Three Cooks One Kitchen: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on the Grill

A Three Cooks One Kitchen edition of how to make grilled cheese sandwiches on the grill.

I swear our monthly cooking adventures are titled “Three Cooks One Kitchen” even though so many of our recent installments have been all about the grill.  Living in the Midwest, we have to take advantage of the warm Summer months and do our “cooking” outside on the grill when we get the chance.  Now that September has rolled around, I have a feeling that this post will be the last 3C1K recap focusing on what we have been grilling and eating.  Prepare to see a lot more cooking in the kitchen, warm meals, and comfort foods over the next several months.

But enough about the kitchen!  Let’s talk grillin’.  Erin and I met up with Joanna at her house for our most recent cooking adventure: making grilled cheese sandwiches on the grill.  Joanna came up with the idea to make a “grilled cheese bar,” and I thought it would be fun to actually grill our sandwiches.  The way I look at it, they are not really grilled cheese sandwiches unless you grill them, right?

After a little chit-chatting upon our arrival (inevitable), we got to work (with the help of Erin’s husband, Josh) preparing our grilled cheese sandwich bar.  Photography was an obvious must, too!

There was cheese cutting (no, not the stinky kind)…

…veggie and fruit slicing and dicing…

…and my first attempt at cutting a pineapple.

You cannot have delicious grilled cheese sandwiches without a healthy, flavorful, and sweet side.

I basically winged it with my cutting style and even used the gigantic knife to “core” the center of the pineapple slices.  Clearly I am a professional in the kitchen.

After managing to successfully cut the pineapple, I prepped my sandwich ingredients.  I used coconut oil to “butter” my bread and selected vegan Daiya cheddar “cheese,” hummus, spinach, basil, zucchini, red pepper slices, and tomato.

Joanna and Erin chose pretzel and Italian breads, while I used a new-to-me bread that I found at Whole Foods from Angelic Bakehouse.  Sprouted breads are the way to go.  I also found that grilling the sandwich using regular sandwich bread was a bit easier than some of the other breads appeared to be.  The pretzel and Italian breads had a bit of burnage and required more attention from the grillers.

All prepped and ready to go.  We had a laugh amongst ourselves about how none of us find it possible to keep a kitchen clean while cooking.  I think we went through about a million knives, cutting boards, and plates in the span of an hour.

Once everything was prepped, we started our grilling experiment.  Neither of us had ever attempted to make grilled cheese sandwiches on the grill, so it involved a lot of trial and error, some finger crossing, patience, and a little bit of prayer.

I loved that while we were all following the same concept, our breads and toppings each had their own style.  Grilled cheese sandwiches are definitely one of those foods that are incredibly customizable and really enable each person to put their own creative spin onto what they are fixing.

The finished products.  Tasty, right?

How to Make a Grilled Cheese Sandwich on the Grill:

Making a grilled cheese sandwich on the grill is rather simple.  First, select your bread and the toppings you will use.  Next, cut your cheese (or buy it sliced in my case) and vegetables/fruits.  Spread one side of each piece of bread with either coconut oil or butter.  Once your preparation is complete, preheat the grill.  We used a gas grill and set it on “medium.”  Once preheated, place each slice of bread (coconut oil or butter side down) onto the grill.  Top with cheese and other desired toppings.  Close the lid of the grill and cook for approximately 5 to 10 minutes.  It is very important to check the bread rather frequently to avoid burning.  Once grilled to your liking, carefully place the two slices of bread together to form a sandwich.

Tada!  A grilled cheese sandwich that was actually grilled.  And vegan, at that!  Check out the meltage of the vegan Daiya “cheese.”  It was a melted, ooey gooey mess.  A delicious, healthy, flavorful, and crispy mess.

The cooks with our sandwiches.  We took “grilled” cheese to a whole new (literal) level.  I’d say we have now all been converted into grillers- even for grilled cheese sandwiches!

Check out my fellow cooks’ Three Cooks One Kitchen posts here:

Erin’s Three Cooks One Kitchen Post
Joanna’s Three Cooks One Kitchen Post

We already have October’s 3C1K idea developed (and it’s a good one!), but I want to know what YOU want us to cook next!  Leave your ideas in the comments.