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Vegan Pesto Grilled Cheese recipe by Joyful Balance

The Ultimate Vegan Pesto Grilled Cheese

Delaney Marie
This Ultimate Vegan Pesto Grilled Cheese is a vegan dream. It's the perfect comfort meal but is completely dairy free, and even has some great nutrients thrown in from the pesto and veggies!
For an oil free option when making this recipe, I suggest sticking with the Joyful Balance Easy Vegan Mayo in place of vegan butter, and using an oil-free pesto such as the Basil Lemon Pesto in my free ebook (Joyful Creations: Your Plant Based Guide to a Better Buddha Bowl).
*Note that From Start to Finish is an estimate that includes 30 minutes to make your Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce, followed by 20 minutes to actually make your grilled cheese according to recipe directions. This time assumes that you will be using store-bought vegan butter and store-bought pesto. If you are using homemade options for either of these, you will need to add that to your total time.
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From Start to Finish50 minutes
Servings1 sandwich

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Bring a nonstick skillet to medium heat
  • Toast your bread on the stovetop:
    -Add your vegan butter or Easy Vegan Mayo to each side of both slices of bread, using about ½ teaspoon on each side.
    -Add both slices of bread to the preheated skillet and toast each side for 2-4 minutes, or until both sides of both slices are slightly golden brown.
    -Remove the bread from the skillet.
  • Assemble your grilled cheese:
    -Add 2-3 tablespoon of the Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce to one side of EACH slice of bread (doing this on both slices allows the sandwich to stick together better)
    -To one slice of bread: spread your vegan pesto over the Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce
    -To the OTHER slice of bread: add your avocado slices, tomato slices, and spinach on top of the Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce. -Sandwich your two slices of bread together to assemble your grilled cheese.
  • Cook your grilled cheese:
    -Add your grilled cheese back to the skillet, still on medium heat.
    -Flip as needed, getting the outside of the bread just a bit more golden brown and allowing the cheese sauce to warm up and get slightly melty (for me it usually takes 1-2 minutes per side).
    -Remove from the skillet.
  • Allow your grilled cheese to cool for just a couple of minutes (this makes the slicing process a bit less messy), and then slice in half and serve!
Did you make this recipe?Mention @joyfulbalanceofficial on Instagram and show the world your plant based creation!