Air Fryer Grilled Cheese

Making a grilled cheese sandwich in the air fryer is easy and tastes delicious. The sandwiches turn out perfect every time with golden crispy bread outside and gooey melted cheese inside. Whether you’re using a drawer-style or toaster oven air fryer, we’ve got you covered!

If you’ve been cooking with us for a bit, then you already know that we’re big grilled cheese sandwich fans.

From this scalable sheet pan recipe to a toasted Caprese and these make-ahead frozen grilled cheese sandwiches – we love them all.

Today we’re sharing how to make a grilled cheese sandwich using an air fryer. Because one can never have too many ways to make a toasty cheese sandwich!

Which cheese is best for grilled cheese? 

Short answer = the cheese that you have available. But if you’ve got the ability to be choosy go with a melting cheese. Here are a few ideas:

• Provolone 
• Havarti 
• Gruyere
• Pepper Jack
• Swiss 
• American

Drier cheeses like extra-sharp cheddar, crumbled blue cheese, or grated parmesan pack lots of flavors but don’t melt as well. You can still use them though, just pair the drier cheese with a melting cheese. 

One of our favorite combos is a filling of Havarti, crumbled blue cheese, and sliced green onions. Once cooked, serve with Buffalo sauce for dipping – it’s so good! 

Is Mayo or Butter better?

Spreading the outside of the bread with either will usually result in nicely toasted bread but there are a few differences between the two.

Want the best flavor and browning? Trying mixing butter and mayo together! We usually do a 50/50 blend of the two. 

Does the type of bread matter?

To answer this question we made a bunch of sandwiches using a variety of bread. From thick brioche to thin whole wheat slices, only one type of bread gave us any trouble…Sourdough. 

The buttered sourdough bread only lightly browned. While the slices spread with mayo did a bit better. Even though they didn’t have much color, both sandwiches were still crispy and delicious. 

Since all bread is different and our sourdough was previously frozen, you might not run into this issue. 

But if it’s been 8 to 10 minutes and your sandwich still isn’t browned you probably want to stop cooking it. Otherwise, you could end up with a crouton.

Step-By-Step Instructions 

1. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F.  If the air fryer does not have a preheat setting, heat it at 350°F for 4 to 5 minutes on the Air Fry setting while you make the sandwich.

2. Spread butter or mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread.

Wherever you put the butter or mayo is where the bread is going to crisp and brown. I try to avoid the edges of the bread as they tend to get really crunchy otherwise. 

Flip one piece of bread over and layer on the cheese. It’s okay if some of the cheese is poking out but you want to have most of it sandwiched inside of the bread. Top with the remaining bread slice, with the mayo/buttered side facing out. 

3. Place the sandwich in the air fryer basket. *In a drawer-style air fryer where the basket heats along with the machine, it will be warm so watch your hands. 

Air Fry the sandwich until the top is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Quick Note: If the filling is not in an even layer (like with shredded cheese) or if the bread is lightweight, the fast-moving convection air may cause the top bread slice to float/slide off of the sandwich.

How Do I Stop The Bread From Moving Around?

Secure the bread with toothpicks or place a metal rack on top of the sandwich (we use the trivet from our 3-Quart Instant Pot).

You can remove the rack or toothpicks before flipping the sandwich – the melted cheese will keep the bread in place.

Once the first side is browned, carefully flip the sandwich and continue cooking until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown, about 2 to 5 minutes more. 

Let the sandwich cool for a few minutes (so you don’t burn your tongue on the molten hot cheese). Then dig in!

Air Fryer Toaster Oven Tips 

The Second Side May Cook Faster. For most of our tests, the sandwiches only took 2 minutes more to toast and brown after we flipped them. 

Use a Pan To Catch Drips. Cleaning baked-on cheese off the bottom of a toaster oven is no fun. To avoid that scenario, put a pan underneath the basket.

Make Sure There’s Enough Room. If your sandwich is close to the upper heating elements it can be a fire hazard. You can try moving the basket down or just skip the air frying and bake your sandwich on a pan using this toaster oven grilled cheese recipe. 

Flavor Variations 

The recipe we’re sharing below is for a basic grilled cheese sandwich. Feel free to get creative with the fillings, here are a few quick ideas for changing things up: 

• Seasonings – Mix garlic powder and Italian seasoning with the mayo/butter.
• Apple – Thinly sliced and layered with cheddar, Havarti, or really any type of cheese.  
• Jam – Apricot or raspberry tastes great with pepper jack cheese. Fig jam or balsamic roasted cranberries pair nicely with Brie cheese. 
• Pesto – Fantastic with provolone or mozzarella. Especially when you dip the sandwich in marinara sauce!
• The Tim Special – Sharp cheddar cheese with yellow mustard and dill pickle slices. 

More Tasty Air Fryer Recipes 

• Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
• Toaster Oven Cinnamon Chips
• Addictive Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds
• Toaster Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Air Fryer Potato Skins
• Chili-Lime Roasted Cauliflower
• Toaster Oven Potato Wedges