All you need is ten minutes for this perfect air fryer grilled cheese and it might be the best way to make grilled cheese.

It’s time to catch up to 2025 when everyone owns an air fryer and it’s actually good! This air fryer grilled cheese is hands-off, quick and easy perfection with extra crispy toasty outsides and gooey melty cheesy insides

I love grilled cheese sandwiches. They’re one of my all time favorite comfort foods. I love simple, classic grilled cheese and fancy grilled cheese – to me, all grilled cheese is good grilled cheese. But, when I’m starving and I need grilled cheese almost instantly, an air fryer grilled cheese is my go-to.

Why air fryer grilled cheese?

Remember when I said all grilled cheese is good grilled cheese? Well, I lied. I absolutely abhor any kind of burnt grilled cheese. Or even worse, when the outsides are toasted but the cheese isn’t melted. For such a simple sandwich, there are so many things that can go wrong if you’re not patient at the stove.

That’s why air fryer grilled cheese is amazing. It comes out the same every single time you make it. Once you set the temp and time, you can just chill out and let the air fryer do its thing. No fiddling with looking at how golden your bread is, no burnt bits, and thankfully, no unmelted insides.

How to make air fryer grilled cheese

Making a grilled cheese sandwich in the air fryer is much the same as making one on the stove in a pan, minus the standing at the stove. Here’s how you do it:

preheat – preheat your air fryer while you’re prepping your sandwich.
butter – use softened room temperature butter to generously butter two slices of bread.
build – place one slice of the buttered bread in the basket of the air fryer and top with two slices of cheese. Place the other slice of bread on top of the cheese, butter side up.
air fry – air fry the sandwich for 3-5 minutes, then flip and continue to air fry until perfectly golden.
enjoy – remove, slice if desired, and enjoy!

What kind of cheese for air fryer grilled cheese?

There’s only one cheese for classic grilled cheese: American. It’s the perfect melty, cheesy filling for a grilled cheese. Yes, you can get fancy with sharp cheddar, gouda, or whatever your favorite cheese is, but if you want pure comfort food, American cheese is what you want. For those times I don’t go with American cheese, I like one slice of cheddar and one slice of mozzarella.

What is American cheese?

Contrary to what you’ve heard, American cheese is cheese. It’s perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches because it’s mild, creamy, and has a low melting point. American cheese has a bad reputation because it’s processed, but in reality, all cheese is processed. What people are really complaining about is the fact that it’s pasteurized, which makes people think that it’s “plastic.” American cheese is in fact, made from cheese, more specifically cheddar or Colby cheese that’s been melted with sodium citrate (a citric acid salt aka salt from the the acid found in citrus fruits) so it can be pasteurized into a creamy texture that doesn’t separating. Anyway, that was just a long way of me saying that American cheese is real cheese and it’s good!

The best bread for grilled cheese

For a classic grilled cheese so all you need is simple sandwich bread. It’s up to you if you want to go for white or whole wheat, but if you’re having a grilled cheese sandwich, I recommend white bread. My favorite kind of white bread for grilled cheese is super soft shokupan/Japanese milk bread but obviously I don’t always have homemade bread hanging out in the kitchen. My next favorite choice is any sort of fluffy, super squishy sandwich loaf.

Tips and tricks for a perfect air fryer grilled cheese

use room temp butter so you don’t tear your bread trying to spread hard butter on soft bread. If you don’t have room temp butter, melt some in the microwave and brush the bread with the melted butter. If you don’t have butter, you can always substitue mayonnaise.
preheat the air fryer, even if it’s not for a long time. Just press the preheat button while you’re assembling your sandwich. It really does make a difference in the heat transfer and toasting of the bread.
use 2 slices of cheese. It seems like overkill, but one sandwich with two slices of cheese is the way it should be. You want enough cheese in the middle of your grilled cheese to melty and gooey. No one likes a grilled cheese that skimps on the cheese.
choose regular sandwich bread thick bread. The bread to cheese ratio is perfect when you go with a regular thickness. This is not the time for thick slices of bread; too thick and your grilled cheese won’t be as crispy.
add a rack or a small baking sheet to the basket and place the bread and cheese on top if you don’t want your grilled cheese to have air fryer basket marks.

Which air fryer is this?

We have a Cosori air fryer with a clear window. I love it because you can peek inside without opening the drawer. So much of knowing when something is done cooking is about appearance and the little window lets you see everything that’s going on inside. I also love that it’s so big. It doesn’t look absurdly large but it fits a lot of food inside and it hasn’t let us down yet. It’s kind of hilarious but Mike and I love it so much that we joke all the time about getting a second one so we can air fry multiple things at once. (not sponsored, btw)

That’s it, air fryer grilled cheese for the win. Hope your future is cheesy!
xoxo steph