Waffled Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Classic grilled cheese sandwiches are pressed in the waffle iron for extra crispy nooks and crannies!

Did you know you can do WAY more with your waffle iron than just make waffles?

If you’re a fan of all things crunchy and crispy, there are a ton of recipes that utilize all the nooks, crannies, and crevices off the waffle iron to make extra crispy treats.

For sandwiches, a waffle iron is kind of like a panini press on steroids. You can have a glorious grilled cheese ready in minutes, perfect for pairing with some Tomato Bisque or your favorite tomato soup.

Step by Step Overview:

Start by gathering your ingredients. For the most basic, classic sandwich, you only need butter, cheese, and bread slices.

Start by spreading one side of a slice of bread with room temperature butter:

I prefer salted over unsalted butter here, but both will work.

Lay the piece of bread (butter side down) on the waffle iron:

Then cover the top with your favorite kind of cheese:

I’m using small slices of my favorite cheddar cheese, but American cheese is also a great choice. You could also use gruyère cheese or something really melty like a monterey jack cheese.

Just make sure the cheese slices aren’t more than 1/4″ thick, and note that aged cheeses won’t melt as well as younger ones. An aged cheddar for example will have a sharper flavor, but less of the ooey gooey factor. The choice all depends on your preferences, and you can play with it over time.

Place a second slice of bread that’s been buttered on top, and close the waffle iron:

Make sure not to press down and smash the sandwich. The waffle iron will slowly press the sandwich on its own since the waffle maker lid is usually fairly heavy:

After a few minutes of cooking time, you can check on the crispiness. You’re more or less cooking the sandwich to your liking.

Here you can tell there are plenty of brown spots and the cheese is melted, but usually I like to take my sandwich a little further.

You know, until the cheese is oozing out and the toasted bread is really golden brown:

Perfect!

Feel free to play with the recipe in the future. Next time you can make it a grilled ham and cheese sandwich to make it extra filling, you can try using a garlic butter or olive oil as the fat for different flavors, and so on.

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