Chicken Caesar Grilled Cheese
On a lazy afternoon (or night, or middle of the night, or when the urge hits you), there’s just something about a grilled cheese sandwich that just makes everything right in the world. I don’t know if it’s the ooey, gooey, melty cheese, or the contrast between that melting cheese and thick slices of bread, but I just need to put it all in my face.
The Beard has decided to start baking bread on his days off, and one of his first experiments was a loaf of English muffin bread. While it didn’t have all the nooks and crannies of an English muffin, it was moist and soft and had a fabulous crust to it. We ate a couple of slices with dinner one night, and he used it to make a sandwich or two, but I knew that if we didn’t plan to use it for a meal it was going to go bad.
Now, allow me to digress for just a moment to explain something. We don’t have work schedules that are set in stone. Beard’s schedule changes every week, and while my schedule is mostly convenient for cooking a decent meal, I do work a later shift once or twice a week, so there are days when one or both of us isn’t punching out until 8 PM. Faster, easy meals are a given, unless we want eat eating dinner at 9:30 PM. As a result, one of the staples in our fridge and freezer are pre-portioned bags of shredded chicken. We use these for quick tacos, wraps, and flatbread pizzas, usually at least once a week.
Now back to the bread. We worried about the bread going bad, and we had half a baggie of chicken in the fridge. Not wanting to subject The Beard to yet another meal involving buffalo chicken, and having some mozzarella left over from a tomato soup/chicken parmesan meal earlier in the week, l whipped up what I called chicken Caesar grilled cheese.
Begin with the bread. The crust on this loaf is amazing for toasted sandwiches, being just crusty enough to make itself known to you, but still being soft enough that it doesn’t tear up the roof of your mouth like a bowl of Doritos. Cut four slices for your sandwiches, no more that 1/2″ thick, depending on how dense your bread is.
Next, mix the shredded chicken, Caesar dressing, parmesan, and italian seasoning together in a small mixing bowl. You can add more dressing depending on how creamy you prefer things, but I didn’t want things sopping wet and saturating the bread. Take a moment to gather up everything you’ll need for the next few steps if you haven’t done so already; no one wants to hunt down their favorite spatula while one side of their sandwich is turning black (save the blackening for my Cajun fish tacos!)
Now, start heating your griddle or frying pan. While the griddle heats up, spread the softened butter on the slices of bread. When the griddle is hot, place two slices of bread buttered-side down on the surface. Then place a slice of cheese on the bread, followed by two slices of bacon. Spoon half of the chicken mixture on each slice of bread. Top the chicken with and another slice of cheese, and then the second slice of bread, this time with the buttered side up.
Keep an eye on things while they cook, but keep the flame from getting too hot because you don’t want your bread to burn before the cheese melts. When the bottom slice is toasted to your desired “doneness”, use a wide spatula to flip your sandwich over and toast the other side.
If things start to move too quickly and your bread is toasting too quickly, you can put something like a metal mixing bowl or the lid to a pan over the sandwiches. This will keep the heat in there and help to melt the cheese and heat up the chicken and bacon before things to get burnt. Remove your sandwiches from the heat when they’re toasted to perfection, and try not to eat it in three bites, even if you might want to.
Chicken Caesar Grilled Cheese
The ooey-gooey richness of mozzarella meets creamy chicken and thick slices of bread.
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded chicken
- 4 slices cooked bacon
- 4 slices bread, no more than 1/2" thick go thicker if your bread isn't really dense, thinner if it is
- 4 slices mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning dried
Instructions
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Mix the shredded chicken, Caesar dressing, parmesan, and Italian seasoning together in a small mixing bowl. You can add more dressing depending on how creamy you prefer things, but you don't want things sopping wet and saturating the bread.
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Start heating your griddle or frying pan over low-medium heat. While the griddle heats up, spread the softened butter on each of the slices of bread. When the griddle is hot, place two slices of bread buttered-side down on the surface. Then place a slice of cheese on the bread, followed by two slices of bacon. Spoon half of the chicken mixture onto each slice of bread. Top the chicken with and another slice of cheese, and then the second slice of bread, this time with the buttered side up.
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Keep an eye on things while they cook, but keep the flame from getting too hot because you don’t want your bread to burn before the cheese melts. When the bottom slice is toasted to your desired “doneness”, use a wide spatula to flip your sandwich over and toast the other side. Remove from heat when both sides are toasted and the fillings are heated through.
Recipe Notes
If things start to move too quickly and your bread is toasting too quickly, you can put something like a metal mixing bowl or the lid to a pan over the sandwiches. This will keep the heat in there and help to melt the cheese and heat up the chicken and bacon before things have a chance to get burnt.
The Tart likes to eat, cook, and bake things. She eats to work out, and she works out to be able to eat.
