Air Fryer Grilled Cheese with Gouda, Onions & Jam

This post was sponsored by King’s Hawaiian as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

This air fryer grilled cheese with gouda, caramelized onions & jam on KING’S HAWAIIAN® Bread is the sandwich melt you’ve been craving! For oooey-gooey cheese, big flavor and a perfect crust, you’ll never make a grilled cheese any other way!

I was chatting with my dad on the phone the other day (he accidentally butt-dialed me, and we just kept the convo going). I was in the middle of testing doughs and desserts in the air fryer for one of my clients. “You know what’s good in the air fryer?” my dad asked. “Grilled cheese.”  Air Fryer Grilled Cheese y’all.  I’ll never do it another way.

I’ve always run into a stumbling block with grilled cheese.  I’ve mentioned it a few times on the blog.  Burned bread and disastrous sandwich flips incite anxiety whenever it comes to making my husband’s favorite food. The Air Fryer Grilled Cheese method eliminates both of these problems. 

How to Make the Perfect Air Fryer Grilled Cheese

The first tip is to pick a substantial bread, like KING’S HAWAIIAN® Original Sweet Sliced Bread.  KING’S HAWAIIAN® BREAD is irresistible in this sandwich melt and has enough ‘heft’ so that it doesn’t blow off the top of you sandwich when you first turn on the air fryer.   

Use a good melting cheese. I love sliced gouda for a grilled cheese.  It’s has a great texture when it melts, and I like the saltiness.  If you can’t find sliced gouda, gruyere, Swiss, or provolone are good options.

Add tasty toppings.  Contrasting flavors and textures always make a sandwich more interesting.  On this grilled cheese, I’m adding caramelized onions (let’s be honest,  I’ll put caramelized onions on almost anything!), a tablespoon of berry jam for some ‘sweet’, and chopped thyme for some bright herbal flavor.

Salted butter spread on the top of each slice of bread ensures a perfectly golden crust.

Air Fryer Grilled Cheese with Gouda, Onions & Jam

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

This Air Fryer Grilled Cheese with Gouda, Caramelized Onions & Jam is the sandwich melt you've been craving!

Print

Ingredients

• KING’S HAWAIIAN Original Sliced Bread
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 Tbsp. berry jam
• 8 slices gouda cheese (or melting cheese of your choice)
• 6 Tbsp. salted butter, room temperature
• Fresh thyme leaves, if desired

Instructions

1. Prepare caramelized onions by adding olive oil to a large skillet and cooking the onions on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until deeply golden. Remove from heat.
2. Spread butter on "outside" side of 8 pieces of bread. Layer one slice of cheese, jam, onions, thyme leaves, and a second slice of cheese on a piece of bread and top with a buttered slice of bread. Repeat for the remaining three sandwiches.
3. Set your air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and the timer for five minutes. Peek at the four minute mark to check on the bread.
4. After five minutes, flip the sandwiches and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until perfectly golden.
5. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches. Enjoy!

Shop the Ingredients

Everything’s better between King’s Hawaiian Bread! Be sure to warm up your winter with a satisfying sandwich melt made with KING’S HAWAIIAN Bread, conveniently available at Target.  And, be on the lookout for new Sliced Honey Wheat Bread at Target when it hits the stores this April!  Click here to find KING’S HAWAIIAN BREAD near you.

Add Air Fryer Grilled Cheese to your Pinterest Board!