Spicy-Savory PB&J (Spicy Peanut Butter Sandwich) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Fall

by: Natalie

September5,2014

4

4 Ratings

  • Prep time 2 minutes
  • Cook time 5 minutes
  • Serves 1

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Author Notes

I give full credit to the PBJ's Grilled food truck in Portland, Oregon for this masterpiece! They use their own house-made peanut butter and orange marmalade and local challah bread. The moment I put it in my mouth, my PB&J world changed forever. I've been trying to recreate it ever since. —Natalie

Test Kitchen Notes

Everything about this sandwich was on point. It's such a creative concoction and the ingredients married together beautifully. All measurements worked well and the Sriracha gave it the perfect kick. The wilted basil gave great flavor too -- 3 leaves were the perfect amount. Using challah is key since it's so light and not too dense. I used butter to grill, which made it golden and toasty. I highly recommend it since it’s such a unique, easy, and tasty sandwich! —hellskitchenspice

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 2 pieceschallah bread
  • 1 tablespoonorange marmalade
  • 3 tablespoonspeanut butter
  • 1 teaspoonSriracha
  • 1/4 teaspooncurry powder
  • 3 piecesfresh basil
  • 1 tablespoonbutter or oil
Directions
  1. Heat the butter or oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Spread the peanut butter onto one slice of bread and the orange marmalade onto the other. Then sprinkle the curry powder onto either piece of bread. Squeeze the Sriracha onto the peanut butter slice, spread it out, and top it with fresh basil. Once the oil is heated enough, place one slice of bread on top of the other and grill the sandwich on each side until golden brown and crunchy. Cut in half and enjoy!

Tags:

  • Sandwich
  • American
  • Peanut Butter
  • Bean
  • Summer
  • Winter
  • Spring
  • Fall
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
Contest Entries
  • Your Best Sandwich Recipe
  • Your Best Mash-Up Recipe

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Leslie Kavasch

  • Alaina Cillis

  • VanessaJo

  • walkie74

  • aargersi

22 Reviews

judy October 28, 2018

Well, This would hit ALL my top notes. I happen to have some Thai Basil left over from last night's Vietnamese take out. So I am totally going to do this. Will take the suggestion of mixing the PB Marmalade and curry together. I'll use Sambal Olek, as I prefer to sriracha. I'll let them bloom a bit, then spread on sourdough, as that is all I have at the moment. Garlic sourdough, by the way!. This reminds me of a sandwich I had in Chiang May. But it was grilled cheese with Thai spices. Quite good. Going to get started now.

judy December 12, 2018

Well, I make this sandwich. Excellent. used Olek Sambal instead of sriracha, added garlic, ginger and a splash of fish sauce, as my PB was unsalted. GREAT on sourdough grilled with a nice sharp cheddar cheese. Imagine all one can do with this?

Leslie K. January 19, 2017

The one here has coconut shrimp in it :')

Lea A. February 25, 2016

I'm wondering if the best way to get the curry powder evenly distributed would be to first mix it up with the marmalade. Shaking it using a spoon might leave some bare spots.

AnneOAK October 26, 2015

Somehow this came up in a listing filtered for vegan? Not with challah. Would be good to have some sort of note indicating substitutions required to qualify under a different nutritional category.

Lynn D. November 10, 2015

Well, just make it with vegan bread! The challah doesn't mean you can't make this.

JohnL October 2, 2015

Is the curry powder sprinkled on the naked bread side or on the peanut butter and the marmalade?

Natalie October 19, 2015

On the peanut butter and/or marmalade side

Alaina C. December 21, 2014

This was sooo good! Definitely making again!

LW.ATX.78 November 13, 2014

This is ridiculously addictive. I had everything but the challah bread so picked that up 3 days ago, and it's gone; largely eaten in this delicious curried PB&J variation!

brianna October 14, 2014

I actually worked for this food truck about a year ago. This is pretty on point. It's called the Spicy Thai because the flavors are supposed to remind you of Pad Thai

Natalie October 15, 2014

No way, that's awesome! Yeah, they have every little element of the sandwich designed to perfection.

Agnes October 10, 2014

I loved this! I used honey instead and multigrain loaf. Toasting the bread definitely brings out a great flavor!

VanessaJo October 2, 2014

I've done something similar with habanero jelly, but never added basil. Yum - I'll have to try it!

Natalie October 3, 2014

Ooh that sounds yummy. Yes, basil is an excellent addition!

walkie74 October 1, 2014

I wonder if peach marmalade will work...?

Natalie October 1, 2014

I'm sure that would work just fine. Sometimes I just use honey...I think you just need something sweet in there :)

Jeannie R. September 28, 2014

Awesome, but how is this Thai? The Sriracha is actually a Vietnamese-American invention named after a district in Thailand, and the curry powder isn't Thai either!

Natalie October 1, 2014

That's a good question, the food truck called it Thai -- maybe they used thai basil and Thai curry powder...

Laura415 February 28, 2016

Well to make it more "authentic" You could use Thai curry paste mixed with the peanut butter to spread on the bread. You could use pickled Thai bird chilies sparingly or even chilies cooked in sugar syrup or honey for the sweet aspect. Fact is nothing about this is authentic anything. It's straight up fusion. Sounds like a fun experiment.

aargersi September 5, 2014

wow, yum. Breathing new life into the PB&J!!

Natalie October 3, 2014

The options are endless! Try putting a fried egg inside a pbj....surprisingly delicious!

Spicy-Savory PB&J (Spicy Peanut Butter Sandwich) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How to spice up your peanut butter and jelly sandwich? ›

You can also add crunch elements like coconut flakes, granola, or chia seeds. If you're feeling adventurous, try the popular bacon-peanut butter combo, or try Elvis's famous peanut butter, bacon, and banana combination.

How to make a PB&J sandwich step by step? ›

Directions
  1. On one slice of bread, spread peanut butter evenly over the bread.
  2. On the other slice of bread, spread the jelly evenly over the bread.
  3. Put the two slices of bread together with the peanut butter and jelly facing in.
  4. Serve and enjoy!
  5. Optional: Remove crusts, cut diagonally.

What flavor is best for PBJ? ›

When it comes to the classic peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwich, there's no doubt that grape jelly reigns supreme. Our research indicates that its sweet, fruity flavor perfectly complements the creamy richness of peanut butter, creating a harmonious blend of taste and texture that's hard to resist.

How do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich interview question? ›

You could talk about the bread – one is healthier, another is less crumbly, a third is more moist. Then talk about options of peanut butter and jelly. Then, go on by making your recommendations based on what you understand is the key factors they require. Talk about how to make the assembly more efficient.

How do you intensify peanut butter flavor? ›

You can further augment the gustatory potential of the peanut butter by using both vanilla extract and almond extract in your dough—just a splash of the latter is enough to boost your cookies' nuttiness (while remaining subtle enough that no one will cotton onto the presence of drupe essence in your legume dessert).

Which jelly goes best with peanut butter? ›

"I think, generally speaking, for a classic PB&J, grape jelly is the only jelly," says food blogger Alea Chappell, although she adds that strawberry is better for "just about everything else." Susan Anderson, a writer at The Worthy Goods, is also turned off by strawberry jelly.

Do you put butter on a PB and J sandwich? ›

It doesn't require butter because it actually toasts the sandwich. It melts the peanut butter and jelly and tastes so good that you won't notice that there isn't any type of butter on the outside.

Is PB&J healthy? ›

It's power packed

ESPN magazine recently called the PB&J a “staple snack” of the NBA. Athletes love PB&Js for all of the reasons listed here and because it provides amazing nutritional benefits. A PB&J has 15 grams of protein per serving, 13 grams of plant-based unsaturated fat and 5 grams of fiber.

What kind of bread is best for peanut butter and jelly? ›

As we have already discussed, it is vital for a PB&J to be made with soft, white bread.

What flavor enhances peanut butter? ›

As you can imagine, it tastes so much better than store-bought peanut butter. Plus, you can have fun with it and enhance it to your liking by adding your favorite flavors such as cinnamon, maple syrup or chocolate.

What goes first in peanut butter jelly? ›

Always put the peanut butter on first. Peanut butter is thicker than jelly so once you spread the peanut butter its easier to spread the jelly over the peanut butter. If you spread the jelly first, all you've done is lubricate the bread and the peanut butter won't spread as well.

What happens when you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? ›

"The combination of bread, peanut butter, and jelly hits all the necessary macronutrients—carbs, protein, fat—and can provide smaller amounts of fiber, vitamins and minerals, which are also important." The biggest concern is allergies, which can cause severe and even life-threatening reactions, Harbstreet says.

How to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without getting soggy? ›

"Put peanut butter on both slices of the bread with the jelly in the middle," they offer up. "This will keep your bread from soaking up the jelly and getting soggy." Similar with the first tip, the key is minimizing the amount of bread exposed to the jelly for hours on end.

How can I make my PB&J more interesting? ›

10+ Ways to Switch Up a PB&J
  1. Make a regular PB&J, then toast the whole thing. ...
  2. Swap the jelly for romaine lettuce and honey. ...
  3. Make a triple decker: bread, jelly, peanut butter, bread, peanut butter, jelly, bread. ...
  4. Add Nutella OR smoked almonds OR mini chocolate chips OR cereal. ...
  5. Go for an open-faced treatment.
Sep 22, 2023

What can you add to peanut butter to make it taste better? ›

Salt: I use sea salt for this recipe. It's optional, but salt does make peanut butter taste better. Sweetener: I always add a little bit of maple syrup or honey when making peanut butter.

What enhances peanut butter flavor? ›

Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor of the cookies with its aromatic richness. Egg: Provides structure and helps bind the ingredients together. Peanut Butter Chips: Intensify the peanut butter flavor and add bursts of sweetness throughout the cookies.

References

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