Lest you think I’m about to get too lofty or philosophical, here I go: I have a new favorite way to make grilled cheese. And it’s in the air fryer.
Get the recipe: Air Fryer Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheese is one of the first things many of us learned to cook. It’s the kind of meal you can make in desperation or plan with precision and care. And when you’re making it, chances are you’ll pull out a pan.
This has been my method for twenty years. But then my air fryer came into my life and I started rethinking all the different foods I cook all the time: tofu, roasted vegetables. It was time to try air fryer grilled cheese.
I was skeptical at first and was slightly put off by having to take out the air fryer and clean the basket. Then again, it’s not that different from washing a pan.
Well, that was a revelation. After about 8 minutes at 360 degrees in my air fryer, I bit into a grilled cheese sandwich that far exceeded my expectations. (Don’t have an air fryer or don’t want to bother? I also have tips for better pan grilled cheese!)
If you need convincing, here are the top reasons why the air fryer is now my favorite method for making grilled cheese.
The bread is evenly crispy and golden.
In a pan, I never got the same edge-to-edge golden color as I did in the air fryer. And the crunch? I speak audibly. My son actually found it too crispy for his liking (sigh), but the air fryer makes it easy to experiment with time and temperature to get the perfect texture. Keep in mind that air fryers vary in power, so you may need to modify my instructions for your particular model.
You will never have unmelted cheese.
One of the challenges of making grilled cheese in a pan is that the exterior can turn the desired color — or even burn — before the cheese is melted. There are ways around this problem, including toasting the inside sides of the bread first or covering the pan with a lid. Still, you can’t beat the intense heat of the air fryer for ultimate melting. In fact, it can help to wait a minute or two to slice an air fryer grilled cheese to let it briefly set and cool. The device also easily handles sliced cheese.
If you prefer to use vegan cheese, I had amazing results with the air fryer, to the point where it was indistinguishable from dairy. When I tried a vegan grilled cheese using the same product in the pan, the shreds didn’t come close to melting the same way, even with pre-baking the bread.
As I’ve written before, it’s best to think of the air fryer as a lower-fat, not fat-free, cooking strategy. You always need something for color and flavor, as well as to keep food from burning. All it requires is a minimal layer of fat on the outside of the bread. My first choice is mayonnaise, although you can use oil or softened/melted butter (salted or not!) instead. Compared to the amount you might typically need to coat a pan, especially if you add more after flipping the sandwich, the air fryer contains considerably less fat.
It is easier to prepare several sandwiches.
Making two sandwiches in one pan is often not feasible, especially if you toast the bread first. Even a 12-inch pan may struggle to hold more than one sandwich. The air fryers I tested this recipe in – a 6-quart Instant Vortex Plus and a 5.8-litre Cosori – had enough room for two sandwiches. I probably could have squeezed a third with slightly differently shaped slices of bread.
The heat is uniform and without intervention.
I enjoy the more convenient nature of air fryer grilled cheese. In a frying pan, I frequently have to adjust the heat. This is not the case in the air fryer. The heat is incredibly consistent, so set it to one temperature and you’re good to go. While it’s a good idea to stay close to the kitchen in general when cooking, there’s a lot less babysitting for an air fryer than a skillet. (Now, if you’re just getting acquainted with your appliance and trying to figure out the ideal temperature, you may need to experiment the first time or two, but as with a regular oven, once you understand how it works – hotter or colder than expected or perfect – the guesswork is over.) And when you can completely assemble the sandwich from the start, just put it in the basket, turn it over once and you’re done.
Get the recipe: Air Fryer Grilled Cheese
