The Ultimate Kentucky Hot Brown Recipe

She’s a legend. She’s an icon. Hailing from my beautiful home state, my Kentucky Hot Brown recipe is the greatest open-faced sandwich this side of anywhere (I might be a little biased), taking the classic up and over the top, but only just a little bit. We’ll top slices of bread with roasted turkey, fresh juicy tomato slices, and a tricked out gooey mornay sauce before broiling them to perfection. A scattering of punchy scallions completes this truly extraordinary scene. I won an award for my blog once, years ago, and that award happened to be given to me onstage at the Brown Hotel. So, this is full circle and long overdue, me thinks.

If you’re digging what you see here in my Kentucky Hot Brown Recipe, then you might also want to check out my blackened chicken sandwiches with pickled pepper slaw, and my honey-toasted halloumi sandwiches as well.

what is a hot brown sandwich?

Well for starters, it’s the official sandwich of the Kentucky Derby – so there’s that fun little fact. Born at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY, the hot brown is a very decadent open-faced sandwich. The classic Kentucky “delicacy” features a slice of simple texas toast topped with slices of roasted turkey and fresh tomato, all drenched in a bubbly mornay sauce and topped with bacon, paprika, and a scattering of chopped parsley. RIGHT?! Ahem, anyway …

In the 1920’s, The Brown Hotel drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. By the wee hours of the morning, guests would grow weary of dancing and make their way to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Sensing their desire for something more glamorous than traditional ham and eggs, Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests’ palates. His unique dish? An open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. The Hot Brown was born! (from the brown Hotel in Louisville, KY)

Why is it called a “hot brown?”

The hot brown sandwich is named as such, because of its place of origin – The Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY – and the simple fact that it is a toasty warm, “hot sandwich.” A befitting monicker if ever there was one.

What is a hot brown made of? Ingredient Notes

The Bread

For my ultimate Kentucky hot brown recipe, I call for slices of lightly toasted sourdough, as I think it’s the most delicious way to go about things here. Reason being, this is SUCH a decadent sandwich (cream sauce, bacon, bread … oh my!) that anything you can do to better balance things, flavor wise, is a string move in my humble opinion. So, while traditionally you’ll see Texas Toast as the bread base for a classic hot brown – I think the tangy punch of a great sourdough is really delicious. But bread it however you see fit.

The Turkey

I keep my Kentucky hot brown recipe very classic when it comes to the turkey part. I just grab nice looking (freshly sliced) roasted turkey from my store’s deli counter. As you might suspect, this is a truly great way to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers as well. If that’s the route you’re choosing to go, swap out the tomatoes for some cranberry and have yourself the best little post-holiday sandwich ever.

The Bacon

Two criss-crossed slices of crispy bacon crown a classic hot brown sandwich and that’s what we’ll do in my “ultimate Kentucky hot brown recipe.” Only difference, though, is that is bake my bacon in the oven for ease and efficiency and I encrust it with lots of freshly grated parmesan (which also goes in the sauce) and cracked pepper. So yes, we’re making parmesan peppercorn bacon and yes, it’s as great as it sounds. That punch from the pepper serves the same purpose as the fresh tomatoes, the sourdough bread, and the scallions – it punches back against the inherent richness of the dish.

The Tomatoes

I had some heirloom tomatoes at my disposal when I made the batch to shoot for you here, which was awesome. But you can use any that you like.

The Cheese

I use two cheeses in my hot brown recipe, not just one. Traditionally, a Kentucky hot brown recipe will have you use Pecorino Romano, a sharp, hard sheep’s milk cheese similar to Parmesan. But I also use my favorite cheese, Italian fontina, because it’s melty, nutty goodness is wonderful in a mornay sauce (I use it in my favorite mac and cheese and Marry Me Chicken recipes for this reason).

The Cream

I call for heavy cream in the sauce here, but just know that you can almost always sub in half and half for heavy cream in sauce recipes like this one. Use whichever one you like or have on hand.

The Egg

A single egg added to the mornay sauce (which is actually a very Greek thing to do, and something I do in my cloud potatoes) helps to really bind the sauce, and it also keeps in from splitting.

The Greenery

Again, as this is such a rich and decadent sandwich, I think it’s best to incorporate freshness and brightness into the scene however possible. The pop of fresh oniony goodness afforded to us by the scallions/green onions does just that. Fresh chopped parsley (which is what the classic recipe would have you do) or even better – arugula or watercress would be fantastic.

why we love this kentucky hot brown recipe

Honestly, this is a very “what’s not to love” kind of recipe. In fact, that’s what I always say when I’m serving it to people. Because let’s be honest – when you’re dealing with gooey cheese sauce and bacon, it’s hard to find much fault in things. It’s going to be really delicious, you just know that before you even get things going.

But that’s what I love about hot browns in general. What, then, do I love so much about THIS Kentucky hot brown recipe? Okay here’s the deal:

1. I pay extra attention to the bacon. Firstly, the bacon is going to be baked (not fried – much cleaner this way) and covered with grated parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. Hot Browns typically call for parmesan cheese in their mornay sauces, so I thought I’d see what else I could do with this ingredient, to really make the absolute most of things. You certainly can just use regular cooked bacon and it will still be the greatest thing. But, this is just a really nice little touch. Plus, I think it looks really cool, too.
2. I also give a little extra love to the sauce. Traditionally, a hot brown has a classic mornay sauce, built from butter, flour (a light roux), cream, parmesan cheese, and an egg. In my version, I use salted butter which makes the sauce taste like the very best version of itself. I also add a little bit of chicken stock concentrate, to really double down on the whole poultry portion of the program (that’d be the turkey). I also add a little pinch of allspice to the sauce, for warmth and interest. Traditionally, in a bechamel or mornay sauce, you’ll see a bit of freshly grated nutmeg in the mix. But seeing as how this is a Kentucky/Appalachian recipe, I opt for a spice that is very “of the region.” I’ve got a whole post about that … if you’re every curious to learn more.
3. I also add scallions. Doesn’t that just seem right? The burst of fresh allium goodness is a must when you’re dealing with a very decadent dish as is the hot brown.

What to serve with a Kentucky Hot Brown

To really complete the scene here, I highly suggest you serve this hot brown sandwich with my Kentucky Transparent Pie or my Salty-Sweet Kentucky Butter Cake. A Southern Milk Punch would be a perfect libation to accompany this hot brown, but then again – so would this cranberry-vanilla old fashioned.

A little dish of ambrosia would be kind of a cheeky thing to serve with a hot brown as well. Tres’ Southern for sure. But I think for my money, I’d probably whip up a big platter of kilt lettuces and call it good.

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