If you love caprese salad, then you will love this caprese grilled cheese sandwich recipe. A mozzarella grilled cheese sandwich with fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, sliced tomatoes, and pesto all cooked up into a fantastic crispy sandwich that is perfect for lunch or dinner.
Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe
If you are looking for an excellent grilled cheese sandwich recipe that is loaded with melty mozzarella cheese and full of flavor then you are going to want to make this fantastic grilled cheese caprese sandwich recipe. It is simple to make, has healthy ingredients, and is a fun sandwich twist on the classic Caprese salad.
We love a good grilled cheese in our house and with all of this chilly weather we have been making them a lot. I am sure you have noticed that with the last few weeks new recipes being grilled cheese sandwiches.
Right now it is to chilly for me to think of making capreses salad however everyone in my house loves the flavors so I thought the perfect Italian twist to the classic grilled cheese sandwich was to make a grilled cheese sandwich with our favorite summer salad ingredients. Melted mozzarella cheese, with red tomatoes, pesto sauce and basil on toasty bread made for the perfect sandwich. The whole family loved it and I am excited to share this recipe with you.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipes
- Provolone Grilled Cheese
- Spinach Grilled Cheese
- Grilled Cheese Roll ups
- Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Recipe
- Bacon Grilled Cheese
- Pizza Grilled Cheese
- Rainbow Grilled Cheese
Can I make Grilled cheese sandwiches in advance?
Grilled cheese sandwiches are best eaten fresh. You can prepare the sandwich ahead of time, wrap it tightly in wrap to prevent the bread from getting stale, and then fry it just before serving. I do not recommend freezing Grilled cheese sandwiches.
What bread should I use for this recipe?
I like using a long thin sliced bread for this caprese grilled cheese sandwiches recipe, and most of the time use a wheat bread. The great thing about this recipe is you can use any type of bread that you have on hand. I normally have white bread, Italian bread, and wheat bread on hand so I use one of those.
What is the best Mozzarella cheese to use?
I like using fresh mozzarella cheese and slice it. You can buy it in a ball or in a log of mozzarella cheese. You can use shredded mozzarella cheese if you want to but it will not get as melty as fresh mozzarella cheese.
What to serve with grilled cheese
One of my favorite sides to serve with a Grilled Cheese is a nice mixed salad. With all that cheese, it’s nice to balance the meal out with a bit of green goodness. Add in some tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and any other of your favorite salad fixings. Soup is also a great thing to serve with grilled cheese especially on a chilly day.
- Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
- Salad
- homemade potato chips
- Garlic Parmesan Potato Chips
- Sea Salt and Pepper potato chips
- Fruit Salad
- Fresh Fruit
- tomato soup
Tips for Making the best Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Cook on medium low heat. It might be tempting to turn up the heat to make things go faster, however, you do not want to cook grilled cheese on anything higher then medium low heat.
- Be Patient. It might be tempting to speed things up a bit, but doing so will end up with cheese that is not properly melted and bread that gets burnt.
- Making multiple sandwiches. If you are making multiple sandwiches at one time then you will want to use a large skillet so you have room to flip the sandwiches over while you are cooking them.
Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ingredients
- 4 slices of Bread
- 2 fresh tomatoes
- 6 ounces Mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil leaves sliced into ribbons (about 1 leaf per sandwich)
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto. You can use homemade pesto or store-bought pesto.
- 1 Tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt
- Fresh ground black Pepper
- aged balsamic vinegar – for drizzling (optional). You can also use a balsamic glaze if you want to.
- Extra basil for topping (optional)
How to make Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Preheat oven to 275° Fahrenheit
Wash and slice the tomatoes.
Wash and slice the basil leaves.
Slice the mozzarella cheese into 6 slices
Brush 2 slices of bread with Olive oil and flip over.
Next, brush that side of each slice of bread with a thin layer of Pesto sauce and layer with 3 thin mozzarella slices and salt and pepper on top of the pesto.
Brush the two remaining bread slices (the second slice of bread for each sandwich) with a thin layer of pesto and top with 3-4 pieces of sliced tomato and the sliced basil.
Place the 2 pieces of bread together with the pesto and toppings sides facing each other to form the sandwich.
Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium and add the extra virgin olive oil.
Place the sandwich in the pan so the mozzarella cheese side is the bottom side and cook for 4-5 minutes. Cook till bread is golden brown, brush outside of the bread with the remaining olive oil and flip, cook for another 4-5 minutes till bread is golden brown.
Place the closed sandwiches on baking sheet and place in oven, heat the sandwich until the cheese is fully melted.
Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar and sliced basil and serve immediately.
caprese grilled cheese sandwich recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices Bread
- 2 fresh tomatoes
- 6 ounces Mozzarella cheese
- 2 fresh basil leaves sliced into ribbons
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
- 1 Tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt
- ground black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar – for drizzling optional. You can also use a balsamic glaze if you want to.
- 2 basil leaves optional for topping after cooking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275° Fahrenheit
- Wash and slice the tomatoes.
- Wash and slice the basil leaves.
- Slice the mozzarella cheese into 6 slices
- Brush 2 slices of bread with Olive oil and flip over.
- Brush that side of each slice of bread with a thin layer of Pesto sauce and layer with 3 thin mozzarella slices and salt and pepper on top of the pesto.
- Brush the two remaining bread slices (the second slice of bread for each sandwich) with a thin layer of pesto and top with 3-4 pieces of sliced tomato and the sliced basil.
- Place the 2 pieces of bread together with the pesto and toppings sides facing each other to form the sandwich.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium and add the extra virgin olive oil.
- Place the sandwich in the pan so the mozzarella cheese side is the bottom side and cook for 4-5 minutes. Cook till bread is golden brown, brush outside of the bread with the remaining olive oil and flip, cook for another 4-5 minutes till bread is golden brown.
- Place the closed sandwiches on baking sheet and place in oven, heat the sandwich until the cheese is fully melted.
- Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar and sliced basil and serve immediately.
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