Name: Air Fryer Grilled Cheese
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 17 min
Ingredients: 2 slices bread; 2 tsp butter (or cooking spray); 2 slice cheese; 1/4 pear (thinly sliced)

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Crunchy Air Fryer Grilled Cheese is a new take on the comfort food classic you grew up with. You will love how crunchy the bread is and how you get perfectly melted cheese straight out of the air fryer.

Gluten-Free variation provided. Post includes Weight Watchers points.

Post may contain affiliate links. For more information, check my disclosure

Is there anything better than a crunchy, melty and buttery Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwich served with bowl of tomato soup? Just mentioning this classic comfort food combination gives me such warm and fuzzy feelings. It takes me back to the dreary wet weekends of my childhood when I would be unhappily stuck indoors.

Air Fryer Grilled Cheese sandwich comes out sooooooooo crunchy on the outside. The air fryer works by using a high powered fan to “fry” your food.

With the air fryer, no one is getting a little soggy spot piece of bread that somehow the frying pan just didn’t touch. Every bite of your Air Fryer Grilled Cheese is crunchy-gooey-cheese-goodness.

An air fryer cheese sandwich provides a crispy, buttery outer layer with a cheesy, melty inner layer that creates the perfect cheesy sandwich without burning, over drying, or overcooking. It’s so easy I even let my mini chefs make their own.

Why You’ll Love This

It’s 3 simple ingredients. Yeap, bread, cheese and butter for coating. That’s it. My kids can handle this one with their eyes closed.

You can add anything you want. Seriously add a gourmet cheese, adding Air Fryer Bacon and veggies and even add a little seasoning like paprika to the outside. All soooooooooooo good.

It’s a super easy pantry meal. You probably have the 3 basic ingredients on hand but you can add any leftovers you have.

Works For Gluten-Free Diets. I’ve tried this with Gluten-Free bread and you can still get the same delicious buttery crispy outer layer as you would with regular bread.

I know Gluten-Free bread can be kind of chewy, but when done in the air fryer your grilled cheese will be cooked to perfection with melted gooey warm cheese.

Tools Needed

KITCHEN TOOLS, UTENSILS & APPLIANCES NEEDED

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, check out my disclosure.

Here are some of the items you will need to make this recipe.

Air Fryer.
Measuring teaspoons.
Tongs.
Bowls with covers.
- Store leftover food in these bowls.

Ready to make grilled cheese in the air fryer? Grab your ingredients and I’ll show you how…….

How to Make Grilled Cheese In Air Fryer

Preheat the air fryer to 350F / 180C.
Butter one side of each slice of bread, making sure all the bread is covered.
Add the cheese and sliced pear. Fold the cheese slices in between the pieces of bread so that no cheese is sticking out past the bread slices.
Place air fryer cheese sandwich to the air fryer basket and cook for 8 mins before flipping using tongs and cooking for another 3-4 mins on the second side.
Removed the Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwich and serve warm.
Serve your Airfryer Grilled Cheese Sandwich with soups, chutney or a salad.

Recipe Tips

Fold the cheese slices in between the bread slices making sure all the cheese is inside the bread and not falling out of your fried grilled cheese sandwich.
Do remember to keep the buttered sides facing outwards.
You can also use a light cooking spray in place of butter if calorie watching or on a WW diet.
It’s possible your bread could “fly” up so be sure to use the rack your air fryer came with to prevent this from happening.

FAQ’s

What Kind of Cheese is the Best for Air Fried Grilled Cheese

There are soooooo many different types of cheese you can go with when making this. Here are a few of my favourites:

American Cheese
Swiss
Sharp Cheddar
Muenster
Provolone
Pepper Jack

And don’t sleep on Bleu, Feta, Havarti and Goat cheese. These types of cheeses might not scream “Grilled Cheese” but trust me they’ll elevate your classic childhood dish to suit your adult tastes.

Recipe Variations

Grilled cheese is such a versatile sandwich. Because you can use so many different types of cheeses that you may have on hand you can also add meats and veggies too. Freddy and the kids looooooove adding crispy air fryer bacon to their grilled cheese sandwiches.

My recipe below calls for slices of sweet pear which in my opinion really elevates a classic GCS (grilled cheese sandwich). Make sure pear is very ripe and sliced thinly. When I make this variation I prefer using sharp cheddar or brie cheese. So delicious when combined with juicy pear slices.

Another option would be to use up some leftover shredded chicken you may have by shredding it and adding it between your cheese slices.

Tomatoes also make a great addition to a grilled cheese as well as pickles. I love slicing up a beautiful rainbow of peppers for our grilled cheeses. The kids love their colourful sandwiches.

And now, let’s talk about the bread for grilled cheese. Oh, the bread. Sweet carbs how we love you. The most common bread would be white bread but Multigrain and Whole Wheat also work great but you can use any bread you may have in your pantry. If you’re looking for something different try Sourdough, Pumpernickel or Rye.

Air Fryer Grilled Cheese With Mayo

To make a version with mayo, simply add half to 1 tablespoon of mayo in your sandwich before you grill it.

Cooking Time

I recommend checking on your grilled cheese in the air fryer about halfway through the first 8 minutes. Every air fryer is different and this will tell you how long your grilled cheese will still have to go in the air fryer oven.

Healthier Air Fryer Sandwich Tips

There are a few things you can do to make a healthier air fried sandwich. And it is as simple as

Use low-calorie cooking spray instead of butter.
Use low-fat American cheese or other cheese.
You can also use a low in carbs bread.

My Top Pick For Oil Sprayer

Evo Oil Sprayer Bottle

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

My go-to spraying bottle. Every Air Fryer user should have one.

Serving Suggestions

More Air Fryer Recipes

Love your air fryer as much as I. Then here are a few more recipes that you might like to try.

Weight Watchers Points

There are 8 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.

Thank you for reading my How to Make Grilled Cheese In Air Fryer recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue dreaming up recipes, traditional African recipes, African fusion recipes, Sierra Leone recipes, travel plans and much more for you. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, UK food blog.

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Two halves of the completed Air Fryer Grilled Cheese sandwich stacked and ready to serve

Print Recipe

4.86 from 7 votes

Air Fryer Grilled Cheese

Crunchy Grilled Cheese is a childhood classic cooked to perfection in the air fryer.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time12 mins

Total Time17 mins

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Cuisine: American, Western

Servings:

Calories: 473kcal

Author: Bintu Hardy

Ingredients

▢ 2 slices bread
▢ 2 tsp butter or cooking spray
▢ 2 slice cheese
▢ 1/4 pear thinly sliced

Instructions

Make The Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Preheat air fryer to 350F / 180C.
Butter one side of each slice of bread making sure all the bread is covered.
Add cheese and pear. Fold the cheese slices in between the bread slices making sure no cheese is sticking out of the bread slices.
Add into the air fryer and cook for 8 mins before flipping and cooking for another 3-4 mins on the second side.
Serve warm.

Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwich Serving Suggestion

Tomato Soup, Air Fryer Bacon

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Recommended Products

Air Fryer

Spray Bottle