Mom's Indian Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

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Mom's Indian Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a crispy, flavor-packed lunch with tomatoes and onions. Quick, easy, and totally satisfying — your new favorite sandwich recipe starts here.

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Whenever I make this grilled cheese recipe, as soon as I take a bite, nostalgia hits! Crispy buttery bread, stringy cheese with some tomatoes, onions and green chilies. This is comfort breakfast food at its finest!

I’ve talked about lots of Sunday breakfasts on this blog! As a kid, my family and I would go through phases for our Sunday brunch traditions. This was the last one I can remember right before I moved to Canada. My mom had a triangular sandwich maker and we would just go crazy with these grilled cheese sandwiches! They wouldn’t stop coming hot out of the sandwich maker! I call it Mom’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich because no one else but my mom has ever made me a grilled cheese this way. Personally, it’s my favourite way to have a grilled cheese - sorry classic grilled cheese, I am just tuned to look for a bit of spice in life! I just need the little extras in there to really satisfy me!

Now call me weird, but I liked (and still do!) serving these sandwiches with good old ketchup. Try a grilled cheese sandwich with ketchup if you haven’t and you may never go back! When I was taking these pictures, I actually ran out of ketchup! I was truly heartbroken! But don’t worry, the sandwich on its own was so delicious, so I wasn’t missing out on too much!

This is your typical grilled cheese sandwich but with a little Indian twist to the American classic. It’s a very easy recipe to make, perfect for beginners. This recipe is also very kid-friendly since we’ve got lots of gooey cheese and simple yet delicious flavors from the tomatoes and onions. No wonder we would eat so many in one sitting for Sunday brunch!

Ingredients for Mom’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The ingredient list for this grilled cheese sandwich recipe is really short, so this sandwich is perfect to make when you want something quick and easy! For this grilled cheese sandwich, you’ll need:

Bread
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese
Tomatoes
Onions
Green chilies
Butter

Ingredients for grilled cheese sandwich on red cutting board: two bread slices, shredded mozzarella, cheddar cheese slice, diced tomato, and chopped red onion.

What Cheese to Use in Grilled Cheese?▼

As you saw in the ingredient list, here I use a combination of mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. This is my North American take on the original recipe. My mom actually used Amul “processed cheese.” This cheese what I grew up with, it tastes similar to white cheddar but saltier. So, I found that mozzarella and cheddar cheese together can replicate a similar texture that’s in the Amul cheese. If you’re reading this and have access to Amul cheese, then feel free to follow the original recipe and use 1/2 cup of Amul cheese as my mom did!

How to Make Mom’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I guarantee you can make this sandwich in about 10 minutes or less! Remember, the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE is at the bottom of this post so you can save it for later! Get ready to make a yummy lunch in no time!

On one slice of bread, add half of the mozzarella cheese.

Open-faced grilled cheese sandwich with shredded mozzarella on one slice of wheat bread, plain slice beside it, with diced tomatoes and onions nearby.

Then, add the tomatoes, onions, and green chilies.

Open-faced sandwich with melted mozzarella, diced tomatoes, onions, and green chilies on whole wheat bread.

Open grilled cheese sandwich showing shredded mozzarella, diced tomatoes, and purple onions on whole wheat bread.

Add the cheddar cheese and remaining mozzarella.

Grilled cheese sandwich with yellow cheddar cheese, shredded mozzarella, diced onions, and tomatoes between wheat bread slices.

Indian grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with shredded cheese, tomatoes, and onions on red surface.

Top your sandwich with the other slice of bread.

Grilled cheese sandwich on seeded bread with melted cheddar and mozzarella cheese on a red cutting board.

Now heat a non-stick pan to medium heat and add the butter. When the butter has melted, put your sandwich on the pan, reducing the heat to medium-low.

Grilled cheese sandwich with melted cheese visible between toasted bread slices in a non-stick pan.

Cook until the underside of the sandwich is golden brown, pressing down on your sandwich with a spatula.

Golden-brown grilled cheese sandwich being pressed with a black spatula in a non-stick pan.

When the bottom of the sandwich has turned golden brown, flip your sandwich to cook the other side. Press down on the top of the sandwich, and cook gently until the cheese is molten and the sandwich is cooked through.

Golden brown grilled cheese sandwich in a nonstick pan with a spatula, mid-cooking.

Golden brown grilled cheese sandwich being pressed with a black spatula in a skillet.

Place your cooked sandwich on a cutting board. Cut the sandwich at a diagonal.

Indian grilled cheese sandwich cut diagonally on a cutting board, showing golden brown toast with cinnamon sugar coating.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Indian grilled cheese sandwich cut diagonally, showing melted cheese, tomato, and ham between toasted bread slices on a white plate.

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cooking.with.anadi. Thank you!

Recipe by Anadi Misra