Sandwich vs Toast: Difference and Comparison

Breakfast is the common ritual for every morning. When it comes to breakfast, bread is the first thing that hits the mind.

What is the difference that one bread slice can make? Ever thought about what can be the difference between a sandwich and a toast? Here it is.

Key Takeaways

1. A sandwich consists of ingredients placed between two slices of bread, while the toast is the bread that has been browned by exposure to heat.
2. Toast can be served with various toppings or used as a sandwich base.
3. Sandwiches offer more variety in terms of ingredients and combinations than toast.

Sandwich vs Toast

The difference between sandwich and toast is mostly based on bread thickness. Sandwich bread is approximately one centimetre thick, but toast bread is thicker than the normal sandwich bread. Almost one and a half centimetres thick. 

The sandwich is vegetables, sliced cheese or meat fixed between two sliced bread. It started its journey as a portable, expedient lunch in the modern world.

The dish is named after its supposed inventor John Montagu, 4rth Earl Sandwich. This popular food comes in sweet and savoury sandwiches.

While toast is the bread that has been browned with radiant heat, an important piece for many breakfasts. Toast is commonly taken in combination with butter, margarine or sweet topping.

Toast is a manipulative version of “torrere” which means “burning” in Latin, hence its name.

Comparison Table

Parameters for Comparison	Sandwich	Toast
Bread thickness	Has less thick bread, about one centimetre thick.	Has more thick bread about one and a half centimetres thick.
Name	Named after its supposed inventor, John Montagu, 4rth Earl Sandwich	It comes from the Latin word “torrere”, meaning burning, hence its name.
Toasting	Is not toasted and used directly.	Is heated on both sides.
Crunch	Is soft, and does not have any crunch.	Is crunchy from the outside as it is heated from both sides and softer inside.
Nutritional value	Nutritional value does not change as it is used fresh.	Nutritional value changes slightly as it involves heating the bread.
Common ways to eat	Typically vegetables, sliced cheese or meat are fixed between two sliced bread.	Commonly taken with the combination of butter, margarine or sweet toppings.
Spreadability of topping	Spreading of the topping is hard due to the soft surface.	Spreadability is more due to the hardened surface.

What is a Sandwich?

Sandwiches are the most popular form of lunch, breakfast. Which gained its popularity as a convenience to make and easy to carry dish in the modern world. Typically it is taken with a mixture of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat.

Due to its soft texture and hard to spread the topping make it not so ideal for lunch. But condiments such as mayonnaise and mustard spread, add on the texture and taste. 

As it becomes famous as finger food, there are a lot of buzz words flying to decide the definition of a proper sandwich. There are open sandwiches and close sandwiches which are used by USDA. 

According to the USDA definition of sandwiches, if the sandwich has 35% cooked meat and not more than 50% bread then it’s a closed sandwich, while if it contains more than 50% of cooked meat it is an open sandwich.

There are two types of sandwiches based on flavor, sweet such as peanut butter or jelly sandwiches and savory such as meat sandwiches. It is popularly made as a homemade lunch or retail outlet. They can be served cold or warm, to be eaten.

What is Toast?

Toast is the bread that has been burned with radiant heat to make it slightly brown and hard. The toasted bread has more thick bread slices than the sandwiches. The difference in thickness is around a half centimetre. 

Toast has enhanced flavour, texture than the sandwich. It is normally eaten in combination with butter or margarine. It can be used to accompany savoury dishes such as soup or stews. 

It was used after drinks as flavouring, in the fourteenth to the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, it was something to put into drinks and enjoy with. But in the nineteenth century, it gained its fame as a common element for breakfast in America. 

The procedure to convert bread into toast hasn’t changed much, but the revolution brings the toaster into the kitchen. A toaster is an electrical appliance used to toast bread. Toast is normally served with butter, margarine or sweet toppings. 

The thicker toast bread used in America is known as ‘Texas toast’. But there are many varieties of ways found across cultures. It can be part of the main course in some cultures but in some, it is consumed as an accompanying element to enhance the flavor.

Main Differences Between Sandwich and Toast

1. The bread slice used to make the sandwich and toast add the difference. Toast has thicker slices of bread than the sandwich. The thickness has an approximate difference of half a centimetres, which plays a huge role in dividing them.
2. The second difference between toast and sandwiches is, toast is carefully burned to enhance the flavor and texture. While sandwiches are coated with mayonnaise or mustard spread to enhance flavor and texture.
3. Sandwiches are soft and can be served cold or warm. But toast is burned to make them hard, crunchy and tasteful.
4. The sandwich is named after its inventor, but the toast got its name from the process that is involved in making it, from the Latin word “torrere”, meaning burning.
5. The spreadability of the toast is more as it is harder than sandwich bread.

References

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220973.1943.11010281?journalCode=vjxe20& 
2. https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=36678775

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023