The Brown Hotel’s Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich recipe is a Louisville tradition and a must make open-faced turkey sandwich.
If you like this recipe, check out my Kentucky Derby Benedictine Tea Sandwich next!
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The lore is that Chef Fred Schmidt of The Brown Hotel developed this famous sandwich. Evening dinner dance crowds plus the band at the hotel wanted a hearty late night snack. And so the Kentucky Hot Brown was born. An open faced turkey sandwich smothered with a cheesy mornay sauce. Plus bacon and a couple slices of bright, acidic tomato. My version includes a unique twist. I turned the mornay sauce into a creamy tomato sauce. That way this sandwich can be enjoyed any time of year, no matter the quality of local tomatoes.
More classic sandwich recipes
Ingredients for hot brown sandwich
- Bread – I like a really good quality sourdough bread for this sandwich. I buy a fresh loaf from my local market and slice it thick.
- Turkey – This is a terrific recipe for leftover turkey. But any sliced turkey breast will do. I bought some mesquite smoked deli turkey for these sandwiches as pictured.
- Bacon – Oven bake your bacon slices for this sandwich. They can be made the day before for quicker preparation when you want to make your sandwiches.
- Butter and Flour – The start of any roux, in this case to thicken the creamy mornay sauce.
- Cheese – I was able to find a shredded blend of Gruyere cheese and Swiss cheese at my local Kroger. I also used additional percorino romano cheese which is traditional to the original hot brown recipe.
- Whole Milk – Use one cup for a creamy sauce. Use two cups if you’d like to make a more delicate mornay sauce and use fresh tomatoes instead of adding them to the sauce.
- Crushed Tomatoes – My own special twist to this recipe. A really good tomato is hard to find in Ohio except for a short time in the summer. Some recipes call for roasting the sliced tomatoes. I decided to make it simpler and just add crushed tomatoes directly to the creamy sauce.
Instructions for traditional hot brown
Learn how to bake bacon in the oven. Once the bacon is ready, prepare the cheese sauce. Melt butter in a two-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and salt, whisk and cook for 2-3 minutes until bubbly and a deep golden color. Pour in both the whole milk and crushed tomatoes. Cook until thickened, another 2-3 minutes. Stir in both the shredded cheese and grated Romano cheese. Stir until melted. You’ll have enough sauce for four open-faced sandwich slices.
Space out thick slices of bread onto a baking sheet lined with foil. Layer four ounces of turkey onto each bread slice. Spoon about 2/3 cup of the rich mornay sauce over top of the turkey. Broil the sandwiches at 500 degrees F for a few minutes until the tops are browned and bubbly. Watch closely so as not to burn. Top each sandwich with two pieces of crispy bacon and a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Serve immediately.
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Serving suggestions
Serve your Kentucky Hot Browns with a side of french fries, fruit salad or a side salad. Here’s a few more of my recipe suggestions –
Storage directions
You can cook the bacon and even prepare the sauce 1-2 days in advance. Store both in airtight containers in the refrigerator. I don’t recommend storing already prepared sandwiches.
Kitchen tools
- A non-stick 2-quart saucepan with glass lid for preparing the sauce
- Set of three Pyrex glass measuring cups
- A non-stick surface friendly whisk
- Baking pans for both cooking the bacon and broiling the sandwiches
Kentucky Hot Brown Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick sourdough bread
- 16 oz sliced turkey
- 8 slices cooked bacon
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 4 oz grated cheese I used a blend of Gruyere and Swiss cheeses
- 4 oz pecorino romano cheese grated
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a non-stick saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the flour and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking occasionally until the butter and flour turn a deep golden color.
- Slowly pour in the milk and whisk until smooth. Then add the crushed tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally until bubbly and thickened.
- Add the cheeses and stir until completely melted into the mornay sauce.
- Set one of the oven racks in the upper third of the oven and turn it to the broil setting (500 degrees F).
- Line a baking pan with foil and place the bread slices onto the pan in an even layer.
- Top each bread slice with 4 ounces of sliced turkey. Spoon the mornay sauce evenly over the turkey, about 2/3 cup per sandwich.
- Top with some additional shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese if desired.
- Broil the sandwiches until the tops are bubbly and golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn.
- Sprinkle some fresh chopped herbs like basil or parsley onto each sandwich. Top each open-faced sandwich with two slices of cooked bacon and serve.
Nutrition
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