Take your grilled cheese sandwich to the next level with this broccoli grilled cheese. The combination of broccoli and cheese is always a winning combination, just like our One Pot Broccoli Mac and Cheese. The best part is you can make a large batch and bake in the oven!
Weekends are always great for big batches. Sometimes the kids are home, spouses are home, or maybe you’ve got some friends coming over for lunch, either way, these sammy’s will be a hit! Oh, and since it’s got broccoli that automatically makes this sandwich healthy!
Ingredients
Challah
Cream Cheese
Moneterey Jack and Cheddar Cheese
Butter
Italian Parsley
Roasted Garlic
Broccoli florets
Salt and Pepper
How to make this grilled cheese sandwich
Start by making a compound butter. Which is combining room temperature butter, roasted garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh Italian leaf parsley.
Make the filling. The filling is simple, mix together a block of room temperature cream cheese, monterey jack and cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Gently fold in the broccoli florets. Set aside.
Bread. Slices the challah bread into 1/2 inch slices. Spread the compound butter onto both slices of bread.
Assemble. Add a couple tablespoons of the broccoli cream cheese filling. Add colby jack cheese slices. Sandwich together and place on a sheet pan.
Bake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is nice and toasted.
How to get the perfect grilled cheese sandwich
This grilled cheese gets perfectly crisp in the oven. Another option for making grilled cheese is by using a cast iron skillet or panini press. If you are going to use a skillet. Try to weigh down the bread with something heavy, such as another pan or a cast iron press. This will ensure a crispy crust.
Notes and Substitutions
Cheese. If you have a favorite cheese, feel free to add or substitute. You can do mozzarella, mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, or white cheddar cheeses. So many options!
Bread. Challah bread tastes fantastic in this sandwich, but if you can’t find any at your local grocery store or simply want to use what you have on hand, go for it!
Roasted Garlic. This gives the butter a nuttier flavor. Feel free to use regular garlic if you don’t have time to roast garlic or don’t have any on hand.
How To Roast A Head of Garlic
Peel the outer layers of the whole head of garlic. Making sure to leave the garlic cloves intact. Use a sharp knife and cut the top 1/4th of the head of garlic. You want to be able to expose the garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees F. Set aside to cool.
Why roast garlic?
Roasting garlic completely changes the flavor, and it’s so much easier to digest. The garlic also caramelizes really well. Smother them over garlic bread, pastas, or use it in salad dressings.
How to make ahead
These sandwiches can be assembled ahead of time, place in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake. If you don’t want bake these, you can make them over the stove top on a pan or with a panini press. They are fantastic either way. The sheet pan method is just so much easier when you want a bigger batch.
Broccoli Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 loaf sliced challah bread
- 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
- 8 oz room temperature cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese preferably freshly grated
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese preferably freshly grated
Herbed Butter
- 4 tbsp room temperature butter
- 3 cloves roasted garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Slice challah into 1/2 slices, feel free to slice them thicker if you like a thick cut of bread.
- In a large mixing bowl mix together, cream cheese, both shredded cheese, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Fold in the broccoli.
- In another bowl mix together butter, Italian parsley, roasted garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Spread 2 teaspoons on the bottom and top side of the bread. Fill with 2-3 tablespoons of the broccoli cheese filling. Sandwich together.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is nice and toasted.
