The BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato) is one of America’s iconic diner sandwiches. Made from the titular ingredients, along with a generous schmear of mayo, the BLT has been around in one form or another since the early 1900s as a variant of the club sandwich. However, it was not until the 1950s, with the proliferation of supermarkets across America, that the sandwich gained widespread popularity. Where did the name come from, though? Recipes and other primary source documentation from before the 1970s almost always refer to the sandwich in full,[1] as a “Toasted Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich.” The acronym BLT likely originated in diner kitchens, where acronyms were commonly used to describe orders in shorthand.

The BLT has worn two distinct, somewhat opposing identities in its time at the forefront of the American culinary scene. In the postwar 1950s, the BLT was a symbol of modernity and freedom from want, made from mass-produced and convenient ingredients available year-round—factory-made white bread, jars of mayonnaise, frozen bacon, ethylene-ripened tomatoes, and iceberg lettuce. This version of the sandwich has largely vanished from the culinary conversation, together with the near-disappearance of the American diner. In the past two decades, however, the BLT has been reborn as a seasonal sandwich [2] featuring high-quality, local ingredients—fresh bread, house mayonnaise, artisan bacon, and leaf lettuce. Both versions of the sandwich have left their mark on American culinary history, but the newer incarnation—probably closest to the original 1900s version anyway—tastes better.

Ingredients

4 slices bread
6 slices bacon, halved
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 oz lettuce
1 tbsp mayonnaise
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

As is usually the case with recipes with few ingredients, the quality of the ingredients greatly affects the final product. I’d encourage you to find heirloom or vine-ripened tomatoes for this sandwich—after all, a BLT is really a tomato sandwich, with bacon as a supporting cast member. Under optional but recommended: high quality bacon and/or homemade mayonnaise. The BLT is designed to be built on sandwich bread—the textures of crustier loaves don’t play well with the crisp but delicate ingredients. What kind of sandwich bread you use is entirely up to your personal preference. For BLTs, I favor whole grain breads, which bring a nutty flavor to the sandwich.

Start by washing the lettuce and then drying it, with the help of a salad spinner if possible. Cook the bacon slices until crisp using your favorite sandwich-friendly method (oven or microwave are great), and toast the slices of bread. Slice the tomatoes thinly—1/4 inch if possible.

Once the bread is toasted, generously spread mayonnaise on each slice. Place a layer of tomato slices on the first piece of bread, and season the tomato generously with salt and black pepper. Then add 3 slices of cooked bacon, each broken in half. Then place a generous handful of lettuce leaves on the bacon, and top with a second piece of bread. Press gently down on the top piece of bread to compress the sandwich slightly. [3] Then cut the sandwich into two triangles and serve, with pickle spears and potato chips on the side if desired.

Substitutions

Add sliced avocado to the sandwich to make a “BLAT.” Other possible additions include sprouts, thinly sliced roast turkey, a fried egg, and/or caramelized onions.

[1] One of the first occurrences of the acronym “BLT” in print is a review of the play Steambath which appeared in Life Magazine in 1971, titled “A BLT for God—hold the mayo.” This refers to a line in the play in which God commands, “Send up a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich, hold the mayo. You burn the toast, I'll smite you down with my terrible swift sword.”

[2] Today, the BLT is generally considered a summer sandwich, made when tomatoes are in season. In the United States, prices of pork belly and bacon increase during the summer, which economists believe is tied to the seasonal popularity of BLTs (and by extension, the timing of the tomato harvest).

[3] If you are making sandwiches to be eaten later, there are two important additional measures to take. First, wait for the toast to cool before assembling the sandwich. This will prevent the sandwich from becoming too soggy. Second, when the assembly is complete, wrap the sandwich tightly in plastic wrap. This is the best way to ensure that the sandwich holds together well when eaten.

Recipe

Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 5 min Total Time: 10 min

Difficulty: 1/5

Heat Sources: oven or microwave

Equipment: toaster

Servings: 2

Ingredients

4 slices bread
6 slices bacon, halved
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 oz lettuce
1 tbsp mayonnaise
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the bacon until crisp, and toast the bread.

2. Spread the mayonnaise on the toasted bread slices. Assemble the sandwich by laying a layer of tomato slices down on the bottom slice of bread, and seasoning the tomato with salt and black pepper. Then layer on the cooked bacon and lettuce leaves.

3. Complete the sandwich with the second piece of bread, press down slightly, cut and serve.