So I debated whether this (my favorite) smokey chipotle turkey sub, a seemingly basic lunch-time sandwich—- deserves to be on a food blog. Probably not… so it’s a good thing this is just a wanna-be-food-blog!  But I posted a video of making it yesterday on my instagram… which was just kind of a tease since it’s too fast to really follow… so here it is. The thing I look forward to all morning, the reason I stop at the store almost every other day (hooked on fresh deli-meat)…. my every-day smokey chipotle turkey sub.
 
Every Day Macro-Friendly Giant Turkey Sub
 
This is so much MORE than just a sandwich to me.  And I don’t wax poetic often because it makes me feel so cheesy cheesy — but hear me out.
 
Before I found macro counting, I didn’t have a big weight problem or an eating disorder (unless you want to put a label on my dessert obsession but whatever).  I was, however, like most women, always wanting to look and feel better, and always feeling so many highs and lows with food. It consumed the forefront of my mind and the top of my New Years’ resolutions and brought a silly amount of guilt and frustration.  Because I could always be eating better, and cleaner, and less. LESS!  And of course carbs, bread especially… WHITE FLUFFY ROLLS most specifically— were the first thing that should go.  They obviously only existed to tempt us right out of our happy-sized J-Crew pencil skirts.
 
 
So when I first started counting macros, I figured it’d be the same story.  And like I’d done a hundred times before, I swallowed hard and prepared myself for a long (but I never would last that long) road ahead of lean protein on salad greens, wrapped in lettuce, over zoodles or cauliflower rice… I knew the game and could totally win it…. for like a week.

Until I was mad at my food because as much as I love eggs… eventually the flame fizzles when they’re never paired with toast… what good is a yolk if it can’t be soaked up by GLUTEN??  Or I just wanted to wrap my hands and teeth around a fully intact burger or sandwich with all of the texture and stop pretending “I don’t even miss it! It’s just the same!” That’s just a salad in your hands.  I’ll eat my salad —when I want a salad, with a fork please.

 
Every Day Macro-Friendly Giant Turkey Sub

I just like food how it’s supposed to be, and I really like food.  So eventually I’d be like, it’s not worth it, life’s too short.  I deserve this.  And those 8 ounces I lost in a week would come back after a bite of my kid’s morning toast and it was all of that emotion and deprivation for nothing.

And THIS is where macro counting has been revolutionary.  After as little as a week or two of tracking and logging my food and seeing the macro break down of each meal, I realized where things would ring in on my “macro budget” and how doable it was to fit some of the carbs I loved, if I just made good choices by skipping the ones I didn’t.  I would eat my sad, naked eggs (let’s be real- whites at that point) and lettuce-wrapped turkey during the day and find I had carbs leftover to play with at night… even more than I needed. So slowly I added in a sandwich-thin or an english muffin or those tiny square slices of 45-calorie bread that look like they’re made for dolls.  And I remember one day being like, wait a minute I could eat this sandwich-thin that almost tastes like bread for 22 carbs… OR OR OR…. for 10 more carbs I could make this GIANT SANDWICH on a light and fluffy beautiful bolillo roll (with the help of hollowing out that top bun of course) that makes me feel like I could take on the world and should for SURE be gaining weight BUT I’M NOT.

I felt like a cheater.  And a winner.  And just overall a ROCK STAR.  A rock star with a full happy belly.  And all I had to give up was a ten-carb rice cake I was eating in the afternoon (because I saw those all over Instagram so obviously it’s what I was supposed to eat.)

Ha.

Every Day Macro-Friendly Giant Turkey Sub lillieeatsandtells.com

And that’s the thing. If bread does nothing for you, YAY… don’t touch it and you save all those carbs for sweet potatoes or fruit or just MORE veggies…or RICE CAKES!  We probably don’t have a bright future as friends because I don’t get you…  but eat whatever makes you feel like you’re WINNING.  Because that’s the feeling that makes this thing sustainable.  And what’s the point if it’s not sustainable?

I know there are more nutrient dense carbs I could choose instead of bread but I get plenty of those in the course of the day and this is a form of balance that’s helped me reach a few new fitness goals AND MAINTAIN them.  Because the bottom line is that it’s true:  it’s not worth it if you’re miserable, life IS too short, and you DO deserve to love what you eat.   That’s the only way you’ll actually legitimately be consistent — like forever. And I want to feel good and in control, auto pilot control— so that the forefront of my mind can be freed up for more important things like my family…  and so that my new years resolutions can move beyond tackling my belly rolls.

Now go make yourself a sandwich.

Every Day Macro-Friendly Giant Turkey Sub lillieeatsandtells.com
Every Day Macro-Friendly Giant Turkey Sub lillieeatsandtells.com

Smokey Chipotle Turkey Sub

Nothing makes me feel more satisfied and less like I’m “dieting” than this big, fresh, tasty sandwich!
Author Lillie
Course Sandwiches
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 1
Calories 424 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 Bolillo roll or pane roll from a grocery store bakery* (65g-70g)
  • 1 ½ Tbsp. Fat-free chipotle cream (20g) recipe below
  • 2 tsp. Mustard (7g)
  • 1 tsp. Honey mustard (4g)
  • 3 1/2 oz Deli chicken or turkey (100g) my favorites are Boars head golden classic chicken and maple honey turkey, or Jennie-O Chicken Breast
  • 1 slice reduced fat swiss or pepperjack or provolone but swiss is lowest in fat.
  • 1/2 cup Sliced tomato (50g)
  • 1/4 of a small avocado, thinly sliced (20g)
  • 1 piece of bacon I used Costco’s precooked and throw one piece in the microwave
  • 1/4 cup Sprouts
  • 3 leaves Lettuce
  • 2 Tbsp. Thinly sliced red onion (15) 15 g
  • 1 Tbsp. Thinly sliced or chopped bell pepper (10g) I add this when it’s handy… any color but green! (10 g)
  • 1 Tbsp. Pepperoncinis or mild banana peppers (15g) 15 g
  • Plenty of salt and pepper plus Trader Joes Everything Bagel Seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp. Cooking spray (2g)
  • For the Chipotle Cream
  • 2-3 canned chipotle peppers plus 1 tbs of the adobo sauce Look for canned “Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce” at your normal grocery stores near canned green chilis etc.
  • 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream (120g) You can also use greek yogurt or low fat mayo– I just prefer the macros and consistency with the sour cream

Instructions

  • Chop the chipotle peppers very fine and blend with 1 tbs adobo sauce and ½ cup fat free sour cream.  Do less or more depending on how spicy you like things! (Or feel free to use a small food processor or blender. I do when I do a huge batch.)
  • Slice the bolillo with the bottom as thin as possible without it falling apart and carefully hollow out the top of the bun to leave just the shell.  You can be as aggressive as you need to make this fit your macros, sometimes I’ve even trimmed the sides or top and bottom just a little.
  • Heat a pan over medium high heat.  Spray the insides of the bun with canola or olive oil spray and place face down in the pan to toast as much as you like.
  • Now place your plate on your scale with your toasted bun and zero it out. Start topping!
  • Spread chipotle mayo on the bottom and drizzle mustards on the top.
  • Stack on the bottom half: turkey, cheese, tomatoes, avocado and then season well with s/p and bagel seasoning.
  • Continue with onions, bell peppers, pepperoncinis, bacon, sprouts, and lettuce.
  • Top with hollow bun which should fit around all of those veggies perfectly!
  • Slice in half and ENJOY!

Notes

  1. *I find my favorite bolillo rolls in the bakery of my basic Stater Brothers Grocery Store.  Anywhere with a bakery should have something similar. I’ve seen them at Ralphs/Kroger, Sprouts, and Walmart as well.  I grab the biggest, fluffiest ones I can find so they’ll be light but big for maximum sandwich capacity!  If you’re a macro-counter search “bolillo g” in your food-logging app to find one in grams and then you can just log whatever weight you end up with. I generally start with a 90-95 gram roll (up to 47 carbs) and hollow it down to about 68 g (34 carbs.)
  2. I love to buy the small plastic ramekins from smart and final for storing my chipotle mayo and other sauces and dressings in my fridge. (Like the kind your salad dressing comes in at Chipotle).
  3. Since I make a sandwich so often, I keep all of my leftover sliced veggies, and half open avocado etc.,in little ziplocks piled into one tupperware in the fridge for easy pull-out and clean up.

Nutrition

Calories: 424kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 40gFat: 12g
Keywords bolillo, chipotle, cream, every day, hight, mayo, mile, sandwich, sub, turkey

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About the Author

Hello. My name is Lillie. I’m not a registered dietitian, or a macro coach, or a public figure or culinary genius. I’m a mommy of four who FOUND macro-counting and fell in love with this balanced approach to food...

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Comments

  1. I just made this and oh my goodness do i love it. I only had fat free cottage cheese on hand to make the chipotle sauce, but it worked perfectly.

  2. Sounds like you and I have the SAME background story with body type/food/love of dessert! Your insta posts always make me smile and I love getting to know you better with your blog. You have such a fun personality that totally comes through. How far away is Indio from Pleasant Grove UT🤔. I think we would be great friends!

    1. Ha! Oh Sarah I wish we had the same body type! But I’ll take whatever we’ve got in common! You’re a doll! And Pleasant Grove… did you grow up there?? One of my all time best friends grew up there, Sarah Stancliff? So it’s a good sign I’m meant to love Pleasant Grove girls. xo

  3. Yum, this sammy looks and sounds so delish! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I share similar thoughts about macro counting and BREAD, ha! Bread does it for me, so a day doesn’t go by that I don’t have a bagel or english muffin.

    1. Yay! I know I can’t even imagine a day without. Praying I don’t wake up one day with gluten issues. Chances are I’d power thru!

  4. I just wanted to tell you I started salivating for this sandwhich when you postedthe video (I am a bread monster ) Thank you for posting all the yummy goodness here so that i can get this with almost no guilt. 😉