The old-fashioned spinach salad with hot bacon dressing meets the classic roast prime rib!! A star-crossed love story to capture your heart at first bite! Like the whole classic steakhouse dinner piled into one magnificent sandwich! And it doesn’t stop there, either! There’s more!! The Absolute Ultimate Cheesy Leftover Prime Rib Sandwich that I’ve created should be illegal.

Seriously.

This is one FAB-ulous sandwich that leaves all others in the dust!!

I SWEAR to you…this may be the BEST sandwich that I have ever created. Not kidding. I’m overly critical of myself and my recipes, but this time…I truly shocked myself.

ALL of the elements came together so beautifully…seriously…no words.

Not only do we have the retro baby spinach and field greens salad going on with the classic ingredients of fresh mushrooms, red onion, bacon, hard boiled eggs, and homemade, sweet & tangy, “hot bacon dressing”, but there’s also a garlic-mustard-horseradish cream cheese smear on the “semi-homemade”, warm from the oven, fresh bread rolls, too!

Oh. It doesn’t sound spectacular enough yet? It needs one last thing to take it over the top you say?

Hehe….just wait.

It also gets one last tastebud-tantalizing sprinkle of blue cheese crumbles on top of all that “what dreams are made of”, spectacularly glorious, medal-worthy, BEHEMOTH sandwich, too!

What???

RIGHT?!!

It just doesn’t get any better than this right here!!!

Yep.

SWOON-worthy.

And it all simply started with leftovers from the holidays! We VERY much lucked out this holiday season to get to enjoy a Prime Rib roast for Christmas, due to our grocery store having a sale (that everyone in town took full advantage of!!) You just can’t beat a super-sale on beef these days!! It was a few months ago that they practically gave it away (again!), and we all bought one, including our neighbors, and froze them for the holidays!

They were very large, too, so I carefully thought ahead and planned our meal to ensure that the leftovers would be put to very good use, also! ALL of them! And every last little thing could not have worked out better.

So this sandwich started with a batch of my almost forgotten classic, “hot bacon dressing”! If you’ve never had it, you’re in for a simply delicious treat! It’s easy to make, and goes beautifully with stronger greens like baby spinach and arugula!

I thought that just a thinly sliced prime rib sandwich with salad on top wasn’t going to quite do it, so I thought to use some leftover cream cheese from the holidays, too!

I had a half of an 8 ounce block sitting in the fridge, so I dolled it up with just some mustard, horseradish, and garlic powder to go with the beef!

Once the bread was toasted on the insides, smeared on the bottoms with the cream cheese spread, and piled with prime rib, I next started layering the classic salad we had leftovers of from the holidays as well!!

I served this salad for our Christmas dinner, and my hubby LOVED it! So I thought, hey, why not pile it onto a sandwich and have the whole meal in one, right?

So just pile your field greens mix with baby spinach leaves onto the top side, then add fresh sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced red onion, and chopped hard-boiled egg crumbles!

(Almost) lastly, drizzle the whole shebang with that amazing hot bacon dressing!!!!

Seriously. This stuff is to die for!!

It’s a little sweet, but more tangy than overly sweet and holds up really well with everything else going on. Please do use a nice apple cider vinegar for this, or a mild white wine vinegar. I think regular ole white distilled vinegar might make it too strong.

And remember to store your apple cider vinegar in the fridge! It will keep much better and not turn cloudy!

Now, the last item did not get added to his. He’s just not a fan of blue cheese OR feta. I know. I’m workin’ on ‘im! 😉 So it’s not in this set of pictures. (*But I added it to mine – and left off the egg for my own preference – and it was phenomenal!!!)

I so wish you could’ve seen my hubby’s face when I served him this spectacular lunch!! He was smilin’ like he was eatin’ a banana sideways!!

Truly, a kid at Christmastime!

So, anyways, you can dress this sandwich up however it makes you happy! You can use blue cheese, or swap it out for some gorgonzola or feta, or choose a milder cheese like queso blanco! Or, do like my hubby did, and just leave it off altogether.

We had these exquisite sandwiches with leftover homemade mac ‘n cheese, and I even served them on my “semi-homemade” bread rolls that I sprinkled with seasoned salt and lots of garlic powder before baking!

This sandwich…honestly…was THE BEST sandwich I have ever, ever, ever made.

Ever.

So if you have leftover prime rib from the holidays this year, I HIGHLY suggest that you make “The Absolute Ultimate Cheesy Leftover Prime Rib Sandwich”!! They honestly tasted like something you’d pay an arm and a leg for at a fancy-pants restaurant up in New York City!!

Hope you all enjoy, and have a safe and happy New Year!!!

*I made this recipe from the leftovers of my infamous Restaurant-Style Prime Rib!

The Absolute Ultimate Cheesy Leftover Prime Rib Sandwich!

Ingredients

2 - 3 hoagie rolls, split open, spread with butter and toasted on the insides
thinly sliced leftover prime rib (or steak), warmed

For Cream Cheese Spread:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. prepared horseradish
1/4 tsp. spicy brown mustard
dash each fresh cracked salt and pepper to taste

For Salad:

2 - 3 cups field greens with baby spinach leaves, as much as you like
fresh sliced mushrooms, (4 - 6 thick slices per sandwich)
very thinly sliced red onion
1 - 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped or cut into wedges (*about a half or more per sandwich)

For Warm Bacon Dressing:

4 strips bacon, diced
1 Tbl. reserved bacon grease
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbl. spicy brown mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 Tbl. cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbl. cold water

Garnish:

blue cheese or feta cheese crumbles

Instructions

Split open hoagie, sub, or baguette-style rolls, butter the insides, and place onto a baking sheet. Run under the broiler to toast insides. Spread bottom sides with the soft cream cheese spread, then thin slices of warmed, leftover prime rib.

Top with Salad Ingredients in order. Spoon heated bacon dressing over, then sprinkle with blue cheese or feta crumbles.

To Make Cream Cheese Spread:

In small bowl, soften cream in the microwave, stir in rest of ingredients until well mixed.

To Make Warm Bacon Salad Dressing:

Cut bacon into pieces and fry until crisp in medium frying pan. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and set aside, reserve 1 Tbl. drippings in pan. Add onion and sauté until tender, remove from heat. Add bacon and rest of ingredients except cornstarch and cold water. Mix well with whisk. In small glass, stir together cornstarch and cold water until thoroughly mixed, stir into pan. Place back over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches a full boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. (Makes about 2 cups.) Store leftover dressing in fridge, reheat before serving. Drizzle over salad and steak in sandwich.