We Tried Reba McEntire’s BLT Recipe and We Have Thoughts

Reba McEntire opened her first restaurant, Reba’s Place, in Oklahoma earlier this year and the reception has been wonderful. Google Reviews is filled with hundreds of five-star posts praising the food and the restaurant’s atmosphere—complete with Reba memorabilia, of course.

Ever since I heard the news that the beloved country star was opening a restaurant that features live music and some down-home comfort food, I’ve wanted to try it out. However, I, unfortunately, don’t find myself in Atoka, Oklahoma, very frequently.

So when, our sister brand, “People” got their hands on an at-home recipe for one of the items on the menu, I knew I had to try it out. And when it just so happened to be a BLT recipe—one of my favorite quick and easy summertime sandwiches—I was even more excited.

How to Make the Reba's Place BLT Sandwich

Despite having opened in January, Reba’s Place’s menu is pretty hard to find on the internet. Neither the official site nor its social media pages display the restaurant’s menu, so when I wanted to see what it has to offer, I had to do some digging into Facebook check-ins—where a few Facebook users have posted photos of the menu.

In January, one Facebook user shared the menu that included the BLT Sandwich, made with “small batch applewood smoked bacon, heirloom tomato, leaf lettuce, ‘BLT’ aioli on cracked wheat bread.” However, in May, another Facebook user shared the menu saying that it had changed since the grand opening, and the sandwich was gone—so it might only be a seasonal item that will hopefully reappear for tomato season.

However, with that being said, “People” shared the sandwich’s recipe, which is most notable for its “BLT” aioli—made with garlic confit, tomato paste, egg yolk, canola oil, bacon, basil, and salt.

To make the sandwich, you’ll make your garlic confit with olive oil and a head of garlic. Then, after the garlic confit is completely cooled (so it doesn’t scramble the egg yolk), you’ll combine the garlic cloves with the egg yolk and tomato paste—then slowly add the oils to create a mayo-type consistency. You’ll add the chopped cooked bacon, basil leaves, and salt and then you can assemble the sandwich.

To assemble, top a piece of toasted bread with the aioli, a few slices of tomato, a few pieces of bacon, and lettuce, cover with the second piece of toasted bread, and serve. At Reba’s Place, all sandwiches are served with homemade pickles and russet potato fries—but you can serve it with whatever you like.

We Tried the Reba's Place BLT Sandwich

Don’t get me wrong, this sandwich was delicious, but, man, was it a lot of work for a BLT. I love a BLT because it’s so easy—bacon, lettuce, tomato, some kind of mayo, and your favorite bread. The “hardest” thing about the sandwich is supposed to be cooking up all your bacon so it’s crispy—and not eating all the strips before assembly.

So, having to make garlic confit and homemade aioli, which took about two hours in itself, was a bit disappointing. Sure, after realizing you like the recipe, you could probably big batch the aioli for easy assembly later, but two hours is a lot of time for an aioli that you can only use on one sandwich (because I cut the recipe in half to only make one). Again, though, the aioli was really tasty.

For someone who sings about the “single mom who works two jobs,” I think McEntire forgot about her target audience here. So, at the end of the day, I think I’d stick to ordering this BLT at Reba’s actual Place and make my favorite celeb BLT recipe (Joanna Gaines’) instead.