What Is a Sandwich Wrap?

A sandwich wrap is similar to a burrito but made with flatbread and stuffed with typical sandwich meats and cheeses. Ham, turkey, and provolone cheese are some common ingredients. These wraps are usually made by first laying out the soft flatbread, placing all ingredients, including sauces, on top, and then folding the bread in a way that prevents the innards from falling out. There are as many kinds of sandwich wraps as there are sandwiches, including turkey, roast beef, and vegetarian. This kind of sandwich became popular in the 1990s and most likely originated from the western coast of the United States.

To make a sandwich wrap, the flatbeard is laid out on a flat surface and then piled with ingredients. Some condiments, like salsa and other loose sauces, are more easily used on a sandwich wrap than a regular sandwich because the folded bread keeps the sauces from spilling out. The wrap should be folded snugly, which is sometimes difficult for beginners. Although sandwich wrap flatbeards are typically thin, they must be thick enough to hold all the ingredients without tearing in the middle or becoming soggy quickly. This can be especially challenging when the sandwich bread is filled with hot ingredients that hasten the tearing of the sandwich.

A general rule of thumb is that any kind of salad or sandwich can be put on a wrap to become a sandwich wrap. This includes Caesar salads, Greek salads, and more traditional chef salads. In the case of salads, the salad dressing can be used instead of sandwich condiments. For sandwiches, just a few options are bacon wraps, fish wraps, and vegetable wraps. The meats and vegetables on a flatbread wrap can be either cold or hot, depending on what the customer prefers.

The original creator of the wrap is not known, much like the creator of a lot of popular dishes. Sandwich shops in both the regions of California and Connecticut in the United States claim to have created the first sandwich wrap. Some of the stories surrounding the creation of the sandwich wrap mention that a restaurant may have run out of bread, and that was why a flatbread wrap was utilized. Other stories mention that the sandwich wrap was influenced by the burrito, and that is what initialized its creation. These stories are not verified, nor are they likely to be verified, but both can be true or hold a grain of truth.