Martha Stewart Says "Don’t Knock" Her "Pungent," Polarizing Onion Sandwich Recipe

Martha Stewart is full of surprises. Not only has she revealed her favorite guilty pleasure snack is none other than a slice of American cheese that comes in plastic wrap, the star of NBC’s cooking competition series Yes, Chef! also loves to munch on an onion sandwich while playing Scrabble. Yes, onions. 

RELATED: Self-Made Billionaire Martha Stewart's Path from Lifestyle Mogul to Yes, Chef! Host

So what exactly goes into this simple yet surprising sandwich? Read on to find out all of the ingredients you need, and watch the culinary expert make it from start to finish. 

“Pungent” onions are the main ingredient in Martha Stewart’s favorite late-night sandwich

If Martha Stewart, America's first self-made female billionaire and overall kitchen expert, says an odd recipe works, you gotta trust the process. In a March 2025 Instagram post, Stewart posted an old clip from her cooking show, teaching her viewers how to make an onion sandwich on white bread, calling it her “favorite snack for late night Scrabble.”

“Every one of us has a favorite sandwich and some of us like things a little bit off beat,” she says. “It was really my father’s favorite sandwich. And we ate these in the middle of the night when we were in a great big serious Scrabble tournament.”

RELATED: Martha Stewart & José Andrés Call Out "Diva" Chefs in Yes, Chef! Competition Series

The recipe requires just three ingredients: white bread, sweet butter, and big slices of a “pungent white onion,” according to Stewart.

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!” she captioned the video on Instagram, describing these onion sandwiches as “simple, yet delicious.”

At first blush, this combination does seem a bit “off beat,” as Stewart put it. But when you think about the mix of flavors — the softness from the bread, a touch of sweet richness from the butter, and the sharp, spicy bite from the onions — it sounds pretty tempting. 

In fact, Stewart isn’t the only famous chef who loves onion sandwiches. TV personality and legendary French chef Jacques Pépin, who’s also a friend of Stewart’s, is a big fan of James Beard’s onion sandwich recipe and put his own twist on it with radishes.  

RELATED: Martha Stewart's Key to Glowy "Good Skin" Lies in This Drink She Makes Every Day

Martha Stewart also likes to drink gin martinis while playing Scrabble 

Stewart really, really loves Scrabble. Not only did she grow up playing it with her dad, her friend Darcy Miller, a visual artist and founding editor of the Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, threw her a Scrabble-themed party for her 70th birthday. “I love playing Scrabble,” she wrote in a 2019 blog post, adding that the board is “always set up in my living hall.” So it’s no surprise she has a preferred cocktail for her Scrabble matches. 

While speaking at Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival in 2014, per The Drink Nation, Stewart revealed that a gin cocktail helped her Scrabble game. “I scored three 50-word points, back to back,” she said, crediting her luck to a “Dillitini,” a gin martini with green beans pickled in dill vinegar. “It was almost as if the gin was helping me see the words.”

Perhaps Stewart will share even more of her unlikely food pairings when Yes, Chef! premieres at 10/9c on Monday, April 28 on NBC.