You Should Be Using Garlic Bread To Build Your Next Steak Sandwich

A real steak sandwich — as opposed to a fast-food "steakburger," which is basically just a pricy ground beef patty that might not satisfy anyone in the mood for something they can really sink their teeth into — can be a beautiful thing. Thin-sliced seared beef piled high on a bun, what could make for a more marvelous meal? Well, there are a few embellishments that can make a good thing even better, such as au jus with a French dip, giardiniera with Italian beef, and, of course, melted cheese (or Cheez, if you're going "wit wiz") on a classic Philly cheesesteak. One option we heartily endorse, however, doesn't involve adding a topping but instead makes use of a different kind of bun.

Instead of a sub or Kaiser roll or even a baguette or a pita, what you really should be using for your next steak sandwich is garlic bread. That way, even a bite that's heavy on bread but light on meat will still be full of flavor. Any kind of garlic bread will do just fine, such as the frozen sliced Texas Toast garlic bread that's one of our Dollar Tree food favorites. A full loaf of garlic bread, however, will afford you an even bigger sandwich. When it comes to anything as tasty as steak sandwiches, bigger is very often better.

If you prefer to DIY your own ingredients instead of having everything all ready to go right out of the package, you can make your own garlic bread for a steak sandwich pretty easily. You'll either take your loaf of French or Italian bread and slice it almost, but not all the way through, or else split the loaf in half lengthwise. In the former instance, melt a stick of butter (salted or un) and infuse it with peeled chopped or grated garlic cloves, then drizzle it down into each cut once it gets nice and garlicky. In the latter case, make a spread from softened butter and minced garlic and slather it over each cut half. Add some salt, pepper, parmesan, and/or parsley if desired, then wrap the loaf in foil and bake it at 400 F for about 15 minutes to warm it up.

You can also dress up the garlic bread even more with the addition of other ingredients including chopped fresh basil, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, mozzarella, or marinara sauce. As you'll be using the bread for a steak sandwich, a compound butter made with garlic and lemon juice would work wonderfully, as would garlic bread topped with gorgonzola cheese. The real beauty of homemade garlic bread, however, is that you can go as light or heavy on the garlic as you wish so your steak sandwich is custom-seasoned just for you.