Simple Saturday: French Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

Written by Grace on in Simple Saturday

Beep beep beeeep beep beep beep beeeep.

Important news break: I am in France!

Also, butter makes French ham and cheese sandwiches amazing — are we really surprised?!

My husband and I are spending about 8 days in Paris and our favorite Loire Valley town, eating, drinking and enjoying some R&R.

And so I thought it would be the perfect time to share my secret to amazing French ham and cheese sandwiches. We recently made these for my family birthday party, and I think they were quite a hit.

When you think of people eating in France, you probably go to French onion soup, baguettes, cheese and fancy fine dining. While those are all prevalent, there is one humble sandwich that is like nothing other!

The French ham and cheese sandwich typically has a hard farmers cheese, thick slices of buttery ham, butter on at least one or both sides of the bread, and maybe some cornichon pickles. Oh and you’ve got to have a crusty on the outside and soft on the inside baguette.

The butter on one or two sides adds richness and acts as a sort of slightly salty glue to the sandwich, and it softens the bread a little bit.

If you’re making French ham and cheese sandwiches at home, here are a few tips:

  • Buy a good baguette from a local bakery
  • Get some good salted butter (TJ’s sells French butter, but Kerrygold would also be tasty)
  • Go for a hard cheese like a Comte or Gruyere for some oomph in flavor
  • Get a nice ham and have it sliced thick (we opted for Virginia ham)
  • Invite over some friends or family to enjoy!

Looking forward to sharing more about our trip when we return!

Thanks to my talented bro-in-law for the photo!