Grilled Cheese With Pickles

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This grilled cheese with pickles sandwich is a simple, memorable twist on a classic grilled cheese! Once you try the combination of classic dill pickle slices with gooey cheese on a crispy sandwich, you’ll never go back to a traditional grilled cheese again. This pickle grilled cheese is perfect for pickle lovers everywhere!

Dill pickles on grilled cheese may seem like an odd combination, but trust me, it’s amazing! Rich cheddar cheese and salty dill pickles make this sandwich a favorite for everyone, especially pickle fanatics.

Serve up these dill pickle grilled cheese sandwiches with instant pot tomato soup or vegan tomato soup and potato chips, parmesan truffle fries (or air fried sweet potato fries) for a classic combination. Or for lighter side dishes, you can serve it with this tomato avocado cucumber salad, roasted green beans and potatoes, this roasted cauliflower salad, or this spinach and arugula salad.

Buttery and crispy on the outside, with gooey, melted cheese on the inside, you really can’t go wrong with this simple recipe!

👩🏽‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• A fun addition to a classic grilled cheese sandwich
• Super easy recipe
• Simple to customize – there are variation ideas for everyone!
• Ready in 20 minutes
• Serious comfort food
• Family friendly
• Easy weeknight meal
• Can be made vegan and gluten-free!

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🥘 Ingredients

This grilled cheese with pickles recipe requires just 5 simple ingredients! Here’s what you need:

• Whole Wheat Bread: I chose wheat bread instead of the traditional white bread for this cheese and pickle toastie because it’s a healthier option with more whole grains and fiber, and honestly, it tastes just as good as white bread when it’s grilled! You can use any kind of bread for this sandwich though – white bread, gluten free bread, sprouted wheat bread, buckwheat bread, or sourdough bread are all great options.
• Mayo: Mayo adds creaminess and a little bit of a subtle tangy flavor to your grilled cheese and pickle sandwich. It’s optional though, so if you don’t like mayo just skip this ingredient. Use light mayo for a lower calorie and lower fat option.
• Mild Or Sharp Cheddar Cheese Slices: Cheddar cheese has a sharper, more powerful flavor than other types of cheese like American cheese, which is typically used for grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Dill Pickles: Hamburger dill chips are the star of the show for this grilled cheese sandwich with pickles! But if you don’t love dill pickles, you can always swap this ingredient out for bread and butter pickles. This, of course, would completely change the flavor, but if you love bread and butter pickles then it will be a good change. If you don’t like pickles at all, see the variations section below for some other great ideas other than this pickle grilled cheese sandwich.
• Softened Butter: Butter is what makes this grilled cheese and pickles sandwich perfectly crispy and golden brown on the outside.

🔪 Instructions

Pickles in grilled cheese taste delicious! Here’s how to make a grilled cheese pickle sandwich.

Dry Dill Pickles: Pat dry the sliced dill pickles with kitchen paper towel and set aside.

Begin Assembly: Assemble the sandwiches by placing two slices of bread on a chopping board, spread a layer of mayo on each slice of bread.

Add Pickles: Layer the sliced pickles and a slice of cheese over top of the mayo.

Top Sandwich, Butter Bread: Top each sandwich with remaining bread slices. Butter the outside of each piece of bread with the softened butter.

Heat Skillet, Cook Sandwich: Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Place the sandwiches on the skillet, buttered side down, and cook for approximately 3-5 minutes or until the bread is lightly golden.

Flip, Cook, Serve: Using a spatula, gently flip the sandwiches over, continue to cook until the other side is lightly golden brown and the cheese has started to melt. Remove, cut in half and serve immediately.

💭 Expert Tips

• Make sure to dry your pickles. If you skip this step, the excess moisture in the pickles will make your bread soggy.
• Don’t use too much cheese. It might seem like more cheese would be better, but too much cheese can overpower the rest of the ingredients. One thick slice of cheddar cheese per sandwich is perfect for this recipe!
• Pre-toast your bread. If you want an extra toasty sandwich, very lightly pre-toast your bread before putting it together. It’ll also help prevent your bread from getting soggy!
• Cook low and slow for best results. Things can escalate quickly when you’re cooking a sandwich in a skillet. It’s best to heat your sandwich up slowly so the cheese melts before the outside gets too done. If your skillet is too hot, you’ll end up with a burnt outside and a non-melted inside!
• Ensure the butter has softened to room temperature so it spreads easily on the bread. If the butter is too hard, it may tear the bread when spreading it.
• Try a panini press. A panini press is an easy way to make a nice pressed grilled cheese with pickles, and it ensures you get a perfect sandwich every time (no risk of burning the bottom of the bread!).
• Serve immediately, and serve hot. I don’t recommend grilling this sandwich, storing it and serving it later, the bread won’t be as crispy and the ingredients inside won’t be as melted and gooey after storing it and reheating it.

📖 Variations

• Grilled Cheese With Jalapenos: If you’re not a fan of that dill pickle flavor, and want to add some spice, you can swap the pickles for jalapenos! Alternatively, if you like pickles but want heat, just add jalapenos in along with the pickles. For even more heat, add hot sauce or crushed red pepper.
• Grilled Cheese With Tomato: If you’d rather tone it down some and just add a cool, fresh, and mild flavor to your sandwich, add fresh sliced tomato instead of the pickles.
• More Dill Flavor: For extra taste, you can try sprinkling some fresh or dried dill over the mayo or add several slices of red onion before layering with remaining ingredients.
• Lower Calorie Option: Use light mayo instead of regular mayo to save about 60 calories and 7 grams of fat per sandwich. You can also use olive oil cooking spray instead of butter to save about 100 calories and 12 grams of fat. Keep in mind though that olive oil cooking spray won’t give you as moist and crispy of a crust when compared to butter.
• Different Bread Or Cheese: Feel free to choose your favorite bread for this cheese and pickle sandwich recipe, and substitute with any kind of cheese if you’re not a fan of cheddar! When it comes to cheeses, mozzarella, provolone, pepperjack or even swiss would all work well. You can also use a combination of cheddar and any other cheese for additional flavor.
• Gluten-Free Grilled Cheese With Pickles: Make your grilled cheese gluten-free simply by using your favorite gluten-free bread.
• Vegan Grilled Cheese: All it takes to make this pickle and cheese sandwich recipe vegan is to make sure your bread is vegan, use vegan mayo, and vegan cheese. The best vegan cheese I’ve found for grilled cheese is Violife’s Smoked Provolone.

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