Wawa's Turkey Gobbler Review and Clone Recipe

Anyone who has a WaWa convenience store near them has probably heard of their yearly Thanksgiving sandwich tradition for the last few years known as The Gobbler. It's available for a limited time usually from early November to early December although most of the ingredients are available year-round (except for the cranberry sauce).

The Gobbler is basically a Thanksgiving meal on a whole wheat "Shorti" roll. It contains sliced turkey, herb stuffing, gravy, whole cranberry sauce, and your choice of cheese. The Gobbler is also available in a bowl with the same ingredients but without a roll.

Wawa has a computer ordering system that some people like and some people don't. I am all about technology but this seems a bit unnecessary to me unless we can order online and have it ready when we arrive. I don't understand the reason behind typing orders in while the employees are right over-the-counter. Plus, The Gobbler is a one item sandwich except for the choice of cheese (cheddar, cooper sharp, pepper jack, provolone, Swiss, white American, or yellow American), so the computer system is just a waste.

I didn't know that The Gobbler came with cheese but it's optional. I ordered it with pepper jack cheese and the combination was great, perfectly complementing the flavors with a little bit of heat. Some people have also said that bacon was available on their computer menu -- I'm not too sure how well this would go with this sandwich but I would give it a go.

Review

All of the ingredients in The Gobbler sandwich are standard and nothing special on their own.

The sliced turkey is the roasted turkey that you can get at deli counters everywhere. It's not the turkey lunch meat but the real deal with the rough texture of turkey. It's not too salty on its own.

The herb stuffing is packaged stuffing, such as Stovetop. This stuffing is a bit salty but the other ingredients absorb some of it. I didn't expect better than this from a convenience store.

The gravy tastes like either chicken or turkey, I'm not sure which. If you leave this sandwich sit for too long, the gravy will make the roll soggy.

The cranberry sauce is the whole cranberry style in a can that you can buy anywhere. I read a few reviews where the writers say that the cranberry sauce is sweeter than regular cranberry sauce but it is the same thing that you can get in a can. It does add an extra layer of flavor to the salt and herbs of the other ingredients.

The Gobbler on a whole heat Shorti contains 520 calories, 14.5g total fat, 64g carbs, 34g of protein. Conspicuous by its absence from the advertised nutrients is the sodium. It's strange because this sandwich has to contain a ton of sodium but they seem to play it down. If you have problems with sodium, you should probably stay away from this sandwich because it is very salty.

Overall, The Gobbler tasted pretty good but it is not a sandwich I'd want to eat often, a few times a year maybe. The flavors blended well together. It was a bit salty but manageable and not as bad as the KFC Double Down.

I wanted to try The Gobbler sandwich for a few years now but never got to it. This year I was going to try it in November butThanksgiving came up and I needed a break from turkey for a while. I finally bought it in early December and luckily I did because a few days later WaWa stop selling the sandwich. I wanted to try it again but it was too late and WaWa removed it from its menu until next year.

Rating: 3/5

My Own Gobbler

Instead of waiting for next Thanksgiving to eat The Gobbler, I decided to make my own. It was pretty easy to do and I think I came pretty close. My family didn't like it because they don't like packaged stuffing but I was going for an exact clone and had to use it.

Everything in my recipe can be purchased at your supermarket at a low cost. The most expensive ingredient is the deli roasted turkey which can set you back close to $10 for the good stuff. You don't want a lower quality lunch meat version of roasted turkey; you want the real deal, such as Boar's Head or Dietz & Watson, which are well worth their higher price.

I used Stovetop Savory Herbs Stuffing but you can choose whatever flavor you prefer. For a better flavor, I'd go with a better prepared stuffing or homemade stuffing.

Any brand of gravy will work. I suggest chicken, turkey, or brown gravy but I've a preference for chicken, so that's what I went with and used Campbell's Chicken Gravy.

I used Ocean Spray Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce but any whole berry cranberry sauce will do. The whole berries give the sauce a nice texture and slightly sweeter taste.

The cheese is optional and completely up to you what kind is used. I went with Kraft Cheddar Jack with Jalapeno Peppers Finely Shredded Cheese. Shredded cheese works well because it can be spread evenly.

Recipe

Ingredients

medium hoagie rolls
Sliced deli roasted turkey, 2 slices per sandwich
1 package herb stuffing, prepared
1 can chicken or turkey gravy
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 bag shredded cheese

Directions

1. Open a roll up on one side and be careful not to open both sides because you want to make a boat with the bread (like an open faced sandwich).

2. Place 2 slices of roasted turkey across the roll so that it can be folded closed just like the roll.

3. Scoop a few tablespoons of stuffing and place it on top of half of the roast beef and roll in a thin layer.

4. Spoon a few tablespoons of gravy on top of this stuffing but not too much or you will make a mess.

5. Spoon a few tablespoons of cranberry sauce on top of the stuffing and gravy -- just enough to add some sweetness and not overpower the sandwich.

6. Sprinkle some cheese on top of the cranberry sauce.

7. Fold the sandwich partially closed and place the sandwich under a broiler or in the oven at 400 degrees for a few minutes until the cheese melts and the roll gets slightly toasted.

I built this sandwich differently than the ones served at WaWa and I think my way is better because the bread won't get soggy from the gravy. Build it anyway you want to but this worked for me.