Easy Banh Mi Meatball Subs {Vietnamese-Inspired}
These delicious and easy Banh Mi meatball subs (inspired by the tasty Vietnamese sandwich) are easily one of my favorite sandwiches ever!
Years ago, after completing a grueling, restrictive diet to prepare for cancer treatment, my first meal request when I could eat anything again was a delicious, over-the-top, amazing sandwich. Sandwiches are one of my favorite food groups, and these delicious Banh Mi meatball subs are top of that list!

What is Banh Mi?
Banh Mi is technically the Vietnamese term for “bread” – but Banh Mi encompasses the sandwiches that are popular as Vietnamese street food.
They usually consist of soft bread, flavorful meat, spicy sauce, pickled veggies, and cilantro.
The sauce for this meatball version is ultra-simple:
- mayo or Greek yogurt
- green onions
- sriracha
Easy Pickled Veggies
These quick-pickled veggies might be my favorite part of the entire sandwich. Crunch, salty, sweet, tangy, they are YUMMY.
- matchstick or shredded carrots
- matchstick or shredded cucumbers
- sugar
- rice vinegar
- salt
- sesame oil
Vietnamese-Inspired Meatballs
I don’t claim anything in these sandwiches to be truly authentic, but the Vietnamese-inspired flavors definitely shine through.
The meatballs are packed with flavor!
- ground pork or ground turkey (or a combination)
- fresh or dried basil
- garlic + green onions
- fish sauce (don’t be scared of this! it packs a delicious salty punch)
- sriracha or sweet Thai chili sauce
- sugar + salt + pepper
The meatballs are browned in a skillet before finishing off in the oven. I like to brown them in sesame oil for an extra level of flavor.
Assembling Banh Mi Meatball Sub
The vehicle for all these delicious sandwich ingredients is a fluffy-but-sturdy bun.
I use this recipe for French bread rolls, usually subbing some of the all-purpose flour out for whole wheat flour.
I assemble the sandwich as follows:
- cilantro
- meatballs
- pickled veggies
- sauce
If you are after more sauciness, add a layer of the creamy dressing on the bottom before the cilantro.
Favorite Sandwich Ever
These easy banh mi meatball subs are an absolute explosion of flavor.
The combination of flavors and ingredients might be unusual or new or maybe even a bit out of your comfort zone, but I promise, the step into unknown sandwich territory will be worth it!
A few other rave reviews:
Susannah: These were so good! We mixed the relish and dressing one day in advance to speed things up on a busy weeknight. For the meatballs, we used a combination of pork breakfast sausage and ground pork from our freezer. Even our pickiest eaters loved these sandwiches! We can’t wait to have them again!
Melissa: Oh my gosh! These were divine!! We will be eating these frequently. My 6-year old said she “loved them.”
Kristine: Best sandwich EVER! Spicy, sweet, and fresh the perfect combination. I crave this bad boy. Literally, all out CRAVE it, have to have it. Mel, this is a slam dunk as with pretty much all of your recipes. My family and I thank you!
Rachel: Wow- these were FANTASTIC!
Kids were nervous about relish veggies at first but devoured this sandwich after the first bite – thanks Mel!!
One Year Ago: Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili
Two Years Ago: Hearty Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Three Years Ago: Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler
Easy Banh Mi Sandwiches {Vietnamese Meatball Sub}
Ingredients
Spicy Sauce:
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon sriracha or sweet Thai chili sauce (see note)
- 1 green onion, white and green parts finely chopped, white and green parts finely chopped
Relish:
- 2 large carrots, coarsely grated or cut into thin matchsticks (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 English cucumber, coarsely grated or cut into thin matchsticks (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Meatballs:
- 2 pounds ground pork, ground turkey or a combination
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (see note)
- 1 tablespoon sriracha or sweet Thai chili sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 teaspoons sesame or vegetable or coconut oil, for browning
Sandwiches:
- 4 to 6 6-inch baguettes or hoagie buns
- Bunch of fresh cilantro
Instructions
- For the sauce, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, green onions and sriracha. Cover and refrigerate. This can be made several days in advance.
- For the relish, toss together the carrots and cucumber. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, vinegar, salt and sesame oil. Pour over the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate. The relish can be made a day or so in advance.
- For the meatballs, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the ground pork (or turkey), basil, garlic, green onions, fish sauce, hot sauce, sugar, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Scoop the mixture into 1- to 2-inch meatballs. Heat the sesame oil (or other oil, if using) in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the meatballs in a single layer and brown on all sides.
- Transfer the browned meatballs to a foil-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining meatballs (adding additional oil if necessary). Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven (I like to place the cooked meatballs one by one on a layer of paper towels to absorb any excess grease).
- To assemble the sandwiches, slice the buns or baguettes in half. Spread the dressing on the top half of the bread. Layer cilantro to taste on the bottom half. Place 3 or so meatballs (will depend on how big you made them) on top of the cilantro. Drain the relish and place a heaping spoonful on top of the meatballs. Press on the sandwich top and devour.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe at Bon Appetit (after a reader, Sarah, sent it to me)
One of our very favorite recipes. We make these ALL the time! (We get bolillo rolls and crisp them. Pure heaven!)
Excellent sandwich! A nice change of pace that I’m sure I’ll be making again. Thank you!
This is one of our favorite recipes, with homemade rolls. But the other week I didn’t have time to make bread, so I made “banh mi bowls” using this recipe. I made the relish, and spicy sauce, and a pot of rice, and instead of forming the meat into meatballs I simply cooked it in a skillet. My husband and I both thought it was so good, and really easy! In the future I would use Greek yogurt instead of mayo in the spicy sauce, but other than that it was perfect. Now we have two favorite recipes in one!
These are SO good! Not in my wheelhouse of what I usually make so I was kind of hesitant but we all loved them!!!!
These were awesome! We’ll be having them regularly at our house!
Would it be possible to get the weight of the carrots and cucumber so the proportions of dressing to veg is correct? I’m in England and English cucumbers and carrots sizes can vary widely. Thank you!
For the time-challenged, is there a shortcut to make this with frozen meatballs from the store? I’m worried they would be lacking in flavor compared to your homemade ones. Maybe brown them over the stove with some oil, mixed with the herbs, fish sauce, and chili sauce before assembling the sandwich?
Do exactly what Mel says! You might be unsure about the ingredients but look past any fears, it is delicious! Thank you Mel for sharing your talents, it has blessed me and my family!!
So I have a confession… I love these meatballs, but not the time it takes. I have begun making them as tacos, browning the meat then adding the rest of the meatball ingredients toward the end. Then I put everything in flour tortillas. I am able to make these more often because it goes a lot quicker and I still love the flavors. They are so good.
What a great idea, Sara!
These were so good! We mixed the relish and dressing one day in advance to speed things up on a busy weeknight. For the meatballs, we used a combination of pork breakfast sausage and ground pork from our freezer. Even our pickiest eaters loved these sandwiches! We can’t wait to have them again!
One of our family favorites!!!
Oh my gosh! These were divine!! We will be eating these frequently. My 6-year old said she “loved them.”
Can these meatballs be constructed and then frozen? This is my favorite meal, but takes wayyyy to long to make on a weeknight! Thanks!
Yes! You could bake them and freeze or freeze prior to baking.
I made this recipe with a few tweaks of the old pantry and fridge. I added very thin red onion strips to the veggies, I used soy sauce in place of fish sauce and gochujang in place of the hot sauce/sweet chili sauce, I used the gochujang in yum yum sauce for the dressing as well, and my final addition was a dash or two of Chinese five spice and OMGOODNESS!!!!!! It was amazing! Thank you for this dish!!!!!
Best sandwich EVER! Spicy, sweet, and fresh the perfect combination. I crave this bad boy. Literally, all out CRAVE it, have to have it. Mel, this is a slam dunk as with pretty much all of your recipes. My family and I thank you!
Really good! A little too spicy for my littlest even cutting the siracha in half. (I finished off my bottle of sweet chili sauce two days ago otherwise I would have used that.) We liked it as a sandwich, but maybe even more in corn tortillas. We love Mel’s Korean beef tacos, though, so that may be why we preferred it that way. We’ll definitely make these again.
Delicious!! Thanks so much for a great recipe. Ground turkey is not available in my country and I prefer not to eat pork so used ground chicken. After mixing the ingredients from the recipe due to using chicken it seems too soft so I added some dried breadcrumbs and an egg– worked great!
A fair amount of work for a weeknight. But if you make the sauce etc. ahead of time that does help. These are amazingly delicious.
Oh my word! I don’t know why I don’t make these more often! I made the buns, so it was a little involved, but all the components were so delicious!
Oh gosh, that meatball banh mi sandwich might be my favorite meal EVER!
These were fantastic! Even my pickiest eaters loved them.
25 minutes if you use canned chicken!
I was worried canned chicken would be too salty, but it totally worked.
Another great variation, AREPAS! I put the cream sauce in, then mixed some of the soy sauce on the chicken before adding chicken, and slid in some veggies. It was great. My child got frustrated when I filled the first too full, so I cut it all up and gave him a fork. Dare I say that I liked the chicken arepa version even more than with flatbread? Plus, arepas made it gluten free (cheaper, easier, and tastier than gf bread options)! I am really excited about this meal, which was already a fav. As arepas, it can become a regular meal at our house.
Love it. No way prep time is 25 minutes. I love almost every recipe Mel has but prep times are seriously way off! Would love to see a video of Mel prepping this in 25 minutes.
You might be right! I increased the prep time to make it more manageable.
So is it a deal breaker if I don’t brown the meatballs first and just put them straight in the oven?
You’ll lose a little goldeny flavor on the outside, but nah, not a deal breaker.