Peanut Butter Sandwich With Sriracha and Pickles

By Sam Sifton

Published February 16, 2019

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. Here’s a spin on a great old sandwich of the American South: peanut butter and pickle sandwiches with a spray of sriracha or sambal oelek, and a tiny drizzle of soy sauce. Toasting the bread before spreading it with peanut butter adds crunch and warmth, and the result is a sandwich of remarkable intensity, sweet and salty, sour and soft and crisp. Trust me on this one! Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.

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5 out of 5
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LJ

Day 1 of the Coronavirus lockdown. My roommates and I stumbled upon this recipe with low expectations. We just made this sandwich once with PB, sriracha, and thinly sliced dill pickles. It was so good that we made it again immediately after -- this time with thicker cut dill pickles, sambal, red onion, and PB. It was even better. THIS SANDWICH SLAPS.

maggie m.

What kind of pickles...sour or sweet?

Alex

A revelation! Let's face it: for adults, the strength of classic PBJ (for hiking and such) is convenience. But PBJ is too sweet, even with marmalade. THIS is an adult sandwich and just as easy. Don't forget the tamari as suggested. And next time, to achieve the "next level", I'm adding a delicate mist of---wait for it----fish sauce. (I know, I know. But I can't wait. In fact, I think I might just

Jane Tyler

I am 88 years old and have been eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches since I was 6 years old. But the pickles are sweet or bread and butter pickles. As an adult I began toasting my bread... unless I am too hungry to take the time! The pickles not only add flavor but texture (moist and crunchy) to an otherwise gummy sandwich. Ditch your PB and J for PB and P... It works with saltines as well (flaky and crunchy). Delicious, nutritious and expeditious!

KTA

I have been making and eating PB&Pickles sandwiches since 1977. I might have to try Cholula sauce instead sriracha.

Melanie

I live in NZ and I’ve always found PBJ sandwiches too sweet (and soggy) and PB alone in toast is too ‘meh’.. but in NZ we have Vegemite and a thin scraping of that with PB in toast and it is perfect- Vegemite is a yeast extract with a very strong flavour of umami - so I can see this pickle and PB sandwich being a winner in my books.

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