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

Jump to Recipe

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

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

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.

How can I spice up my PBJ? ›

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

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.

How to make peanut butter and jelly better? ›

Add Fresh Fruit

You've probably added bananas to your PB&J. But how about blueberries, strawberries (amazing with strawberry jam), apples or even grapes? Give the little ones a chance to build their own sandwich or pack 'em a surprise. This peanut butter and jelly idea makes the perfect lunch for kids.

What flavor is best for PBJ? ›

Cooking blogger Helen Merritt says grape is the clear choice because it's not as prevalent. "Strawberry flavors are everywhere and grape flavor feels like something fresh and untypical," she tells Yahoo Life.

How to jazz up a 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 do you spice up store bought jelly? ›

Here are some ideas so that you can see what I am talking about: Ginger is one of those spices that seems to go with everything, so it can be a good place to start. Strawberry goes really well with lavender, basil, cracked black pepper or rosemary. There is so much one can do with apricots.

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.

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

Don't use butter for this, it ruins the flavour. Then, over the thin layer of peanut butter, spread a good layer of jelly. Then sprinkle a little flaky salt over it. Sandwich the slices together.

Is it OK to eat peanut butter and jelly everyday? ›

The biggest concern is allergies, which can cause severe and even life-threatening reactions, Harbstreet says. However, if you and the people around you don't have an allergy, eating PB&J every day is on the table.

What tastes good with peanut butter and jelly? ›

I love my PB&J sandwiches with pretzels, apple slices and an extra scoop of peanut butter on the side to dip my apples in. On one side of the PB&J sandwiches, I put healthy options like apple slices and celery with a small bowl of peanut butter to spread on them as well as some grapes, cheese crackers and potato chips.

What goes first in peanut butter jelly? ›

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.

How do you spice up a PBJ? ›

Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to put your sandwich on the milder side of wild, or get really spicy with some red chili flakes, a dash of cayenne, or chipotle powder. Chipotle has a smoky undertone that adds a new depth to earthy peanuts. If using chipotle powder, consider adding a few mini chocolate chips.

What flavor enhances peanut butter? ›

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 bread is best with peanut butter? ›

Brown bread and peanut butter are good sandwich combination as it offers a balanced mix of carbohydrates, healthy fats, protein, and fiber. By having one sandwich, one can get energy, feel satisfied and get nutrition.

What to add to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? ›

Add sliced bananas and raisins to your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Or maybe cored apples, or other fruit, sliced paper-thin. Bananas. Marshmallow fluff.

What enhances 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).

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

However, if you want to have some fun with it, there are plenty of tasty ways to dress up your homemade nut butter. You can add your favorite sweetener of choice — honey, agave, maple syrup, or sugar would all be great.

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