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by Diane
Buy our air fryer e-cookbooks today You’ll love making air fryer grilled cheese. This easy and simple air fryer cheese melt sandwich is a fantastic quick lunch or meal. Kids love this. And best of all, it’s easy on the parents.
Best Air Fryer Grilled Cheese
Air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches are life changing! We knew it would work, but didn’t realize how this technique makes a great cheese melt sandwich! Whether it’s for a quick snack for the kids or a seriously delicious lunch, these are fantastic. The bread toasts perfectly and the cheese melts fantastic. If you don’t want to use a lot fo butter, you don’t have to. Even with little butter or a light spray of olive oil, the bread toasts perfectly in the air fryer.
Video: Air Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
How to Make Grilled Cheese Sandwich in Air Fryer
- Lay slices of good melting cheese in center of slices of bread.Close the sandwich and spread softened butter on outside of bread. Or spray with light olive oil spray.
- If your bread is really thin and light, it will fly off the sandwich from the circulating air in the air fryer. So you can use a toothpick to secure the sandwich together. But remember to removethe toothpicks before eating!
- Lay sandwich in air fryer and cook. Fantastic grilled cheese sandwich in the air fryer that’s easy and delicious!
- Full recipe instructions in the recipe box below.
Fantastic grilled cheese sandwich in the air fryer that’s easy and delicious!
Best Cheeses for Grilled Cheese
Choose a good melting cheese to make it super delicious. There’s as big difference between a hard aged cheese vs a soft melting cheese. Go for the soft melting cheeses. Any type of firm aged cheese doesn’t melt well and certainly won’t melt at all in the air fryer. Here’s some tips on our favorite cheeses:
- We love using classic slices of american cheese because the flavor is great and melts super quick. If you can get your hands on a good quality american cheese, it’s worth it!
- Sharp cheddar cheese, swiss, tuyere and fontina are examples of good melting cheeses.
- If you’re slicing cheese off a block, make sure to slice the cheese thin.
- The thicker the cheese, the longer it takes to melt in the air fryer. So cook the sandwich on lower heat until the cheese melts, then cook it on the higher heat setting to toast the bread.
Butter vs Olive Oil on the bread
Is there a difference between spreading butter vs brushing olive oil on the bread?
- We’ve tested the sandwich with butter and light spray of olive oil. Both work great with different flavor options!
- Spreading mayo is another option that folks love. If you have always spread mayo on your bread for grilled cheese sandwiches, then go for it! Mayo will work fine on air fried cheese melts.
Air Fryer Grilled Cheese
Yield: 1 sandwich
Prep Time: 5 minutes mins
Cook Time: 10 minutes mins
Total Time: 15 minutes mins
Every air fryer cooks differently, so check on the sandwich often to make sure it doesn't burn. Or to make sure it's cooked enough, just add extra time. If you slice your cheese thick, then it will need more cooking time at the lower temperature to melt the cheese all the way.
If your bread is really thin, it will blow off in the air fryer because of the hot circulating air. Use toothpicks to secure the sandwich during air frying. Remember to remove the tootpics before eating. CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS for help on the website write up.
4.77 from 38 votes
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Ingredients
- 2 slices bread
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
- 1.5 oz. (43 g) good melting cheese (American, swiss, cheddar, Gruyere, etc.)
Equipment
Instructions
Lay cheese in between bread. Butter outside of bread with butter.Lay sandwich in air fryer basket. If needed, use two toothpicks to secure the sandwich together by sticking it through the sandwich.
Air Fry at 360°F for about 3-5 minutes for the cheese to melt.
Flip the sandwich and increase heat to 380°F to finish and crisp the bread. Finish air frying for about 5 minutes or until the sandwich is to your preferred texture.Check on the sandwich often to make sure it doesn't burn (different breads will toast quicker or slower than others).Allow to cool a bit before biting into the yummy grilled cheese sandwich!
Make sure to remove the tooth pics before eating!
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Calories: 409kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 1101mg, Potassium: 158mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 752IU, Calcium: 522mg, Iron: 2mg
Course: Sandwiches
Cuisine: Air Fryer
Calories: 409
Best Breads for Making Grilled Cheese
Soft slices of white or wheat bread are the most popular and honestly, gives a great crust without being too hard. It’s also the most popular and accessible. If you want to use a more artisan loaf, that’s great too. You’ll have a nice crunchy texture and probably better if you’re using sourdough bread for the air fried grilled cheese sandwich.
- Soft brioche is another wonderful bread. It’s slightly sweet which gives a nice subtle balance to the savory salty cheese. Also, the bread is tender and soft so after air frying, the crumb is light and crisp and less crunchy.
- How about using english muffins? those would be great too as a cheese melt sandwich.
Adding ham, tuna or bologna to the melt
Want some extra protein? Add some tuna, ham or balogona into the sandwich for a great melt. It makes a heartier sandwich and with extra protein.
Making large batches of air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches
The only way to make multiple and bigger batches of sandwich melts is if you have an oven or toaster style air fryer. These are larger and have more capacity in the center to fit multiple sandwiches. Also, there’s multiple racks, so this allows you to lay more sandwiches in each batch.
Here’s more easy recipes and air fryer recipes:
- Lots of Air Fryer Burger Recipes
- Dad’s Grilled Tuna Melt
- Crispy parmesan chicken sandwich
- Grilled Greek chicken salad sandwich
- Super easy honey mustard chicken sandwich
- Easy Air Fryer Recipes
- Slow cooker chicken taco salad
- Grilled garlic broccoli
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posted in: 30 Minute Recipes, 300+ Easy Meals, Air Fryer, Breads | Pastry, Burgers | Sandwiches, Kids Menu, Vegetarian 53 comments
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Bart — Reply
Grilled cheese on an air fryer is incredible. So easy and it’s a gamer changer for me.-
Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Bart, glad you enjoyed it. We’re obsessed with air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches!
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Amy — Reply
My kids love a good classic grilled cheese sandwich but this one in particular is great because there’s no oil involved. I love this! -
Courtney — Reply
I followed your instructions word-for-word and my grilled cheese came out PERFECTLY! Thanks for the easy-to-follow recipe… it was my first time using an air fryer and I was admittedly intimidated. But everything turned out great! Thanks again! -
Alejandro Gonzalez — Reply
hi, the receipe doesn’t mention what kind of bread I just want to know what kind of bread is in the picture?
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Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Alejandro, you can you what ever bread you like. Just keep checking to make sure it doesn’t burn because different types of breads cook differently.
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Wendy — Reply
It looks like sourdough bread but can be white. I love sourdough air fryer grilled cheese! Going to have to change the name to air fryer cheese sandwich! Lol
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Susan — Reply
My bread gets very dry and hard, especially the crust. I’ve tried various temps, oils, and times & the bread is always dry before the cheese melts thoroughly. I have a GoWISE 3.7 qt.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Susan! Dry and hard bread definitely can happen, especially if you’re air frying crusty “artisan” style breads. Have you tried softer breads like brioche? Or a french style bread that has a thick center but soft and tender interior can definitely be better. Hope this helps and let us know how it works for you!
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Darlene — Reply
Thank you. Time and temp was spot on using my Cosori Air Fryer.-
Best Recipe Box — Reply
We love the Cosori. Have two of them in our test kitchen. Glad you enjoyed the grilled cheese!
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Shelly Marie — Reply
Ok so I’ve been making grilled cheese in my air fryer for as long as I’ve had it! Sooooo good! Well today, I got to sewing and didn’t pay attention. My top bread got stuck on the heating element and burned! So much smoke! I usually pop a few toothpicks in my sandwich while it’s cooking, today it did not work ugh! Any suggestions?-
Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Shelly! Did you use a different type of bread? Lighter breads such as thin sliced bread very easily gets blown off. If it’s cut loaf bread on the slightly thicker side, it won’t blow off as easy. Some air fryers have strong fans, so that’s always an issue too. We suggest that you air fry it on lower temps such as 340-360 degrees F to slowly melt the cheese first. Then once the cheese holds the bread together, we increase the heat to 380 Degrees F to crisp the bread. Hope this helps!
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Tulum Chica — Reply
Absolutely, one of my favorite things from the air fryer. I can’t imagine cooking a grilled cheese any other way. -
Linda — Reply
Okay I want to know you trick I have tried if I’m grilled cheese twice and both times I had to keep putting the sandwich back together because the air blew it apart. Thank you for any help Linda-
Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Linda! Use a toothpick and skewer it through the whole sandwich. This should keep the top bread from blowing off. Hope this helps!
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Kodi — Reply
Looks delicious! What bread did you use in this sandwich?
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Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Kodi, we used an artisan sourdough loaf.
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Tamara — Reply
Did you butter both sides of the bread? Thanks!
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Best Recipe Box — Reply
Hi Tamara! We only buttered the outside of the bread. Enjoy!
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Fine Edgy One — Reply
She meant both of the outsides. It sounded as if only one of those was buttered.
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Dharma — Reply
This worked out great with our Breville Air Fryer! Thanks for sharing!
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Best Recipe Box — Reply
Thanks for letting us know which air fryer you used!
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Ilene — Reply
Just made the air fryer grilled cheese. I always put a tomato on it next time i will. With my air fryer it took less time. -
Jeanne Dannenfelser — Reply
This was so good. I loved how crispy the toast was. It was so nice and east. Thank you. I’m a butter user-
Diane — Reply
Thanks Jeanne for letting us know and so glad you enjoyed it! Butter is tasty! 🙂
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KATHLEEN WALKER — Reply
very good thank you so much! i needed help with my fryer your site has be so excited to try more air fryer recipes. -
Nancy J Davis — Reply
I did ham and cheese. It’s as delicious. The ham got crispy that was sticking out the side of the bread. -
Lisa — Reply
Made these with sourdough bread……yummmmm…..wanted to attach an image ? put ham in there too. Great, easy air fryer recipe! -
Laurie — Reply
Didn’t have softened butter so used Mayo instead and sprinkled a little garlic on it, YUM -
Michael Rogers — Reply
Mayonaise is also good to use on the bread and it spreads easily so you can put it on as thin as you want it but it does the same thing as olive oil or butter. That’s what I use now. There’s no difference in taste in all 3 if you ask me. I either use the spray butter or the mayo. Also find yourself a good pimento cheese. Not that junk that’s been around forever. I mean there’s nothing wrong with it but it looks like it was blended and not mixed like homemade pimento cheese but it creates a good gooey grilled pimento cheese sammich. Sorry to the writer for adding extra ingredients. Basically what i’m saying is for a snack or for an item to go along with a meal like soup, you normally have the ingredients to make a good grill cheese.
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tiff — Reply
I’ve never thought about using an air fryer for grilled cheese. Tastes better than the pan and doesn’t get burnt easily. It cooks evenly and makes the cheese gooey. I’m definitely gonna use the air fried option from now on!-
Diane — Reply
Hi Tiff, yeah it’s crazy how delicious air fryer grilled cheese is! So glad you enjoyed the air frying method.
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TexasKelt — Reply
I use ghee instead of butter. With a higher smoke point it results in both tasty and very crispy sandwiches.-
Diane — Reply
Ghee is a great idea. Thanks so much for sharing!
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Tamra — Reply
I made this in my air fryer using Monterey Jack cheese 1 slices of bacon on gluten free bread. I wish I had a tomato slice. Next time I’ll be better prepared.This was fast and tasty. Loved how crunchy the bread got. The sandwich ame out delicious. thank you so much.-
Diane — Reply
Yes, the crunchy bread is always so good. Thanks for sharing Tamra!
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unknown mother — Reply
it actally worked and life changing now my son can make it himself!! -
Rodney Z — Reply
Was a little hesitant to make this since it was going to change my life and I’m pretty happy with my life as it is. However, I took the risk and made it.Overall, it was delicious and will be my new go to when making grilled cheese. It was pretty delicious!
I am happy to report that it didn’t really change my life though. Shew!!
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Kathy — Reply
It’s so awesome!!! I’m new to my air fryer and am really falling in love with it. -
Diana Williams — Reply
Oh my a game changer,i will never use a griddle again. The air fryer grill cheese is winner. -
Erin Y — Reply
It was delicious & will be the only way I will make from now on. Bread was nice & crunchy! So easy! I used spray I can’t believe it’s not butter on my bread. Mine also only took 5 minutes total – 3 minutes on 1st side and 2 minutes on 2nd side. -
Susie — Reply
Just want to say thank you I made your recipe and it was awesome!-
Diane — Reply
thanks so much Susie!
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Mimi — Reply
Big hit with the grandkids! I have a large air fryer so making 4 sandwiches at once was a breeze. Thanks for the directions!-
Diane — Reply
So great to hear that your kids enjoyed these Mimi! Yes, we agree that the large air fryer is AWESOME to make multiple sandwiches at one time. So much easier than using the skillet when it comes to feeding alot of hungry kids.
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Alleaja — Reply
This was so delicious, and I love how crispy the bread was. -
Gayle — Reply
Oh my goodness this was so good! New to air frying and have made a few things so far. Now I will never make grilled cheese any other way.-
Diane — Reply
Agree! We love how quick and easy air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches are. Thanks Gayle!
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Douwleen — Reply
Linda I use frozen bread slices and first pre-heat my air fryer for about 5 min before I put the sandwiches into the a. fryer. The frozen slices seem to be heavier, I do not use tooth picks and they have not yet blown off. Good luck.
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David Herselman — Reply
Thanks for the air fryer recipes. My first time making a grilled cheese and it turned out great! -
Stephanie Laguna — Reply
So good! Melts in your mouth…won’t make grilled cheese any other way from now on!-
Diane — Reply
Yum and yes! Thanks for sharing Stephanie. So glad you’re enjoyed air fryer grilled cheese!
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