Plant-Forward Sandwiches
7 Sandwiches That Sneak More Plants Onto Your Plate
Did you know that eating 30 different plants per week is linked to a healthier gut?
Here's the reframe that changes everything: "plants" counts far more generously than you'd think. It isn't just salad! Vegetables, fruit, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds - even fresh herbs count!
One of my favorite ways to sneak them in - a sandwich.
Sandwiches get a bad reputation as the lazy lunch, but they're one of the sneakiest-easy places to pack in more plants, and most of us leave that opportunity sitting right on the table.
Variety is the part that matters most. A wider range of plants across your week is associated with a more diverse gut microbiome, and a more diverse microbiome tends to mean a more resilient gut. (More on the why in a post coming soon.) For now, let's just let lunch do a little more of the work.
All of these are recipes from my own kitchen over at Trial and Eater. As you scroll, see how many different plants you can count!
Veggie-forward: the easy wins
Start here if you want the most plants for the least effort.
Smashed Avocado Chickpea Salad Sandwich
If you only make one, make this. It stacks chickpeas, avocado, cilantro, red onion, lemon, and tomato, with baby spinach and a dash of turmeric if you want to push it further. That's six or more plants in a single sandwich, and it comes together in minutes.
Add a little extra crunch to this classic comfort food that quietly works a whole vegetable into the most nostalgic sandwich there is. A great one for kids, or for anyone who swears they don't like zucchini.
Marinated, grilled carrots that genuinely are worth a try! They're make-ahead friendly, which makes them perfect for meal prep and cookouts.
Saucy, shredded, and satisfying, with jackfruit standing in for pulled pork or chicken. Pile on a quick cabbage slaw and you've added even more plants without trying.
Don't forget, fruit counts too
The apple is the whole move here. Thin slices go soft and sweet against the melty cheese, and just like that your grilled cheese has fruit in it.
Blackberry Brie Grilled Cheese
One of my favorites! Proof that fruit belongs between two slices of bread. Jammy blackberries and creamy brie feel fancy enough for company and easy enough for a Tuesday.
The fun one
Peanut Butter, Pickles & Chips Sandwich
Just.. trust me on this. It’s worth doing the “right way” (i.e. the way the recipe is written) at least the first time before you knock it down. Toasted rye bread, smooth peanut butter, ridged potato chips, and of course pickles (it’s a plant!). It's the wildcard your lunch needs.
Want to know if your gut is actually benefiting?
As a practitioner, you know I have to tie it all back to the benefits. Eating more plants is one of the kindest things you can do for your gut, but how much you actually get from them depends on what's happening in there. All that fiber is food for your beneficial microbes, so a varied plant intake tends to go hand in hand with a more diverse microbiome. The catch is that you only benefit from the plants you can comfortably break down. If loading up on veggies and beans leaves you bloated or gassy, that's worth paying attention to rather than pushing through.
If you've ever wondered what's really going on in your gut, whether you've got a good spread of beneficial microbes, or why certain foods don't sit well, a GI MAP is the at-home test I use to get an actual look. You can see how it works here.
Hopefully this makes the idea of 30 plants a week a little less daunting. Save this post for your next grocery run! More plant-forward, gut-friendly recipes are always on the way.
🤍
Kelly Shea, FDN-P.