A submarine sandwich (sub) is one of the most layered and colourful food drawings you can make — the long crusty baguette, the cross-section of fillings piled high, the lettuce falling over the sides. Parikshet shows you how to draw a generously loaded sub sandwich that looks good enough to eat.

🖍️ What You Need

  • Pencil and eraser
  • Golden-brown for the bread
  • Red for tomatoes and salami
  • Green for lettuce
  • Yellow for cheese
  • Black pen for outlines

How to Draw a Sub Sandwich Step by Step

  1. Draw the bread outline — a long, slightly tapered oval for the full sub. Real sub rolls are narrower at the ends. Draw a horizontal slice line through the middle to show the cut opening.
  2. Draw the bottom bread half — the lower portion of the oval, shown as a thick curved arc with the cut surface on top. Add small oval air holes on the cut surface for a realistic bread texture.
  3. Layer the fillings on the bottom bread — working from the bread up: thin meat slices (wavy rectangles of salami or ham), then cheese slices (square corners slightly hanging over the side), then tomato circles (round with a small star pattern in the centre for the seeds).
  4. Add the lettuce — ruffled, wavy green leaves spilling out over both sides of the sub. Lettuce should look like it barely fits — generous and overflowing.
  5. Draw the top bread half — the upper half of the sub, resting on top of all the fillings at a slight angle, slightly ajar to show the fillings inside.
  6. Add condiment details — drizzle lines of yellow mustard and red tomato sauce visible between layers.
  7. Draw sesame seeds on the top bread — small oval seeds scattered across the top crust surface.
  8. Add the cross-section view — from the front cut end, show a circular cross-section with all the filling layers visible as concentric rings of colour.
💡 Parikshet's Tip: The filling overflow is what makes a sub sandwich drawing look generous and appetising. Let the lettuce hang out both sides of the bread, let the cheese corners stick out, and let the tomato slices overlap the edge. A perfectly contained sub looks mean; an overflowing one looks delicious.

🌟 Did You Know?

The submarine sandwich was invented in the early 20th century in the United States, with multiple cities claiming its origin. The name 'submarine' comes from its resemblance to a submarine vessel when viewed from the side — the same sandwich is called a 'hoagie' in Philadelphia, a 'hero' in New York, a 'grinder' in New England, and a 'po'boy' in New Orleans. In the UK it is most commonly called a 'baguette sandwich'.

Classic Sub Sandwich Fillings to Draw

  • Italian — salami (dark red rounds), ham (pink layers), pepperoni (smaller dark rounds), provolone cheese (pale yellow), and banana peppers (yellow-green rings)
  • Club — turkey (pale beige), bacon strips (wavy brown and white), avocado (green layer), tomato, lettuce
  • Meatball — round brown meatballs visible in the cross-section, red marinara sauce dripping out, melted white mozzarella covering everything
  • Veggie — layers of capsicum (red and yellow), cucumber (green circles), carrot (orange sticks), sprouts (delicate curly lines)

🎯 Try This: Design Your Dream Sub Menu

  1. Draw 3 different sub sandwiches from above (the aerial view — you see the full length of the sub from directly above).
  2. Each sub has a completely different colour scheme of fillings.
  3. Give each one a name and a price.
  4. Arrange them on a menu page with a decorative border.