolone cheese
Directions
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To make the olive salad: Roughly chop together green olives, Kalamata olives, pepperoncini, cauliflower, cocktail onions, garlic, capers, celery, and carrot.
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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.
![Overhead of an olive salad mixture in a glass bowl.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Cover jar or container and refrigerate at least 8 hours to overnight.
![Overhead of an olive salad mixture in a mason jar.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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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.
![Overhead of four slices of bread with hallowed out centers.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Spread each piece of bread with equal amounts of the olive salad, including oil.
![Overhead of slices of bread filled with olive salad mixture.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Layer bottom half of each loaf with 1/2 of the salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, and Provolone slices.
![Overhead of four slices of bread with the top two covered in olive salad and the bottom tow covered in salami and cheese.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Replace top half on each loaf and cut the sandwiches into quarters.
![Overhead of two sandwiches on a counter.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
![Overhead of a sandwich on a cutting board sliced into quarters.]()
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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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.
![close up on a stack of real n'awlins muffuletta]()
DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
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.
