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What to eat in Europe? Top 11 European Sandwich Types

Last update: Fri Feb 14 2025
Top 11 European Sandwich Types
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01
Montadito
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Montaditos are open-faced sandwiches and an essential tapa in Spain. Although there is no set list of ingredients, montaditos are always made with bread slices, typically from a thin elongated bread similar to a baguette. The toppings are incredibly versatile and may include anything from smoked meat, chorizo sausages, jamóns, various types of cheese, pickled vegetables, anchovies, as well as other types of seafood.


The combinations are seemingly endless, and there are no set rules which toppings to use and how to combine them. It is believed that montaditos were the first type of sandwiches in Spain, dating back to fifteen or sixteenth century. The name montadito is believed to stem from the word montar, meaning to mount—as a reference to all the toppings that are mounted on top of each bread slice.

MOST ICONIC Montadito

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02
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Bocadillos or bocatas are Spanish sandwiches made with Spanish-style baguettes known as barra de pan, unlike regular sandwiches which are made with modern white bread, known as pan de molde in Spain. The most common fillings for bocadillos include meat, cheese, tuna, omelets, jamón, or chorizo sausages.


The Spanish typically don't add onions, mayonnaise, pickles, or lettuce to bocadillos, but the bread is sometimes rubbed with halved tomatoes or olive oil. Due to the popularity of these sandwiches, the fillings vary from one region to another – omelet bocadillos are usually eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack and include eggs, cheese, beans, peppers, and potatoes; meat-based bocadillos are often made with chicken, beef, pork, horse, or goat; and fish bocadillos often include cuttlefish, sardines, and squid. 

MOST ICONIC Bocadillos

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03
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Smørrebrød is a traditional open-faced sandwich consisting of buttered rye bread that is topped with numerous ingredients and typically accompanied by vegetables, herbs, and salads. Toppings include ingredients such as cold cuts of meat, cheeses, spreads, meatballs, caviar, and condiments such as mayonnaise.


This sandwich was invented in the 19th century by Scandinavian agricultural workers who would pack a variety of open-faced sandwiches for lunch–often made with leftovers from the previous night–in order to provide them with energy during the long working hours. 

MOST ICONIC Smørrebrød

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04
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Strammer Max is a German open-faced sandwich that's served warm and has numerous variations. It's usually made with a slice of rye or wheat flour bread that can be toasted and buttered or fried in oil or butter. The bread is seasoned with salt, pepper, and (sometimes) mustard.


It is then topped with slices of cured ham and a fried egg to finish it off. Due to the fact that it's quick and easy to prepare the sandwich, it spread throughout the country, but it's especially popular in Berlin, where it's an integral part of the city's food culture. 
05
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Tramezzino is a popular Italian triangular sandwich made with chewy, crustless white bread and various fillings such as mayonnaise, tuna, prosciutto, and cheese. It is believed that the first tramezzino was invented in 1925 at Caffè Mulassano in Turin.


It soon became incredibly popular, especially in Venice, where it's often enjoyed with a glass of Spritz. Today, there are numerous varieties of tramezzini, and they can be found in cafés throughout Italy, although pre-packed varieties that can be bought in supermarkets are also quite common. 
VARIATIONS OF Tramezzino

MOST ICONIC Tramezzino

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06

Sandwich type

PRAGUE, Czech Republic
3.9
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Chlebíčky are small, open-faced sandwiches originating from the Czech Republic. Although there are many open-faced sandwiches throughout the world, chlebíčky are unique because of their unusual combination of toppings, a variety of flavors, and careful arrangement and presentation.


The sandwiches usually consist of thin slices of white bread topped with spreads such as potato salad, cream cheese, and lobster paste, along with ingredients such as tomatoes, salmon, capers, Brie cheese, cooked ham, or pepperoni. The original chlebíčky was invented by Jan Paukert at the beginning of the 20th century in Prague, and it consisted of Prague ham, pieces of a hard-boiled egg, a slice of Emmental cheese, tomato, Hungarian salami, and potato salad. 

MOST ICONIC Chlebíčky

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07
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Panuozzo di Gragnano is an Italian sandwich, a sort of large oval-shaped bread or panino that can be filled with various ingredients. It was in 1983, in a small town near Naples called Gragnano, that this specialty was created by Giuseppe Mascolo, whose family has been the exclusive owner of the registered trademark Panuozzo since 1996.


Made with simple pizza dough, the bread is baked in a wood-fired pizza oven, and it is then sliced lengthwise before all the desired ingredients are tucked inside. Then comes the final touch - a second, brief time spent in the oven - a step which gives the bread its distinctive crispy exterior and allows for the filling to blend perfectly with the bread. 

MOST ICONIC Panuozzo di Gragnano

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Trzesniewski brötchen are a type of open-faced sandwich emblematic of the Viennese buffet Trzesniewski. The base of this morsel-sized belegte brote is rye bread cut into a specific rectangular shape, which is then covered with various spreads and toppings.


Some of the more popular choices include bacon with egg, salami, tomato, smoked salmon, mushrooms, and paprika. The number of varieties is finite and currently stands at 26, each meticulously prepared according to the recipes that have gone virtually unchanged for more than a hundred years of Trzesniewski history. 

MOST ICONIC Trześniewski Brötchen

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An egg sandwich is an internationally popular breakfast staple that typically consists of eggs between slices of bread. The sandwich is usually enriched with cheese, and it's often complemented with some kind of meat such as cold cuts or sausage meat.


Nowadays, there are numerous variations on this sandwich, but it is believed that one of the first egg sandwiches was made in the early 19th century in East London by street vendors who wanted to earn some money and feed the hungry factory workers in the process. 
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Smörgåstårta is a Swedish layer cake consisting of sandwiches: slices of white or rye bread, toppings, and fillings, frosted with cream cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt, or a combination, and garnished with various vegetables. Traditionally, smörgåstårta follows the smörgåsbord all-in principle: caviar, pâté, cold cuts, shrimp, smoked salmon, cheese, eggs, vegetables, only some of it or all of it together, there are virtually no limits.


This Swedish staple is ideal for parties and celebrations, visually reminiscent of a cake, but with the flavors of a really filling sandwich. The cake is also popular in Estonia and Finland. Interestingly, it has been found out that some of the policemen in Sweden asked for smörgåstårta as a bribe, acting as further proof of the cake's enormous popularity.

MOST ICONIC Smörgåstårta

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TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 11 European Sandwich Types” list until February 14, 2025, 1,301 ratings were recorded, of which 1,114 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.

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European Sandwich types