Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe with Mozzarella Cheese, Tomato & Bacon

If you’re a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches, you’ll definitely want to try this delicious Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe with Mozzarella & Bacon. This elevated take on the classic grilled cheese recipe features a flavorful tomato pesto spread, gooey melted mozzarella cheese, and crispy bacon, all sandwiched between two slices of bread and grilled to perfection. Not only is this bacon grilled cheese sandwich incredibly tasty, but it’s also an easy recipe that you can whip up in no time for a satisfying lunch or dinner.

Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe with Mozzarella & Bacon

Grilled cheese is a classic comfort food that everyone loves. My kids will eat grilled cheese as often as I will make it. So I have been working on coming up with new grilled cheese sandwich recipes. Our newest creation is this pesto grilled cheese sandwich with fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and bacon. The combination of the flavors is amazing and makes for the perfect fancied-up grilled cheese.

I have made this as closed sandwiches and as opened sandwiches when testing this recipe. My kids couldn’t pick which one they liked better so this recipe has both options. No matter which way you cook it, you have an amazing sandwich with gooey melty cheese, fresh tomatoes, crispy bacon, and fresh pesto. 

Grilled cheese is the perfect comfort food, turning it into a gourmet sandwich just makes it even better. The whole family is going to love it when you make this grilled cheese with pesto recipe. 

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

What is Pesto Grilled Cheese? 

Pesto grilled cheese is a tasty twist on the traditional grilled cheese sandwich. The sandwich has mozzarella cheese, basil pesto, tomatoes, and bacon. 

What is Pesto?

Pesto is a delicious Italian flavor-booster made from garlic, olive oil, basil, pine nuts or walnuts, Parmesan cheese, and salt. It has a slight nutty flavor with a kick of garlic. Pesto is traditionally used as a pasta sauce but can also be used to add flavor to other dishes, such as sandwiches and salads.

What is the Best Bread for Grilled Cheese?

You can use any bread that you want to but I personally like using wheat bread when making this recipe as I think it pairs perfectly with the pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, bacon and tomatoes. My go to is Arnold’s Whole Grains 12 Grains & Seeds. If you do not have any wheat bread on hand then you can use other types of bread including white bread, sourdough bread, or any type of crusty bread. 

How to Cook Bacon for Grilled cheese sandwiches

You will need to have cooked bacon when you are making this recipe. You can have the bacon at your preferred cooked way from extra crispy bacon to slightly crispy bacon, however, you prefer your bacon will work for this recipe. When you are going to cook the bacon you can do it by your preferred method of ovenbaked, air fried bacon, or on the stove top.

What kind of cheese should I use?

Mozzarella cheese is my go to choice for pesto grilled cheese because it melts so nicely. I prefer to use smoked mozzarella cheese because I love the flavor that it gives to the sandwich. I also prefer to use slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, however, if you only have shredded mozzarella cheese then you can use that. You can also use other melty cheeses like provolone cheese, white cheddar cheese, and gruyere cheese.

Tips and Variations of this recipe

• Add veggies. While there are already tomatoes on this grilled cheese if you want to add other veggies you can add things like roasted red peppers, sauteed onions, or sauteed bell peppers. 
• Skip the bacon. If you are not a fan of bacon, you can skip putting that on your sandwich. 
• Use homemade Pesto. Store-bought pesto can be used in a pinch but homemade pesto makes this sandwich even better.
• Use Mayo. Don’t have butter, use mayo. It creates a perfectly golden, crispy exterior.

Tips for Making the Best Grilled Cheese

• Spread Mayo or butter 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 than 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.
• Don’t skimp on the Pesto. Use plenty of pesto for maximum flavor – spread it generously over both slices of bread.
• 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. You will also want to add a little bit more butter to the pan after each sandwich to prevent sticking and ensure optimal browning if you are adding another sandwich to the plan to cook.

What to Serve with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

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. 

• Chips. You can also serve it with a side of homemade chips. If you want to get fancy you can make Garlic Parmesan Potato Chips or Sea Salt and Pepper potato chips.
• Fresh Fruit. Just about any fresh fruit will pair well or you can make a fruit salad.
• Soup. There are lots of soup recipes that pair well with grilled cheese. Some of our favorites include Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup, cheddar broccoli soup, tomato soup, butternut squash soup, french onion soup or Slow Cooker Split Pea and Ham Soup Recipe. 
• Fries. I like making homemade fries including Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
• Salads. You can make a fresh green salad, or get fancy and make a copy cat olive garden salad, avocado BLT salad or Strawberry Spinach Salad.
• pasta salad. There are many pasta salad recipes that pair well with this recipe including Pesto Pasta salad, Roasted Red pepper and mozzarella pasta salad, and sundried tomato pasta salad.

Can It Be Made Ahead of Time?

You can prepare everything ahead of time, but you want to cook the pesto grilled cheese when you want to eat it. While you can reheat a cooked sandwich, they taste best when they are made fresh.

What other dishes can I use pesto in?

If you are making homemade pesto for this recipe then you will have leftovers. Some of my favorite recipes are Pesto Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash, Parmesan Pesto Grilled Chicken Kabobs, Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe With Tomatoes and Mozzarella Cheese Balls.

Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ingredients

These ingredients are for one grilled cheese sandwich, if you are going to be making multiples then you will want to double or triple the ingredients. 

• 2 Slices of Hearty Wheat Bread with seeds preferably I used Arnold’s Whole Grains 12 Grains & Seeds
• 2 Tablespoons of Butter or you can use Mayonaisse
• 2 Tablespoons of Pesto (I used homemade basil pesto)
• 4 Thin Slices of Smoked Mozzarella cheese (I used BelGioioso) 
• 2 Slices of Bacon, cooked (optional)
• 1/2 Tomato cut into 3 slices (optional)

How to Make Pesto Grilled Cheese

There are two different ways that you can cook up this grilled cheese sandwich. If you are wanting a traditional grilled cheese then you are going to want to use the first set of instructions, if you want an open faced grilled cheese then you will want to use the open faced sandwich instructions. 

How to Make Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Cook the bacon by your preferred method.

Wash and slice your tomato. 

Place a frying pan on the stove. 

Butter one side of each of the pieces of bread. Place one slice, butter side down in a cold frying pan or nonstick skillet. 

Spread pesto onto the exposed side of the bread in the pan. 

Add 2 slices of Smoked Mozzarella, add the cooked Bacon and Tomato slices Then place 2 more slices of cheese on top of the bacon and tomatoes. 

Add butter to one side of the second piece of bread and place it butter side up on top of the sandwich.

Turn the heat on the stove to medium heat and cook for 3 minutes.

Flip the sandwich using a flipper and cook the second side for 3 minutes until that side is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

Directions for Oveb Baked open-faced Pest Grilled Cheese sandwich

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter one side of each slice of bread and place it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. 

Spread the pesto onto the exposed side of the bread. 

Place in the oven and cook for 5 minutes, remove from the oven and add optional Bacon and/or Tomato at this point then top with 2 slices of Mozzarella Cheese. 

Put back in the oven and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.

To serve you can leave it open or make close sandwiches whichever you prefer. 

Easy Pesto Recipes

• Feta and Pesto Chicken
• Creamy Pesto Dip