Think you know how to make a good skillet grilled cheese? This is cute. But let's be honest pan The method is a gamble that usually ends in burnt spots, sad unmelted cheese, or both.
It's time to find out the truth: your fryer here's the secret to perfect grilled cheese, and it's not even a fair fight. We're talking golden-brown, edge-to-edge crispy crust and cheese flavor worthy of the hype, all with less oil and no greasy pans to clean up.
Seriously, the air fryer produces faster, cleaner, and objectively better fried cheese. After trying this, you'll wonder why you even spent time hovering over the frying pan.
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If you don't have an air fryer, I recommend Ninja's. glass bowl model. This is the best we've tested and makes a regular grilled cheese. Making grilled cheese in the air fryer is quick and easy, with little to no mess. That's why your next grilled cheese should start and end in the air fryer.
Why Air Fryer Grilled Cheese is So Good
As you can see, grilled cheese in the air fryer doesn't leave any mess behind.
An fryer It's essentially a small, non-stick convection oven that circulates hot air around whatever you put in its basket. Unlike a saute pan or frying pan, it cooks on all sides at the same time and usually in less time. Unlike your oven, it is compact and efficient, heats up quickly and may not even require preheating.
Your toaster will never be able to do this. Bye toasted cheese is possible (and heated pizza in the toaster this is a discovery) grilled no cheese. Your toaster is not designed to store fat on the underside of whatever you're cooking, and you'll end up with a mess too difficult to clean.
When grilling cheese, the air fryer treats both surfaces of the bread and the cheese at the same time, resulting in faster melting, causing the cheese to stick to the bread slices, making flipping much easier. (Flipping is still recommended, but with much less drama.)
Air circulation ensures a deep crispy crust not only on surfaces treated with oil or mayonnaise, but throughout the entire crust. Any inclusions inside the sandwich, other than cheese, are also transformed by the surrounding heat. Simply covering a saucepan or frying pan with a lid will not achieve the same results as the ingredients will become steamy and potentially soggy.
How I cook grilled cheese in the air fryer
Humble ingredients are transformed into something great in the air fryer.
- Assemble the grilled cheese as usual.
- Sliced ​​bread
- Sliced ​​or shredded cheese (I like American cheese as a basic grilled cheese and a combination of Gruyère and cheddar as an upgrade).
- Butter or mayonnaise for the outer surface of the bread slices (seller's choice)
To make a regular grilled cheese, you can assemble the sandwich in an air fryer basket with bread buttered side down, then sliced ​​or shredded cheese, then top the last slice with buttered side up.
Whether it's a simple sandwich or a fancy combination of cheese, bread and toppings, the air fryer will produce crispy, gooey grilled cheese in minutes.
Set the temperature to 400 degrees F and cook for 3 to 6 minutes on each side, turning halfway through cooking. The already melted cheese will keep your sandwich intact while flipping. You can make a lightly golden grilled cheese in less time, but I recommend waiting 5-6 minutes for a super crispy sandwich.
Another advantage of an air fryer is that it will be easier for you to see where you are without negatively affecting the result.
An air fryer is even better for making a stack of grilled cheese.
Add a fruit element and charcuterie for a more sophisticated Air Fryer Sammy.
This is where the air fryer really shines in the world of grilled cheeses. Each element of an upgraded grilled cheese adds a certain amount of complexity when cooked in the pan, most of which is toned down within the safe confines of the air fryer. Thicker bread. Firmer cheese, such as pieces of camembert or brie.
And think of all the wonderful grilled cheese ingredients that can be slippery: apple slices, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, pickles, etc. Any grilled cheese with more than two ingredients can be difficult to gracefully flip in the pan, even for experienced cooks.
Take a loaf of good bread with you and fill your sandwich with elite cheese.
To prove my point, I made a fancy grilled cheese with Camembert, prosciutto and apple slices. (Plus mayonnaise on the outside because I was fancy and mayonnaise gives your sandwich a little kick.) Because of its height, I assembled it entirely outside the fryer and then carefully placed it in a drawer.
And voila!
After 6 minutes of cooking in the air fryer, the flip was seamless, and the exquisite result belies the fact that you spent a full minute putting together a masterpiece. The outside of the ham even got a little crispy. So, the air fryer invites you to go to town with everything you can think of for a grilled cheese: cured or cooked ground meats, grilled vegetables, various sauces and seasonings—you name it. An epic grilled cheese twist is limited only by the limits of your imagination.
Do I need to preheat my air fryer for grilled cheese?
Grilled cheese is a sandwich that can be made quickly no matter how you make it, so you don't want to spend a few extra minutes on something that only takes a few minutes. However, while preheating the air fryer can be a waste of time for some preparations, I think running it for just a minute to heat the nonstick surface the sandwich sits on will give you an instant golden brown crust.
Are there any downsides to making grilled cheese in the air fryer?
Depending on your air fryer model and size, and the bread shape you choose, it may be difficult to cook more than two sandwiches at once, so this may not be the most family-friendly way to prepare grilled cheese. But for a solo dinner or a date night, your air fryer is just what you need, with the grilled cheese you never knew you needed.
