BLT with Thick-Cut Bacon and Garlic Mayo
Six strips of bacon fried hard, cold lettuce, salted tomato, and a garlic mayo that earns the sandwich its name.
- Serves
- 2
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Written
Method
-
Lay the bacon in a cold skillet, then turn the heat to medium and cook, flipping occasionally, until deeply browned and crisp at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
-
Drain the bacon on paper towels, leaving the fat in the pan.
-
Salt the tomato slices on both sides and let them sit on paper towels while the bacon cooks, to pull out excess water.
-
Stir the grated garlic into the mayonnaise and season with black pepper.
-
Toast the bread, then spread garlic mayo on every slice, edge to edge.
-
Layer lettuce, tomato, and bacon between two mayo-covered slices per sandwich, pressing down slightly before you cut.
-
Cut on the diagonal and eat immediately, before the toast softens.
Notes
The tomato is the part people skip and shouldn’t — salting it for even five minutes while the bacon renders keeps the bread from going soggy by serving time. Cold-starting the bacon in the pan renders more fat before it browns, which is what gets it flat and crisp instead of curled and chewy.
Swap the mayo base for a mashed avocado if you want richness without the pure fat, though the garlic still goes in either way. Leftover bacon fat is worth keeping — a spoonful stirred into the mayo instead of grated garlic makes a smokier version of the same sandwich.