One of the time-honored traditions of Thanksgiving is in the days that follow, as Americans will enjoy pumpkin pie, turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and other leftover foods from their holiday meals.
A recent nationwide survey of 2,000 US adults conducted online by The Harris Poll, on behalf of Alpha Baking Company, set out to uncover America’s favorite Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. According to the survey, an overwhelming majority of Americans, 94 percent, dine on a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.
Key findings from the survey include:
White bread (20 percent) was the bread winner for sandwich bases, with whole wheat and Hawaiian bread varieties following closely behind (15 percent each).
Among those who make leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches, savory staples gravy (42 percent), ham (41 percent), and stuffing (39 percent) battled for second behind turkey (81 percent) as the most popular items that belong on a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich.
Pumpkin pie is a “must have” ingredient in leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches, according to 11 percent of those surveyed.
Americans love adding hot dish leftovers into their post-turkey day sandwiches, with mac and cheese (21 percent), green bean casserole (14 percent), corn and corn casserole (10 percent) and broccoli casserole (9 percent) reported by survey participants.
More than half (54 percnet) say their bread selection is because it’s their favorite for all sandwiches.
“What the survey makes clear is that, while Americans may prefer myriad different ingredients on their Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches, we can all agree that a great bread is essential to any day-after-Thanksgiving sandwich. As our founder liked to say, great sandwiches start with great bread; that’s something we believe so strongly here that we put it on all of our bread bags,” says Tim Lotesto, vice president of retail sales at Alpha Baking Co., Inc.
In honor of America’s preferences, Alpha Baking Company (the maker of S. Rosen’s bread, buns and rolls) has curated five Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich serving suggestions with some of the must-have ingredients called out in the survey.