Few things are more British than a good sandwich, but to Americans, some of our favourite fillings sound downright bizarre.
From crisp sandwiches to prawn mayo, what we see as perfectly normal lunchtime classics often leave them thinking, “Uh, WHAT?” The British sandwich scene has always celebrated creativity and convenience in equal measure, happily combining flavours that don’t follow any rulebook. What might seem strange abroad, like a chip butty or a cheese and pickle sandwich, feels completely natural here. These fillings might raise eyebrows across the Atlantic, but to Brits, they’re comfort food at its finest.
1. Butter is absolutely non-negotiable.
Brits put butter on every sandwich, without exception. It doesn’t matter if there’s mayo, if the filling is already moist, if it’s a hot sandwich, butter goes on first. Americans find this completely bizarre because they use mayo or nothing at all as their base. The idea of buttering bread for a sandwich genuinely confuses them.
To us, a sandwich without butter is basically inedible, it’s dry, it’s wrong, it’s not even really a sandwich. Americans think we’re mad for adding unnecessary fat to something that doesn’t need it. Neither side will ever budge on this.
2. Crisp sandwiches are a legitimate meal.
A crisp sandwich is exactly what it sounds like: crisps between two slices of buttered bread. That’s it. Americans cannot comprehend why this exists or why Brits genuinely love them. It’s seen as poverty food, student desperation, or a joke. But for Brits, it’s a proper snack with specific rules about which crisps work best (cheese and onion or ready salted, usually). The texture contrast, the salt, the crunch, it all makes perfect sense here. Americans think we’re taking the mickey, but we’re absolutely serious about our crisp sandwiches.
3. The bread has to be thin and soft.
British sandwich bread is thin, soft, and pale. Americans find it depressing and call it “sad bread” because it looks anaemic compared to their thick, sturdy slices. We prefer it this way because thick bread overwhelms the filling and makes the sandwich too heavy. We want to taste what’s inside, not just eat bread. Americans think our bread can’t structurally handle a proper sandwich, which is true because we’re not trying to build a sandwich skyscraper. Our sandwiches are meant to be delicate, not architectural achievements.
4. Cucumber sandwiches are a real thing.
Thinly sliced cucumber on buttered white bread with the crusts cut off. That’s the sandwich. Americans think this is either a joke or something from a Victorian novel, not actual food people eat. However, cucumber sandwiches are a genuine British classic, especially for afternoon tea. They’re refreshing, light, and perfectly acceptable lunch. The “salad” in a British sandwich is often just limp lettuce and a single slice of tomato, which Americans also find bewildering. We don’t need excessive vegetables, we’re not making a health statement, we’re making a sandwich.
5. Salad cream beats mayo every time.
Salad cream is a condiment that Americans don’t really have or understand. It’s tangier and sweeter than mayo, and for many Brits it’s the only acceptable option for certain sandwiches. Americans use mayo as standard and find salad cream weird and unnecessary. The texture’s different, the taste is sharper, and it’s deeply nostalgic for British people. Suggesting mayo instead of salad cream on a prawn sandwich or ham salad would be met with genuine offence in many of our households. It’s not the same, it never will be, and Americans will never understand why we’re so passionate about it.
6. Sandwiches should be easy to eat, not a challenge.
British sandwiches are flat, manageable, and won’t fall apart when you bite them. American sandwiches are overstuffed to the point where you can’t fit them in your mouth and everything falls out the sides. We find this incredibly annoying and wasteful. Why would you make something you can’t actually eat properly?
Americans think our sandwiches look pathetic and boring because there’s not enough filling. We think theirs are ridiculous and impractical. It’s a fundamental philosophical difference: we want something we can eat at a desk without making a mess, they want something Instagram-worthy that requires structural engineering to consume.
7. Marmite is a perfectly normal sandwich filling.
Marmite on toast is one thing, but Marmite in a sandwich is pure British territory that Americans find absolutely revolting. It’s salty, it’s strong, it’s an acquired taste that most Americans never acquire. But for those of us who love it, Marmite and butter (or Marmite and cheese) is a completely standard sandwich. Americans think it tastes like concentrated sadness and can’t understand why we’d voluntarily eat it. The “love it or hate it” slogan exists for a reason, and most Americans firmly hate it, which makes our casual sandwich use of it seem even more inexplicable.
8. The meal deal is a cultural institution.
The British meal deal (a sandwich, crisps, and a drink for about £3-4) is a lunchtime staple that Americans don’t have an equivalent for. It’s not just about saving money, it’s about the ritual of choosing, the specific combinations, the unwritten rules about maximising value. Americans have delis and sub shops, but not this particular format of pre-packaged sandwich, crisps, and drink as a set deal. When we try to explain meal deal strategy to Americans, they look at us like we’re insane for caring so much about optimising a £3.85 lunch (£4.25 without a Clubcard). The thing is, it matters. It really matters.
9. Sandwiches are supposed to be cold.
Apart from a toastie (which is a different category entirely), British sandwiches are cold. Americans are much more likely to have hot sandwiches, grilled sandwiches, or warm fillings as standard options. A British sandwich is assembled cold, stays cold, and is eaten cold. Hot fillings are seen as a bit weird unless it’s specifically a hot sandwich from a café.
Americans find our cold sandwich dominance depressing, especially the cold bacon sandwich or cold sausage sandwich that some of us genuinely enjoy. We find their need to heat everything unnecessary. Cold sandwiches are perfectly fine, actually better in most cases, and don’t require any equipment or waiting around.
10. The diagonal cut is the only acceptable cut.
Sandwiches must be cut diagonally. This isn’t up for debate in most British households. Cutting straight down the middle is wrong, it’s aesthetically displeasing, and the triangles just taste better somehow. Americans don’t care as much about how their sandwich is cut, or they’ll cut it into squares, or not cut it at all. We have strong opinions about this because the diagonal cut creates the perfect ratio of crust to middle in each half. Some of us prefer cutting into four triangles for a more refined presentation. Either way, it’s diagonal or it’s not a properly made sandwich. Americans think we’re being ridiculously fussy about something that makes no difference. We think they’re wrong.
