Born from a leftover cheese ball, this grilled cheese has some surprising ingredients like cream cheese, feta, spinach and sun dried tomatoes warmed to melty perfection between two golden, crusty pieces of sourdough. It might even make you rethink your standard grilled cheese.
My mom had leftover cheese ball from a party, a rotisserie chicken in the fridge and some crusty bread. She needed a quick dinner and had the genius idea to turn everything into grilled cheese and pairing it with tomato soup. It is absolutely one of my favorite things and it fits perfectly into the idea of giving yourself the gift of prep and minimizing waste. Thanks Mom!
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Ingredients
- cooked chicken, chopped
- cream cheese, softened
- feta
- freshly grated parmesan
- sun dried tomatoes
- spinach
- garlic, minced
- salt
- sourdough or other crusty bread
- butter
- olive oil
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step One: Prep ingredients. Soften cream cheese by placing it on the counter for about 30 minutes or placing it in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it for 30 seconds. Chop the spinach if using fresh or defrost if using frozen. Feel free to chop the sun dried tomatoes first if you want smaller bites.
Step Two: Mix Filling. Add all of the filling ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
Step Three: Make sandwiches. Spread a good amount of filling on slices of sourdough or another crusty bread and top top with another slice.
Step Four: Cook. Heat butter and olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat and cook the grilled cheese, approximately 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Press each side with a large spatula once or twice while cooking. Adjust heat and add more butter and olive oil as needed. You will probably have to drop down to medium heat after the first sandwiches if using cast iron since it holds heat so well.
Step Five: Enjoy! Cut your sandwich in half to reveal the creamy, melty inside and enjoy with some Easy Creamy Tomato Soup!
Hint: Use a rotisserie chicken to cut down on prep time for this recipe! Then save the chicken carcass to make Golden Chicken Bone Broth.
Give yourself the gift of prep!
In this section I will give you ways to freeze, re-purpose and/or use some of your ingredients for another meal. Save yourself some time and effort next time you’re in the kitchen!
Prep Filling: Make this filling up to 2 days in advance for a super fast meal.
Roast a chicken: Roast a whole chicken and use some of it for this recipe. Freeze the rest in pieces to use later for Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken and Dumplings.
Turn leftovers into pasta: I always leftover filling and soup when I make this meal, but never enough for a full meal. Instead of throwing it out, take the leftover filling and soup and make Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta. It’s a 20 minute dinner because you already put in the work to main the main ingredients! Maximize time, minimize waste and enjoy another delicious meal with your people!
Leftover bread: Use leftover bread for Sourdough French Toast or Sourdough Croutons.
Substitutions
- Bread- use any crusty bread if you don’t have sourdough
- Vegetarian – omit the chicken to make this vegetarian.
Variations
- Tomato Basil– add chopped basil to the filling mix
Equipment
Cast Iron Pan- I prefer to use a cast iron pan when making grilled cheese because it retains heat well and creates a beautiful golden crust.
Top Tip
Use butter and olive oil when cooking. The higher smoke point of the olive oil will help keep the butter from burning so you get the deliciousness and color of butter with a little more stability.
Related
Looking for other recipes using chicken? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Creamy Chicken Grilled Cheese:
Recipe
Creamy Chicken Grilled Cheese on Sourdough
Course: sandwich, main4
servings10
minutes10
minutes20
minutesBorn from a leftover cheese ball, this grilled cheese has some surprising ingredients like cream cheese, feta, spinach and sundried tomatoes warmed to melty perfection between two golden, crusty pieces of sourdough. It might even make you rethink your standard grilled cheese and you’ll have it on the table in about 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- Filling
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
½ cup cream cheese, approx. ½ block, softened
¼ cup feta
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes
1 cup chopped fresh spinach or ½ cup frozen, defrosted
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
- Bread and Oils
8 slices sourdough or other crust bread
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
- Soften cream cheese, chop spinach, chicken and sun dried tomatoes (optional)
- Mix together the filling ingredients.
- Spread onto bread to create 4 sandwiches.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan such as a cast iron skillet.
Heat butter and olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat and cook the grilled cheese, approximately 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Press each side with a large spatula once or twice while cooking. * see notes
Notes
- Adjust heat and add more butter and olive oil as needed. You will probably have to drop down to medium heat after the first sandwiches if using cast iron since it holds heat so well.
