Greek Grilled Cheese

This fully-loaded Greek Grilled Cheese is packed with delicious ingredients like feta cheese, kalamata olives, baby spinach, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and caramelized red onions. The combination of fresh ingredients sandwiched in between slices of buttery warm bread makes for the best grilled cheese ever!

(This recipe was originally published in April 2012, but was updated with new photos and content in 2021)

I hope you didn't let the month of April pass you by without indulging in a grilled cheese sandwich or two. After all, it is National Grilled Cheese Month! But don't worry, it's never too late for grilled cheese.

I first made this Greek grilled cheese back in 2012 and decided it was due for an overhaul and update. I way simplified the recipe (I previously made a red pepper spread, but realized that this sandwich is just as delicious with the roasted red peppers plopped right on!) and took some photos that make it look a whole lot more appetizing.

This grilled cheese ties in my love for Greek salad and more specifically, feta cheese. Which claims a spot in my top 5 cheeses. I've never had a feta grilled cheese and it doesn't seem to be such a common thing, probably because feta doesn't get all melty and ooey-gooey.

But don't let that stop you. This grilled cheese is honestly one of the best I've had. And that's saying a lot a lot.

If you love Greek ingredients like feta cheese, kalamata olives, tomato, red pepper, baby spinach, and red onion, you'll likely love this sandwich, too!

Ingredients

Of course, this grilled cheese is highly customizable and you can easily leave ingredients out or add more of your favorites in. Just make sure you include the feta cheese!

Here's what went into my Greek grilled cheese:

• Good crusty bread (I highly recommend using a high-quality bread instead of a regular sandwich bread. This is a fully-loaded sandwich and you want some bread that will hold it up!)
• Feta cheese (make sure to purchase a block of it and not crumbles)
• Kalamata olives (if you don't like these, you can leave them out, but they add the perfect delicious amount of umami!)
• Tomatoes
• Red onion (you'll caramelize it a bit for this recipe)
• Roasted red peppers (the kind that come in a jar)
• Baby spinach
• Butter (for spreading on the bread)
• Olive oil (for caramelizing the onion in)

How to Make a Greek Grilled Cheese

I'm sure you know that making grilled cheese is super easy and this one is no exception.

It does contain a lot of ingredients that you stack on, so can be a little tougher to finagle. I like divide the ingredients and pile on to each slice of bread and then carefully sandwich them together. But you can really assemble it however you want.

To start, I knew this sandwich needed red onion, but I didn't like the idea of raw red onion in it, so I caramelized them a bit. Start by pouring a little olive oil into a frying pan and heating over low heat. Add red onion and sauté until it's caramelizing, 15-20 minutes.

And with that, you're ready to start assembling the sandwich.

Spread butter on one side of all four slices of bread (this recipe makes two sandwiches) and place bread butter-side-down on a skillet or griddle (I love using a big griddle for grilled cheese... it's also the best bacon pan!) over medium-low heat.

Top each slice of bread with feta cheese.

And add tomato slices to just two of the slices.

And some roasted red peppers on top of that.

On the other two slices of feta-topped bread, add baby spinach leaves.

And then caramelized red onions and kalamata olives.

Now bring two slices of bread together and carefully sandwich together.

This is the toughest part of the recipe! Your other option is to layer all the ingredients onto one slice of bread for each sandwich (starting and ending with feta cheese) and then topping with the second slice of bread.

Each method carries a slight risk that some ingredients will spill out. But that's OK, just tuck them back in!

Grill until bread is golden, about 3 minutes, before flipping and grilling until the other side is golden, another 3 minutes.

OK, flipping this fully-loaded grilled cheese takes a little maneuvering, too.

Once it's nice and golden, remove the sandwich from the griddle and slice and serve.

Like I mentioned, the feta cheese doesn't get super melt-y like cheese would in a typical grilled cheese.

But after grilling, all the ingredients should kind of meld together into a deliciously warm and buttery, wonderful sandwich.

The best part of this Greek grilled cheese? I can't name one. So, please don't make me. I honestly cannot do it. I love everything about this.

OK fine, the feta cheese and the kalamata olives. Are you happy now?

But it's really the combination of ingredients in between the warm buttery bread that make this so fabulous.

More Grilled Cheese Recipes

I remember being a kid and thinking that grilled cheese was just grilled cheese; I had no idea there were so many possibilities with it. But now? Not only do I have a ton of grilled cheese recipes here on this blog, but I have many more in my head just waiting to come out!

Here are some of my current favorite grilled cheese recipes:

• Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese
• Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese
• Cinnamon Sugar Brie and Apple Grilled Cheese
• Caprese Grilled Cheese with Avocado and Bacon
• Brussels Sprouts and Cranberry Relish Grilled Cheese
• French Onion Soup Grilled Cheese
• Brie Grilled Cheese with Fig Spread, Green Apple, and Prosciutto
• Italian Beef Grilled Cheese (from Grandbaby Bakes)
• Masala Grilled Cheese (from Shivani Loves Food)

I'm pretty sure I could eat a different grilled cheese every day for lunch (and/or dinner) and I'd be the happiest person on Earth.

Grilled cheese doesn't have to be boring! And even when you fancy it up quite a bit like with this Greek grilled cheese, it's still incredibly easy to make.

Which is why I think every month of the year should be National Grilled Cheese Month!

What's the best unique grilled cheese you've ever had?

📖 Recipe