Grown-Up Manchego Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Manchego Grilled Cheese sandwich is sweet, savory, and buttery. Once you’ve had a Manchego Cheese Sandwich, you’ll never settle for an ordinary grilled cheese sandwich again.

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Manchego Grilled Cheese is my favorite grilled cheese sandwich. It may look like a fancy grilled cheese but it comes together in a jiffy.

Manchego is a soft and buttery cheese that melts all that deliciousness together. Exactly what you want in your grilled cheese sandwich.

The distinctive flavor of the Manchego cheese is the perfect contrast to the sweet and savory elements in this crispy gooey sandwich.

I grew up going to religion classes on Saturday mornings.

When our classes were over, we went home to a lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Tomato soup was from a can, and our grilled cheese was a skinny yellow slice of cheese on buttered white bread. I loved it. Of course, I loved anything drowned in ketchup.

The grilled cheese that we make now is a grown-up grilled cheese. My little person self would probably have turned up her nose.

My big girl self just loves every single layer of the grown-up version of this grilled Manchego Cheese Sandwich. Oh, and it doesn’t need one drop of ketchup to improve its flavor.

A Manchego Grilled Cheese starts with great bread slathered with butter on the outside and a smear of fig chutney or jam on the inside.

This yummy bread holds together a caramelized onion-mushroom mixture, fresh spinach, and all that buttery melted Manchego cheese.

Manchego Sandwich Ingredients

• Manchego cheese
• Fresh spinach
• Fig jam
• Butter
• Mushrooms – we used cremini but any mushroom will work
• Onions – yellow onion was our choice but you can use what you like.
• Fresh Thyme
• Sherry – or white wine vinegar.
• Bread – we love our sourdough sandwich bread for this recipe.

Grilled Manchego Cheese Assembly

1. Butter the outside of two slices of bread.
2. Spread fig jam on the inside of one piece of bread for a slightly sweet sandwich or on both sides if you want it sweeter.

3. Add 1/4th of the sauteed mushroom-onion mixture.
4. Top the mushroom mixture with fresh spinach.
5. Finish with a layer of Manchego cheese

What is Manchego cheese?

Castello Cheeses states Manchego cheese is from Spain and made from sheep’s milk. Manchego is aged from 2 months to 2 years. This cheese is a sharp, acidic, and nutty cheese.

Manchego Cheese Substitutes

What we love about Manchego cheese is that it’s nutty and buttery and melts well without being real greasy like a cheddar often is.

So when choosing an alternative to Manchego cheese you’ll want to make sure it’s a good melting cheese. Most soft and semi-soft cheeses are.

• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Pecorino-Romano
• White English Cheddar
• Jarlesberg

What you may need to make a Manchego Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

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• Panini Press – This is the one that I have. I like that the reversible grates become a griddle and that they can be removed for easy cleaning.
• Slotted Spatula – Also called a fish spatula. I use mine for everything.

If you like this fancy grilled cheese sandwich, here are a few more you may enjoy

• The Best Cuban Sandwich Recipe
• Most Amazing Shrimp BLT Sandwich Recipe
• Toasted Italian Sub Sandwich
• Grilled Caprese Panini

So, I may not have been great at memorizing my religion, but I aced grilled cheese!

And, the tomato soup was there too, a bumped-up big person version called Easy Tomato Florentine Soup!

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5 from 19 votes

Grown-Up Manchego Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Grown-Up Manchego Grilled Cheese Sandwich is simple to make but is fancy enough for company. It's buttery, sweet, savory and absolutely delicious.

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Servings 4

Author Hostess At Heart

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter divided

• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme

• 1 yellow onion sliced thinly
• 16 oz mushrooms

  sliced


• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry

  or white wine
 vinegar

• 3 ounces Manchego cheese shaved

• 2 cups Fresh baby spinach stems removed
• 2 tbsp 
Fig jam or chutney
• 8 slices Sandwich bread of your choice

Instructions

• In a heavy skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add sliced onions and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until browned and caramelized.
• Add sherry and continue cooking until sherry has evaporated. Stir in fresh thyme.

Assembly

• Butter one side of each slice of bread.  On the non-buttered side, spread a thin layer of fig jam or chutney on only one slice.  Layer 1/4 each of the mushroom-onion mix, fresh spinach, and Manchego cheese. Top with the second piece of bread, buttered side out.
• Place the sandwich in a panini maker or *heated skillet.  Cook the sandwich 7 to 10 minutes or until the bread is browned and the cheese is melted.

Video

Notes

You can use a hot skillet if you don’t have a panini maker.  After placing the sandwich in the pan, top it with another pan to lightly press the sandwich.

I used slightly thin sourdough bread.  You can use any mild tasting bread. 

Nutrition

Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 385mg | Potassium: 458mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 5.3mg | Calcium: 367mg | Iron: 2.5mg

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

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