Comfort food with a fun twist, this rainbow grilled cheese sandwich recipe is a regular grilled cheese with a twist and it is perfect for the kids. Melty cheese that is brightly colored with toasty bread. The whole family is going to love this rainbow sandwich recipe! Whether you are looking to put a smile on your Unicorn lover’s face or a fun and easy St. Patrick’s Day meal idea, this fun recipe is perfect for you!

Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

If you are looking for a fun and tasty sandwich that the kids are going to love you have to make this rainbow grilled cheese sandwich. My youngest calls it Unicorn grilled cheese so it is for sure perfect for any unicorn lovers!

I love finding fun ways to make food for the kids, and while I make this often just for fun this is the perfect easy lunch idea for St. Patrick’s Day. It is easy to make and looks so pretty when it is done cooking. When you cut this rainbow grilled cheese recipe in half you get all the pretty colors making a colorful rainbow! I like to serve it with a rainbow pattern of fruit to make it extra special!

Normally I look to keep things as healthy as I can for the kids, but with this one I was going for all things fun. You might be able to figure out a natural food colorings option but for us I stick with the food dye and get the colors as bright as I can.

Rainbow Recipes

hand holding a Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich

What is the Best Bread for Grilled Cheese?

You can use any bread that you want to but I personally like using white bread so that the colorful cheeses pop when you cut the sandwich in half. However if you do not have that on hand you can use any bread you do have including wheat bread.

Can I make this in advance?

Grilled cheese sandwiches are best eaten fresh. You can prepare the sandwich ahead of time, wrap tightly in wrap to prevent the bread from getting stale, and then fry just before serving. I do not recommend freezing Grilled cheese sandwiches however, the colored cheese can easily be frozen as any other cheese. Do not mix the colors together but freeze them separately.

How do I cut my bread so I can see all the colors?

You will want to cut your bread so that the cut is perpendicular to the layers of cheese. The first time I made this, I layered the stripes horizontally and when I cut my sandwich, I could only see one color. So the direction of your cheese will determine where to cut your bread in order to see the full rainbow. So if you layer your cheese horizontally across the bread, you will want to cut your bread vertically or on a diagonal would also work well.

close up of Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich

What Mozzarella Cheese is best for making this recipe?

Partial skim mozzarella shredded or block mozzarella will work best. I prefer to shred my own mozzarella cheese as the cheese melts better that way as there is no coating on the cheese to make it not stick in the packaging.

Can I change up the type of cheese?

Any good melting white cheese will work. If you would like to make this a bit more gourmet, try mixing different types of cheeses per color. Good melting cheeses are Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, Colby jack, American, Provolone, Gruyere etc. If making for kids, I usually stick to mozzarella as most kids like this more mellow tasting cheese.

close up overhead photo of Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich on a white plate.

Will the colors bleed together?

Generally the cheese should not bleed too much unless for example, you drop red cheese onto yellow cheese. However, to keep your colors as crisp as possible, arrange colors so that any color that is made up of 2 other colors is between the colors that it is made up of. For example, yellow and blue make green, so put your green cheese between your yellow and blue cheese.

What is the best food coloring to use?

I use liquid food coloring. You can use any colors that you want to, when making this recipe for photos I used red, green, blue and yellow. You can also use the neon colored food coloring if you are wanting the full bright and crazy colors for your sandwich.

Tips for Making the Best Grilled Cheese

Spread Mayo to edges of bread. You will get the best golden brown color when you are covering the whole piece of bread.
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.

What do you serve with Grilled Cheese?

Our go to for serving grilled cheese of all types is a salad and soup. There is just something amazing that happens when you enjoy a homemade grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of your favorite soup and a fresh salad. If you are looking for other sides to serve with grilled cheese check out some of the other side dish ideas.

Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe ingredients

Rainbow Grilled Cheese Ingredients

2 slices bread
4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
2-3 drops red food color
2-3 drops yellow food color
2-3 drops green food color
2-3 drops blue food color
1 Tablespoon mayo

How to Make Rainbow Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Divide the shredded mozzarella into 4 different bowls. Add food coloring to each bowl and mix well with a fork to color the cheese. The shredded cheese should be fully coated in each different color you are wanting in your rainbow sandwich.

Divide the mayo and spread it onto one side of one of the slices of the bread.

Place the bread mayo side down on the skillet. Layer the cheese vertically across the bread slice.

Heat non-stick frying pan on medium.

Spread mayo on one side of one of the other slice of bread. Place the piece of bread mayo side up on top of the cheese.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side and then 2-3 minutes on the second side. You want to cook each side until it is golden brown before flipping it over.

Remove and cut horizontally or diagonally.

Grilled Cheese Recipes