The best grilled cheese…

in my humble opinion, anyway. I am kind of a grilled cheese snob. I just want cheese. No tomatoes, no bacon, no pulled pork. Don’t get me wrong, I love all those things but not on my grilled cheese. If you put other things on it, call it a panini and I will gladly take a bite. But until then, leave me be with my lovely, gooey plain grilled cheese, cooked perfectly.

I have never gotten a grilled cheese to come out of the pan exactly how I like it, I have had better luck smashing it in a George Foremen grill. I don’t like sopping, greasy sandwiches. So now you are asking, how do you cook it perfectly?? In an air fryer! I got one for Christmas 2 years ago and I am addicted. That thing is amazing. It reheats restaurant leftovers like a boss, sometimes tasting even better at home (looking at you, truffle fries!). We have made wings, pita chips, veggie chips, frozen pizzas, roasted potatoes, caprese stuffed portabellas, dinner rolls… all with great success and without heating up my stifling apartment! You can even reheat pasta leftovers, etc right in the little metal to-go container. It’s a gem.

How do you make a grilled cheese in the air fryer?

I was looking to use up some potato bread that might have been past its prime, although was stored in the fridge. I popped a couple slices into the toaster for a few minutes. I don’t know, maybe I expected it to taste stale. But the pre-toast definitely worked out awesome… stale bread or not, definitely doing it again next time.

So now what?

A food professional let me in on his secret for a crispy grilled cheese… butter + mayo on the outside. My mind was blown. But he makes a damn fine sandwich. I tried it. It’s amazing. I know some people don’t like the taste of mayonnaise, but rest assured…you can not actually taste it… not even a little bit. But it makes for a really nice grilled cheese. I usually put mayo on the outside, but I was curious to see what would happen after toasting the bread. I decided to switch it up a bit just for a test.

So, I used mayo on the inside of the sandwich and then cut up a pat of butter into fours for each side. Obviously, it is a little tricky to get it onto the side that’s going into the pan, so I decided to just put the butter into the pan and flip it halfway so they both get the nice golden brown color.

Jalapeño cheddar… yum!

Butter makes everything better.

So, I set the air fryer for 400 degrees and 5 minutes. About halfway through, I flipped the sandwich and let it go again. Definitely might have to adjust your time, as it’s very particular to the type of air fryer you have… I love my air fryer even more now that I have discovered that it can deliver the perfect grilled cheese! Melted + crispy perfection, no soggy allowed!