Chef Isabel
Almussafes Valenciano
Almussafes is Valencian bar-counter food: a crusty roll filled with sobrasada, cheese, and onion, then pressed on the plancha until the bread crisps and the filling runs together.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Campero Malagueño de Pollo
Created by
The campero is Málaga's round plancha sandwich: soft bread pressed flat, chicken and cheese melted inside, then the cool lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise doing their proper work.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Spanish
Quick Meal
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
15 min cook•30 min total
Yield2 camperos
Campero Malagueño is Málaga's sandwich, not a bocadillo with a new name. It is round, soft bread, usually pan campero or a mollete-style roll, opened wide, filled generously, and pressed on the plancha until the bread goes flat and lightly crisp and the cheese melts into the chicken. That shape matters. A long barra makes a different sandwich.
The method that decides it is the order. Grill the chicken first, then press the bread with the hot chicken and cheese so the inside melts before the lettuce and tomato ever go near it. Add the cool things after the heat has done its work. If you press lettuce and mayonnaise from the start, you get a warm, tired salad inside good bread. Nobody needs that.
If you are far from Málaga, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use a soft round kaiser roll or a small round panini roll if you cannot find mollete, but choose bread with a tender crumb, not a crusty boule. It will be a little less pillowy, but it will still eat like a campero if you press it flat and serve it at once. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
The campero belongs to Málaga and the Costa del Sol, where snack bars and neighborhood cafeterías made it the quick hot meal of choice: bigger than a tapa, simpler than a plate lunch, and built for the plancha. Its round bread and pressed shape separate it from the long bocadillos of other regions, while the filling stays plain and practical: cooked meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. Chicken is one of the most common versions, alongside the simpler campero mixto of cooked ham and cheese.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pan campero or mollete-style rolls
Quantity
2 (about 100g each)
soft, round, split horizontally
boneless skinless chicken breast
Quantity
250g
cut into 2 thin cutlets
olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more for the plancha
fine salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
mild melting cheese
Quantity
4 slices (about 80g)
lettuce leaves
Quantity
2 large
washed and dried very well
ripe tomato
Quantity
1
thinly sliced
mayonnaise
Quantity
40g
jamón cocido (optional)
Quantity
2 slices (about 60g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pan campero or mollete-style rollssoft, round, split horizontally | 2 (about 100g each) |
| boneless skinless chicken breastcut into 2 thin cutlets | 250g |
| olive oil | 1 tablespoon, plus more for the plancha |
| fine salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/4 teaspoon |
| mild melting cheese | 4 slices (about 80g) |
| lettuce leaveswashed and dried very well | 2 large |
| ripe tomatothinly sliced | 1 |
| mayonnaise | 40g |
| jamón cocido (optional) | 2 slices (about 60g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Plancha, sandwich press, or heavy frying pan
- •Wide metal spatula
- •Kitchen paper for drying lettuce and tomato
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the fillings
Split the rolls without tearing the hinge if they have one. Dry the lettuce very well and slice the tomato thinly. Pésalo, no lo adivines: weigh the mayonnaise once and you will see that 20g per campero is enough to season it without turning the bread wet.
If the tomato is watery, salt the slices lightly and set them on kitchen paper for five minutes. The campero stays cleaner to eat. - 2
Grill the chicken
Rub the chicken cutlets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Heat a plancha, griddle, or heavy frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken until browned in spots and cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side depending on thickness. Let it rest for 2 minutes, then slice each cutlet into broad strips so it sits evenly in the bread.
- 3
Melt the cheese
Brush the cut sides of the rolls with a little oil and lay them open on the hot plancha for 30 seconds. Put the chicken on the bottom halves, add the cheese on top, and close the rolls. Press with a spatula or sandwich press until the bread flattens, the outside turns lightly crisp, and the cheese softens into the chicken, 2 to 3 minutes.
- 4
Add the cool filling
Open each hot campero carefully. Spread 20g mayonnaise inside, then add tomato and lettuce. If using jamón cocido, tuck one slice under the cheese before the final close. The cool filling goes in now, after the plancha, because lettuce is lettuce, not something to punish.
- 5
Press and serve
Close the camperos and give them one last gentle press for 10 to 15 seconds, just enough to settle the sandwich without cooking the lettuce. Cut each one in half and serve at once, while the bread is crisp at the edges and the middle is soft and full.
Chef Tips
- •The bread matters most. Look for pan campero, mollete, or another soft round roll with a tender crumb. A crusty roll fights the filling and will crack instead of flattening on the plancha.
- •Use mild melting cheese, the kind a Málaga cafeteria would use, not a strong cured cheese. Manchego is good food, but here it takes over and refuses to melt properly.
- •Dry the lettuce completely. Water on the leaves runs straight into the mayonnaise and makes the bottom bread go soft before you sit down.
- •For a campero mixto, skip the chicken and use 120g jamón cocido with the cheese. For this chicken version, the cooked ham is optional, not the heart of the sandwich.
Advance Preparation
- •The chicken can be grilled up to 1 day ahead, cooled, covered, and refrigerated. Warm it on the plancha before assembling so the cheese melts properly.
- •Wash and dry the lettuce several hours ahead, then wrap it in kitchen paper and refrigerate. Do not assemble the campero ahead; the bread needs the plancha and the filling needs to stay fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 370g)
Calories
835 calories
Total Fat
44 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
29 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
1970 mg
Total Carbohydrates
55 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
53 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Bocadillos
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Bikini Barceloní
The Barcelona bikini is Catalan bar food at its plainest: white bread, jamón dulce, melting cheese, butter, and gentle heat until the crust crisps and the middle runs.
Chef Isabel
Bocadillo de Atún con Pimientos del Piquillo
This is the bocadillo of the northern pantry: good tuna in olive oil, sweet piquillo peppers from Navarra, and a crusty barra that stays clean if you drain the tin properly.
Chef Isabel
Bocadillo de Bonito del Norte
This Basque bocadillo lives on the tin: good bonito del Norte in olive oil, salty Cantabrian anchovies, pickled piparras, and a crusty roll that can hold them.