The ultimate Boxing Day sandwich recipe with Max Halley

Table of Contents

The Art of the Boxing Day Sandwich

For those who have ever relished a Christmas dinner, the idea of a Boxing Day sandwich might sound like an unexpected treat. This culinary creation takes the essence of festive feasting—meat, cheese, and gravy—and combines them into a delicious, satisfying meal that is easy to prepare and perfect for enjoying while lounging in your pajamas. It stands in stark contrast to the towering expectations of the previous day’s meal, requiring minimal kitchen skills and offering a relaxed, cozy way to enjoy leftovers.

Many renowned chefs and food lovers share this sentiment. Nigel Slater has claimed he prefers a Boxing Day sandwich more than his Christmas Day lunch, while Yotam Ottolenghi described it as significantly less daunting than the “high stakes” of the previous day. Nigella Lawson even called Christmas leftover sandwiches “the greatest thing… even as I’m enjoying my Christmas dinner, I’m thinking about those leftover sandwiches.”

Max Halley, owner of the award-winning Max’s Sandwich Shop, believes that anything goes when it comes to the Boxing Day sarnie. “I am firmly of the belief that anything can go in a sandwich,” he says. According to him, sandwich perfection occurs by balancing six key elements: hot, cold, sweet, sour, crunch, and soft.

Key Elements of a Perfect Boxing Day Sandwich

Meat
Meat provides a great base to a quality Boxing Day sandwich, whether it’s turkey, chicken, ham, goose, beef, duck, or even pigs in blankets. Vegetarians and vegans should consider meat substitutes or even a sliced nut roast.

“I love turkey – I think it’s a much-maligned meat,” says Max. “In the US, for example, turkey is as serious a meat as chicken is and that’s not how it’s seen in the UK. I’m not sure why because turkey’s delicious.”

He also mentions that he always cooks a ham; it’s nice boiled in cider. Some years he’s cooked two ducks instead of a turkey, which is always very nice. He doesn’t eat ham on Christmas Day, but he always eats it on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Sauce
A sauce adds flavor and enhances existing tastes. This could be anything from cranberry sauce to bread sauce, hot sauce to pesto, mustard, gravy, or mayonnaise. “A layer of mayonnaise beneath hot meat is good because it creates a little barrier and stops the bread from becoming too soggy. And mayonnaise next to crunchy things is good because it sticks to them.”

Stuffing
Stuffing remains a popular Christmas dinner staple and one that Max is all for inside a Boxing Day sandwich. “I am totally down with stuffing,” he says. “And I like cheap stuffing as much as the bougie stuff; I’ve got a real soft spot for Paxo – nothing on earth tastes like that. I love sage – I like herby things – and so stuffing really works for me.”

Vegetables
Vegetables can be finely chopped or shredded. “Personally, I would probably go down the route of making a slaw with raw sprouts,” says Max. “Similarly to turkey, the reason sprouts have a bad name with some people is to do with bad cooking, not anything to do with sprouts. It’s just a tiny cabbage.”

Leftover sprouts can also be fried. “Cut them in half and fry them,” he says. “They’re like all cabbages – they love being burned. If you’ve ever had cabbage on the barbecue, you’ll know it is absolutely delicious. You could also burn them a bit under the grill and then add them into the sandwich. That’s quite a fun way to introduce a smoky barbecue flavor to your sandwich without having to light the barbecue or go outside.”

The Importance of Bread

How important is the bread? “Massive,” he states. “Sliced bread often doesn’t work very well. What you want is crust. At my sandwich shop, we make all the sandwiches in focaccia. With sliced bread, there’s very little structural integrity there. And I want to put lots of stuff in there – juicy things and sauce. Crust means that the bread can soak up more juice and not fall apart.”

Gravy and Cheese

What about a splash of gravy – is it off-limits? “Gravy is never off-limits, especially when mixed into mayonnaise. I might also add a jug on the side for dipping. Mustard works too. I made a beer mustard using Peroni and mustard powder. From mustard powder, you can make all sorts of mustards.”

Cheese is an indulgent part of festive feasting for many households. It brings a smooth, creamy texture to leftover meat. A slice or two of stilton, brie, or cheddar also adds depth, richness, and a salty kick.

Layering and Distribution

Is there a layering hierarchy? “Yes. If you put a really crunchy thing next to a really wet thing, you’re not going to have a really crunchy thing for much longer. When we devise a new sandwich to put on the menu at my shop, we decide on the fillings that we want in the sandwich and then we make seven or eight different versions with the contents in different orders to decide upon the ‘right’ order.”

Distribution is everything. “I believe that every bite of a sandwich should contain every element of it. That’s why all my sandwiches are built in layers. You don’t want to miss out on mustard, for example, or ham or cheese.”

Yorkshire Pudding and Beyond

When it comes to the Yorkshire pudding, a divisive addition to a Christmas dinner plate, could this be shoehorned into a Boxing Day sandwich? “Treated right, anything can go into a sandwich. Put whatever you want in it. Don’t let someone on the internet tell you you can’t have Yorkshire pudding in your Boxing Day sandwich. You can do anything you want – it’s your sandwich. There’s no limit.”

Final Thoughts

For Max’s platonic ideal of a Boxing Day sandwich, distinctive flavors are key. “I like contrasts. So I like sour things alongside sweet things, crunchy things when there’s soft things. I like hot and cold things. I like balance,” he says.

Is there something Max would never want to see in a Boxing Day sandwich? “A mean spirit?” he quips. “Not enough of things. I think not putting enough of something is certainly a cardinal sin.”

So, the more the merrier? “Yeah – if you’re gonna throw a party, throw a proper party – you’ve got to go all in.”