Vegan Banh Mi Sandwich

It’s easy to get stuck to your desk cranking out work day after day, in any career. But keeping your head down can also make things stale. Though it might not check boxes off of the To Do list, making time for adventure and new experiences is key to staying at the top of your game. This is especially true for Alex and me as recipe developers. Try as we might to “crank out” recipes in our test kitchen, one of the best ways we get inspired is getting out and tasting new flavors—at restaurants in our city and all over the world.

What’s a vegan banh mi sandwich?

One of the first times I tasted banh mi was visiting my sister in Laos. She took me to a little Vietnamese restaurant where she regularly ordered banh mi. I went for the vegetarian version, filled with egg and topped with delightful pickled vegetables. This vegan banh mi sandwich, however, is inspired by a visit to a restaurant here in Indianapolis called The Garden Table. It’s an incredible juicery and fresh eatery here in town that features everything from bacon to açaí bowls. A friend was in town visiting and at lunch I ordered a vegan banh mi. I loved the idea of using hummus to stand in for a meaty flavor in a vegan banh mi sandwich. The original used a sun-dried tomato hummus, but I wanted to find a way to bring in more Asian flavors like ginger and lime. This is how our ginger lime hummus was born, and when combined with some quick pickled vegetables on a fluffy baguette it’s incredibly delightful. This vegan sandwich takes just 20 minutes to put together, including making the hummus. And the best part of this vegan banh mi sandwich? A traditional slather of creamy vegan mayonnaise, which puts it over the top! It’s a lovely quick weeknight dinner or healthy lunch idea that features big flavors with low effort. Like this sandwich idea? Here’s another featuring hummus: Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich