Sandwiches don’t need to be just thrown together and boring, spice up your lunchtime with this Cayenne Grilled Chicken and Cheese Toasted Sandwich.
Lunch is something that’s easily missed for me when I am on my ten millionth toy clean up of the day or busy trying to referee a game of “who can scream the loudest” out of the boys! Thankfully, there are days when I actually take a bit more time over lunch, instead of just squishing some peanut butter between two slices of bread!
Since this is a treat version of a chicken grilled sandwich for me. I had to include some cheese in there! I really do love a plain grilled cheese sandwich but I felt like this needed more than just a simple slice of cheese plonked on top of some bread though.
This spicy grilled chicken sandwich just begged for some melty, cheesy greatness!
I don’t feel that this is strictly a lunchtime sandwich though. Toasted sandwiches that are this good are great for dinner too! Or you can swap the bread for a bun and call it a grilled chicken burger if you like. It’ll taste amazing whatever time of the day.
Let’s Talk about This Grilled Cheese
Ok, so firstly, it’s important to point out that this sandwich isn’t simply your average cheese on toast variety, this cheese is more like a sauce.
With a combination of cheesy flavours including Monterey jack for it’s great melting qualities, strong cheddar for the creaminess and gouda for some added smoky flavour, this cheese sauce makes this toasted sandwich filling to die for!
It’s easy to make too! Simply place all the ingredients in a pan and melt. That’s it! There is so special formula here. A simple cheese sauce that is great for sandwiches and burgers alike.
You may be wondering what other cheeses you could use? Whilst I love the flavour combination of these 3 cheeses, you could swap out your Monterey for some mozzarella, which will give you that stringy quality the same and still has a mild flavour. Gruyere cheese, Emmental, Fontina and Provolone will also work well in a combination.
What About the Grilled Chicken?
Of course, the cheese sauce kind makes this toasted sandwich quite the bomb, you can feel a little less guilty knowing that your chicken has been grilled to perfection and not fried.
The chicken is actually super tasty on it’s own too. With the chicken breast being slightly blackened in the griddle pan, it gives it a BBQ style flavour and the mixture of freshly ground black pepper and cayenne is surprisingly tasty despite it’s simplicity. I usually make extra when grilling chicken breast in this way and save some to eat with a salad the following day. A Cold, spicy grilled chicken salad is a really good recipe for work packed lunches, so bear that in mind if you want to cover your lunch requirements for 2 days in a row.
Parma ham is quickly becoming a thing for me right now. It’s like the chicken’s side kick! The two mesh so well in all this cheesy gloriousness! If you don’t have Parma ham to hand, other types of prosciutto, bacon or ham will work well in this recipe too.
Don’t forget the mayonnaise either, plain creamy mayo is just fine, or you can jazz it up with some garlic, or make it spicy by adding some chipotle paste to it.
Recipe Guidance and Tips
Toast your bread on both sides before adding any fillings, you want your grilled sandwich to be nice and crispy and this will also prevent the cheese sauce from soaking away into the bread too much and making it soggy.
Keep your chicken breast thin. Not only for maximum flavour as more surface area will be covered with the spices but it will also help the chicken to cook quickly and evenly. Bash the chicken inside a food bag with a rolling pin until it flattens out all over.
If you want an alternative to spreading your grilled chicken sandwich with mayo, try using pesto instead. You could also mix a little pesto in with the mayonnaise if you like, it will taste great too!
Recipe FAQ
Sure, you can season your chicken breast any way that you choose, this grilled sandwich has enough flavour if you would prefer to simply season your chicken breast with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
The cheese sauce is best when it’s poured on and eaten warm. You can certainly eat this toasted sandwich cold if you want to, but the texture will be different. An alternative if you plan to make ahead and eat this later is to wrap your readymade sandwich completely in parchment paper and then in foil. You can place your sandwich in the oven until it’s hot throughout. It may not be as crispy but will still taste great.
Cayenne Grilled Chicken and Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
For the Cheese
- 20 g Monterey Jack Cheese
- 30 g Gouda
- 40 g Cheddar
- 25 ml Milk
- 0.125 tsp Black Pepper
- Pinch Cayenne Pepper
For the Chicken
- 1 Chicken Breast
- Olive Oil for Frying
- 0.5 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 0.5 tsp Black Pepper
For Everything Else
- 4 Slices Chunky Bread
- Olive Oil
- 4 Slices Parma Ham
- 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
- Salad Leaves
Instructions
- Place all the cheese ingredients into a pan and melt together. Leave to one side.
- Place the chicken into a food bag and flatten with a rolling pin.
- Remove from the bag and drizzle both sides with oil.
- Sprinkle the peppers over each side and place on a hot griddle pan.
- Cook on both sides until cooked through, then slice thickly.
- Drizzle each piece of bread with a little oil and toast on the griddle pan until crisp.
- Spread the cheese over one piece and place the chicken on the other.
- Add the rest of the sandwich ingredients and press the pieces together.
- Slice, then serve.
Nutrition Estimate
Looking for more Chicken Sandwich or Burger Recipes?
Try this Buttermilk Fried Chicken Burger Recipe now!
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