Many, many years ago, when I first saw baguettes sold in bakeries, I always thought of it as a hard and dry bread. My teeth would protest even at the thought of buying it (‘kaanji-ponna breadaaa??’)… I mean, croissants with their soft fluffiness need no convincing, right? Who knew, a decade later, I would walk right by croissants and stock up baguettes on a weekly basis?
You see, the dry nature of the bread needs to be used as an advantage. The pan bagnat is a delightful sandwich that gets better over time. The dryness is useful since we make the recipe 6 hours earlier. It has time to marinate the flavors without becoming a soggy mess by the time we eat.
Oh, 1 more plus – It is a huge time-saver. On a Saturday morning, I filled 2 whole baguettes with all the stuffings and got them ready for brunch and for a post-meal hike – in 30 minutes – all in one shot. Because you fill the bread as a whole and not separately like most sandwiches.
Step by Step
Let us first prepare the simple dressing necessary for this sandwich.
To a mason jar, add: olive oil, vinegar of choice, mustard, salt, pepper and shake.

Give it to the kids to shake. After they run around the kitchen shaking it, you get this creamy emulsified dressing.

Toasting the baguette is important. Any bread, made several days ago in a bakery, needs to have life breathed back into it. Toast your baguette, my dears!!

In recent times, I have been rarely using the oven, since my air fryer is pretty much like oven on steroids. However, in this case, the size of the oven is useful, since you can toast the whole length of the baguette without needing to cut it up. So, 350F, 8-10 minutes, in it goes!!
Once the bread is toasted, place the baguette on an Aluminum sheet or plastic wrap (which will be used to close the sandwich later on). Slice the entire baguette lengthwise.

Scoop out the insides. Don’t worry, the scooped out parts won’t go to waste. Kids will love to dip it in the dressing you just made and eat it. Or, you can toast them with a little butter and add them to a salad.

Brush the insides of the baguette generously with the dressing.

Time to start layering the veggies. First up, sliced cucumber…

Next, tomatoes…

Next onions, peppers, sliced boiled eggs, chopped greens, chopped olives…
Compress all the ingredients compactly into the sandwich. Holding the edges together, wrap the sandwich tightly.

6 hours later, cut up this beauty…and ta-da!!

Of course, you don’t have to wait 6 hours. You can eat it right away. It might need more drizzles of the dressing to soften up the veggies a bit. But, either way, this is a delightful sandwich for the entire family!!
Recipe
Vegetarian Pan Bagnat – a veggie-filled sandwich for the whole family
Course: Lunch/Dinner, Recipes, SandwichCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutesThis Vegetarian pan bagnat sandwich is a perfect recipe to make for the entire family before going to the beach or for a hike. The baguette is filled with veggies and boiled eggs surrounded by a vinegarette dressing – Mmmm, mmm!!
Ingredients
Baguette
Sliced veggies (cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, chopped greens, olives)
Sliced boiled eggs
- Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup vinegar of choice
1 tsp mustard
Salt, Pepper
Directions
- Make emulsified dressing by adding dressing ingredients to mason jar and shaking them.
- Toast baguette as a whole in 350F oven for 8-10 minutes
- Place baguette on aluminum wrap (or plastic wrap). Slice the baguette lengthwise. Scoop out the insides.
- Layer all veggies one by one. Layer sliced boiled eggs in between the veggies.
- Wrap the sandwich tightly using the wrap and if possible weight them down. They will be ready in 6 hours.
- Cut into individual pieces right before eating.
Notes
- I did not salt the veggies because I do not want my sandwich to get soggy (despite the hard bread). The crunch of the raw veggies are delicious in this sandwich. The only salt comes from the dressing.
- If you want to eat the sandwich earlier, drizzle a bit more dressing along the edge of the sandwich to make it juicier.
Conclusion

How much do my kids love this pan bagnat sandwich? I made this and Bisibele as meal options once we got back from our hike. My kids and my husband (traitor!! 😂) chose the sandwich. I love my bisibele, but I was happy to see the kids excitedly reach for this veggie-filled sandwich.
Have you made pan Bagnat? What is your favorite sandwich? Post your comments and thoughts below. I look forward to them.
Pinterest Video
Here’s the video link to my recipe:
Post your comments here....I look forward to reading them!!