Baked Sandwiches

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This is not a dish you would have seen back in the day in my family. My Great Grandmother Lela never even knew how to make what we all call “loaf bread”. Having a hard life of working in the fields from the time she was old enough to pull a cotton sack, Lela, like so many other Southerners, considered food preparation to be a necessity in order to survive. Few took the time to work with yeast when biscuits were practical, portable, quick and affordable.

Grandmama said they always took biscuits to school for their lunch but she remembers being embarrassed to eat around the other children who had sandwiches made with loaf bread instead of stuffed biscuits. They never dreamed of asking for it from their Mama though, knowing how hard she already worked.

Four generations later, I’m every bit as practical as my Great Grandmother. Although I do enjoy making yeast breads from scratch when I have the time, when it comes to getting dinner on the table for a hungry family, I take an easier approach. That’s why I love this recipe.

Made with surprisingly affordable frozen bread dough, this is a throw together recipe which only requires time in terms of waiting for your dough to thaw and rise. I dreamed this up some years back and it was an instant hit. I encourage you to adapt this recipe to your own family, adding vegetables and spices that you enjoy in order to make it truly your own. My version is very simple (to please little ones who like it that way!) and is a great starting place for you. This sandwich is gorgeous when its baked and impressive when cut but when you taste how wonderful it is, you’ll be shaking your head at the ease of such a filling meal!

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For my ingredients, I use three things: Cream of mushroom soup, ground beef, and a thawed loaf of frozen yeast bread.

Before you place your bread out to thaw, spray cooking spray on the plate so that it doesn’t stick to it.

If I were making this sandwich for me and not the picky eaters in my home, I’d cook my meat with some chopped onions and bell peppers :). I have a few other suggestions at the bottom, too.

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Let your bread thaw but not rise. Spray some waxed paper with cooking spray.

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Place thawed loaf on sprayed waxed paper.

This bread dough is purchased in packages of two or three loaves in the freezer section of the grocery store. I often have a difficult (or nigh on impossible) time finding it at my Wal Mart and end up having to go elsewhere. Funny thing is, all of the other Wal Marts I venture into seem to carry it at all times, go figure!

If they do have it at your local Wally World, chances are that it isn’t at eye level. I always have to look way down at the back of the bottom shelf near the frozen biscuits and such. No idea why they make you work so hard for it but I have never once seen it in an easy to spot location.

You can buy any brand, really, but a popular one is Rhode’s. I found the frozen loaves I used for this at Publix and it was an off brand.

Honestly, I’ve never seen a bit of difference in quality from one to the other so just get whatever you can find.

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In a bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup and ground beef.

If you like, you can use fat free cream of mushroom soup for this as well.

Really, you can use any type of cream soup also.

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I cook large batches of ground beef all at once and package in zipper sealed bags to place in the freezer. This streamlines meal preparation considerably in addition to making the mess only once instead of twelve or more times.

I don’t weigh out my beef, I simply get a one cup measuring cup and measure one cup or two cups into a bag. It is easy to tell which bags hold more and when I am feeding a bit more I get a larger portion. When making many dishes with ground beef, my family doesn’t notice if I put less ground beef than what the recipe actually calls for. I have even put half of what was called for before, if I was running low.

Little money savin’ tip there for ya!

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On  your greased surface, roll out your thawed loaf. This is gonna take a rolling pin and a little bit of muscle as the bonds in the bread dough will resist ya a bit. Just lean into it and roll for all you’re worth! There is no required size for this but I make mine about 17 inches by 14 inches.

Seriously though, just roll it til it looks right to you and don’t worry ’bout that!

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Spoon ground beef mixture down center of loaf.

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Fold sides over and pinch to seal. Do this with ends, too.

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Transfer this to a greased baking sheet, seam side down. I lined mine with aluminum foil because I was in the mood for easier clean up. Sometimes we deserve to give ourselves a little breaky-break.

Y’all know I use generic Aluminum foil too, don’t you?

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Spray a bit of cling wrap with cooking spray and cover your loaf to allow to rise.

You have to spray the cling wrap to prevent it from sticking to your bread as it rises. This needs to be kept in a warm place and allowed to rise anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours, until it is doubled in size. If your house is warmer, it might rise faster so just pay attention to the size of it.

Someone asked me in a comment a week or so ago if a certain brand of plastic wrap was needed for my recipes. Honestly, plastic wrap annoys me. It seems I can never just pull a sheet off the roll and have it NOT set into wadding up on itself. I haven’t the patience for it. With this in mind, I do tend to buy name brand plastic wrap. Now y’all don’t go thinking I’m getting all snobbish on ya, you know I’m cheap as they come on everything else!

I haven’t had time to post that in response to her comment, either. I tend to stay behind on comments with  my kidders and all but please know that I read and appreciate every blessed one of them!

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Once it’s risen, brush a beaten egg over the top so it will come out gorgeous and golden after its baked.

Some bread recipes say to use an egg white but why go to the trouble of separating it?

Life is complicated enough on its own without our putting our two cents in.

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Using a sharp knife, Cut several angled slits in the top of your loaf.

Sometimes I part them a bit with my knife, to, if my bread is sticking together a bit where I cut it.

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Bake at 350 until golden, about thirty minutes.

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Let sit for a few minutes and then cut into slices.

Baked Sandwiches

I recommend sauteed onions and bell peppers, seasonings such as Italian seasoning, garlic powder to taste, etc. You can use chicken in place of ground beef and even add a can of diced green chilies to make a baked chicken sandwich with a Mexican flair! Have fun with this sandwich!
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sandwich
Servings: 4
Calories: 292.5kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef browned and drained
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup or other cream soup
  • 1 loaf of thawed yeast bread dough

Instructions

  • On a greased surface, roll out bread dough into a rectangle. Stir together cooked meat, soup, and any other ingredients you choose.
  • Spoon down the center of your rectangle of dough.
  • Fold over sides and ends and pinch closed.
  • Place on greased baking sheet and cover with cling wrap sprayed with cooking spray to prevent it from sticking to bread. Place in warm place and allow to rise until doubled in size, about one and a half to two hours.
  • Remove cling wrap and brush with well beaten egg.
  • Taking a sharp knife, cut several angled slits along the top.
  • Bake at 350 for thirty minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes, slice, and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 292.5kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

More quick & easy ground beef recipes your family will love:

Pizza Rolls

Not Your Average Joe, Sloppy Joes

Deep Dish Pizza

Perfect Man Food: One Skillet Chili Bake

Christy’s Crock Pot Chili

Hobo Packets

Crock Pot Salisbury Steaks

Taco Soup

Meatloaf: Making, Freezing, and Small Batch Options!

This is going to be a busy week for me with my husband out of town (all week), three Valentine’s parties to work on, lots of Southern Plate business and oh…I think my birthday is smack dab in the middle of there somewhere, too! I won’t have much time to respond to comments but please keep them coming! Your comments are the heartbeat of Southern Plate!

Gratefully,

Christy

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100 Comments

  1. Christy
    First things first — Happy Birthday

    This recipe sounds great. I cant wait to buy the ingredients for
    this one. Can think of a lot of different variations for this.
    Will let you know the ones I try and how they work out.
    Thanks
    Sue

    1. ~Squeals~
      Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Oh yes, please do report back on the variations you try! I’d love to hear more about them. The possibilities are so vast and I just love how the bread tastes and how pretty the finished product looks. Anxious to try some more ideas with it!

  2. Oh, I had forgotten about these sandwiches! My family will be surprised this week 🙂

    Years ago I used to make this often and sometimes I was pressed for time and actually bought a loaf of French Bread and dug out the inside and used it. I have also made them with bite size pieces of chicken and bbq sauce for a change.

    Thanks for reminding me about this one.

  3. I really like the sloppy joe idea.

    I was thinking of making a cheese steak like this. Just adding in sliced provolone, sauteed onions, mushrooms and peppers and cooked beef.

    I needed one more meal for the week. Thanks Christy!

    1. Try the Bama Cheese Steak sandwich recipe Christy has here if you haven’t already. It’s really good. Go easy on the Dale’s sauce, It’s very good but a little goes a long way.

    2. This would be fabulous with all of that!!! I have been wanting to experiment myself but ~sigh~ Alas, y’all know everyone in my house has been dropped on their head and doesn’t eat the good stuff.
      ~grins~ Thank you, Bill!!!
      I just love the easy stuff. Sometimes I get to thinking I need to do more complicated things for y’all to show you that I can but then I flip by the food network channel and see some fancy schmancy chef tossing in ingredients I can’t even pronounce and think “nahh, we’re good just how we are!”

    1. Absotively, Posolutely!
      Cheese can be added and added in abundance! In fact, you could skip the cream soup in lieu of cheese. It would give the meat a little cohesiveness in the same way !
      You rock!(when’s dinner?)

      1. Ooh, now that sounds good. My man loves him some sammiches too! Soo many great ideas on this post and in all these comments! I can’t believe how much your blog has expanded in only the short time I’ve known of it. Watch someday you’re gonna have your own show on the Food Network giving Paula Deen a run for her money and showing people how to eat *real* food, and we can all smile and say we knew her back when she had her own little corner of the Internet! Kudos to you Christy!

      2. I usually make this Nebraska style from a recipe I found in a magazine. I cut the bread dough into 4 parts and combine ground beef, onions, mushrooms and shredded cabbage. Add a little salt and pepper of course.
        Spread the bread dough out flat and place a slice or 2 of cheddar cheese( or whatever you like) mound a spoonfull or 2 of the meat mix and fold over edges and seal them up. Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise about 15 minutes and bake at 350 for 20 min. Good to take a along on a picnic or to work for lunch. Great cold or warm!
        Enjoy!!

        1. Ooops, forgot to add the sliced black olives or even green olives are great in these too. I usually just use a bag of coleslaw mix, the carrots add an extra veggie in them too.

  4. I think we will have Sloppy Joes cooked this way. I’m gonna try the Pizza dough that comes in a can like biscuits and see how it works.

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