Tennessee Mountaintop Subs

Tennessee Mountaintop Subs–hoagie rolls with brown-sugared bacon, turkey, mayo, lettuce and tomato. The bacon is cooked in a special way that makes it taste so good!

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Tennessee Mountaintop Subs

Tennessee mountaintop bacon is a tasty method for cooking bacon that came from a cookbook put out by Dorothy Mengering, the mother of Late Night talk show host David Letterman. Basically you dredge the bacon in a flour/brown sugar/pepper mixture before cooking it.

In my opinion, the best way to cook bacon to make it nice and crispy is in the air fryer! There is no mess. The grease drips down and off of the bacon. The air fryer makes it perfectly crispy and it’s totally hands off. If you try this method I don’t think you’ll cook bacon any other way again!

If you don’t have an air fryer you can also cook the bacon in an oven. See the recipe card below for how to do that.

These sandwiches were so tasty! The brown-sugar bacon with the turkey was a perfect combination. Sandwiches are a great summer dinner!

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Thick sliced country-style bacon
• All purpose flour
• Brown sugar
• Black pepper
• Hoagie rolls–you can also use bread or buns
• Deli turkey–or ham or roast beef
• Lettuce, mayo, mustard and sliced tomato–and any other fixings you enjoy

Steps

1. Coat the bacon: In a bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and pepper well. Add each piece of bacon into the mixture and press to coat the bacon. 
2. Air fry the bacon: Add bacon to air fryer on top of rack. You may need to cut bacon in half or cook the bacon in batches if it doesn’t fit. Air fry for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Use tongs to turn the bacon over and then air fry for 2 more minutes. If you don’t have an air fryer you can place a rack on top of a baking sheet and then place the bacon on top of the rack. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees until brown and crisp, about 20-25 minutes (this will take a little bit of time with the thick cut bacon).
3. Sop up bacon grease: Remove the bacon and place on a paper towel lined plate. Let grease absorb into the paper towel.
4. Serve: Slather mayo and mustard on the inside of a hoagie bun. Pile pieces of turkey on top. Add lettuce, slice tomato and bacon. Eat and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with chips and fresh fruit like watermelon or pineapple.
• I used my Instant Pot brand Vortex air fryer*. You can also use your Instant Pot with an air fryer lid.
• You can easily double the amount of bacon or even triple it for more sandwiches. The only issue is the space available in the air fryer. You’ll have to cook in batches so it can get crispy. Air fryer bacon cooks best when it is not stacked on each other but rather when it’s in one even layer.

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More Sandwiches to Love…

• Instant Pot Sloppy Joe Cosmo
• Italian Bomb Sandwich (Instant Pot)
• French Onion Beef Sliders
• Instant Pot Great Steak Sandwich
• Instant Pot Roast Beef Commercial
• Instant Pot Po Boy Roast Beef Sandwich
• Instant Pot Meatloaf Melts

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.