Love pickles? Love grilled cheese?? Then you're in for a treat with these Pickle Grilled Cheese Sandwiches! After trying grilled sandwiches with pickles, I am pretty sure I am never eating a plain grilled cheese again!
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Wondering what to make with pickles?
If you're the kind of person who buys a jar of pickles and then forgets about it in the fridge, then you NEED this easy pickle grilled cheese recipe to use up pickles!
Pickle grilled cheese sandwich
Pickle grilled cheese sandwiches can be as SIMPLE as you like (simply add pickles), or as FANCY as you want to get (with a few easy additions that take it to the next level). The combination of salty pickles is just SO SO GOOD with melty gooey cheese and toasted crisp bread.
Add a little bit of dried dill, a smear of mustard, get fancy with your choice of cheeses, and you have a truly gourmet grilled cheese at home!
I personally LOVE adding a generous smear of mustard because the flavor combination of pickles, mustard, and melted cheese reminds me of a Cuban sandwich, just without the carnitas.
More grilled cheese sandwiches to try: BBQ Chicken Grilled Cheese
What kind of pickles to use for grilled cheese
Any kind of pickles work for grilled cheese sandwiches! If you like dill pickles, use that. If you like bread and butter pickles, go for it. Pre-sliced pickle chips? Yep!
The only thing that wouldn't work too well would be tiny gherkins, only because they would be annoying to slice thinly and would probably fall out of your sandwich.
For this recipe, you'll want to slice your pickles lengthwise into thin, even slices about ¼-inch thick.
More grilled cheese recipes to try: Goat Cheese Blackberry Grilled Cheese
What kind of cheese to use
For this pickle grilled cheese, you can use any combination of meltable sliced cheese. I used a combination of pepper Jack, muenster, and Havarti. Sharp white cheddar, Swiss, or Monterey Jack would also work great.
If you only have shredded cheese, you can use that too, just spread it on your bread slice, add some sliced pickles on top, then add another layer of shredded cheese before topping with the other slice of bread.
If you want to make a super creamy grilled cheese sandwich, you can even add a smear of goat cheese or cream cheese to the bread before adding sliced cheese.
More grilled cheese recipes to try: Goat Cheese Pear Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 slices bread, such as sourdough or potato bread
- 1.5 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (or to taste, see notes below for what to do if you forget to soften your butter)... for an extra kick of flavor, make some pesto butter instead of using plain butter!
- 4-6 slices cheese (depending on your bread size), such as pepper Jack, Havarti, or muenster
- 2-3 large dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch thick pieces (or your favorite pickle or pickle chips)
- ¼ teaspoon dried dill weed (you can eyeball it)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder (also eyeball it)
- Optional flavor boosters: your favorite mustard, ketchup, or dash of hot sauce
More dill recipes: Fish Loaf
Instructions
Step 1: Spread butter on one side of each piece of bread. This will be the OUTSIDE of your grilled cheese.
Step 2: Optional: Spread some spicy mustard or ketchup on the other side of bread.
Step 3: Layer sliced cheese, sliced pickles, and another layer of cheese. Season with dried dill weed and garlic powder. If you want, add a few dashes of hot sauce, then top with the other bread, butter side on top.
Step 4: Cook the sandwiches in a covered skillet, covered grill pan, or an indoor grill on low heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until the cheese melts. Take care not to burn the bread! Slice and serve immediately.
Grilled cheese cooking tip
I like to cook grilled cheese on low heat or low-medium heat and covered with a lid. This allows the skillet to get nice and warm inside to melt the cheese, but does not burn the bread too quickly.
No matter how you cook the sandwich, check on it BEFORE 2 minutes to see how the bread is browning, and turn down the heat if the bread is getting too brown but the cheese has not melted yet.
What to do if you forget to soften your butter
If you're like me and keep your butter in the fridge and ALWAYS forget to take it out in advance, you've got some options:
- Use mayo instead. Yep, just spread mayo on the outside of the bread!
- Melt the butter then spread it. It will still crisp the bread up just fine. Just be careful not to accidentally pour all the melted butter into 1 section of the bread and make it too greasy.
- Skip the butter. Not as decadent, but still makes a delicious sandwich and is a little lighter on the calories!
- Quickly soften the butter using this trick: Place your butter on a small flat dish (either just 2 tablespoons or the whole stick). Add boiling water to a tall large mug until the whole mug is thoroughly hot. Carefully spill out the boiling water, then turn the mug over on top of the butter (like I do in the picture below). The steam from inside the mug will soften the butter in just a couple of minutes.
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Pickle Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 slices bread - such as sourdough or potato bread
- 1.5 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - (to taste) softened
- 4-6 slices cheese - (amount of cheese will depend on your bread size), such as pepper Jack, Havarti, or muenster
- 2-3 large dill pickles - thinly sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch thick pieces (or your favorite pickle or pickle chips)
- ¼ teaspoon dried dill weed - (you can eyeball it)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder - (also eyeball it)
- Optional flavor boosters: mustard, ketchup, dash of hot sauce -
Special equipment
- Pan or grill pan
Instructions
- Spread softened butter on one side of each piece of bread. This will be the OUTSIDE of your grilled cheese. See notes below for what to do if you forget to soften the butter.
- Optional: Spread some mustard or ketchup on the other side of bread.
- Layer sliced cheese, sliced pickles, and another layer of cheese. Season with dried dill weed and garlic powder. If you want, add a few dashes of hot sauce, then top with the other bread, butter side on top.
- Cook the sandwiches in a covered skillet, covered grill pan, or an indoor grill on low heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until the cheese melts. Take care not to burn the bread, check on it before 2 minutes! Slice and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.