Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are a quick and easy meal or snack when you’re short on time. These toasty beauties cook up in 8 minutes or less in the Air Fryer.
And don’t miss our buyer’s guide to the best non-toxic air fryers.
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Key to Success #1 – Light on the Butter
The key to a toasty grilled cheese is to go light on the butter.
If you slather on the butter, your sandwich will be a soggy mess.
So just put a thin layer of butter on each side of the sandwich.
For my Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, I like to use a light butter spread like Country Crock.
It is much easier to spread the butter evenly without tearing the bread.
You can also use softened real butter if you prefer.
Just use the defrost setting on your microwave for a few seconds until your butter is a spreadable consistency.
Key to Success #2 – Don’t Overcrowd But Do Flip Halfway Through
I have a Cozyna XL 5.8 QT Air Fryer and I can easily fit two sandwiches at a time.
Your Air Fryer may be different depending on the size and the shape of your basket.
Don’t forget to check out the 5 best non-toxic air fryers that don’t cause cancer.
Just make sure your sandwiches will lay flat and there is room around the sandwiches for the hot air to circulate.
Halfway through cooking, you’ll want to flip the sandwiches over so that the other side will be toasted and nicely browned.
I used a plastic spatula to flip my Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and it worked perfectly.
Key to Success #3 – Use Toothpicks To Keep Your Lids From Flipping
The Air Fryer uses a powerful fan to circulate the hot air around your food.
This works great to speed cooking, but it can blow lighter items out of position if you’re not careful.
For the Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, I use toothpicks in the corners of each sandwich to make sure the top slice of bread doesn’t flip off.
Bonus Tip! Always Cut Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on the Diagonal.
What kind of animal cuts a Grilled Cheese straight across?
It should go without saying that Grilled Cheese Sandwiches should be cut at a diagonal. Just ask my kids!
I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Cutting them on the diagonal does make them easier to dip into soup though.
They are wonderful with Vegetable Beef Soup or Tomato Soup.
Noah thinks I make the best Tomato Soup ever. (Thanks, Campbell’s!) Or try this Tomato Basil Soup recipe.
These Grilled Cheese sandwiches always turn out great and are very easy to make.
Even kids can help with this recipe.
I hope you’ll give them a try!
Have you tried Hamburgers in the Air Fryer? They are wonderful and very easy to make.
Save this Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwiches recipe to your favorite Air Fryer board or your Easy Sandwiches board.
Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 4 slices sandwich bread
- 4 slices American cheese
- butter
Instructions
- Preheat Air Fryer to 360 degrees F.
- Place two slices of cheese between two slices of bread. Spread a light layer of butter on both sides of sandwiches.
- Place sandwiches in single layer in Air Fryer basket. Place toothpicks through the corners of each sandwich. Set timer to 4 minutes. Flip sandwiches. Cook another 3-4 minutes until sandwiches are toasted.
Nutrition
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Carrie
Tuesday 8th of November 2022
I have used mayo instead of butter, but not in the airfryer, yet. Can't really tell the difference from butter. Great tip for when you don't have softened butter
Christine
Tuesday 19th of January 2021
Just bought my Ninja Air Fry and wanted to try toasted cheese so I found this recipe and it was easy and came out perfect.
Gail Pickens-Barger
Thursday 29th of August 2019
YUM! Tried this tonight. Great grilled cheese! Yoga with Gail
Susan
Monday 26th of August 2019
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!
Jennifer
Monday 26th of August 2019
My teenage daughter doesn’t like a crunchy grilled cheese and she swears by coating her crust in butter. (Actually, a soft margarine like Country Crock.) Some people have had good luck with coating the outside of their bread with mayonnaise instead of butter. The Mayo has a higher smoke point than butter so you can cook it at a higher temp without it burning. I’ve never tried the mayo trick myself though. If anyone has had success with it, please comment below.
Gail S
Sunday 3rd of March 2019
You can also substitute mayonnaise for the butter on grilled cheese sandwiches
Saturday 28th of August 2021
@Jennifer, yes it's very good.
Jennifer
Monday 4th of March 2019
I have never heard of this! Is it good?