An Air Fryer Is Your Secret Weapon For The Best Toasted Sandwiches

Almost any sandwich can be made a little better when the cheese is melted and the bread is hot and crispy. It's why grilled cheese sandwiches are so iconic, and panini presses are a wedding registry staple. You don't need to reach for a frying pan when you want a little melty cheese, however, if you've already got an air fryer sitting on the counter. An air fryer is basically a tiny convection oven, so in addition to crisping up wings and french fries, it can certainly also toast up a sandwich in just a few minutes. 

What kind of sandwich should you toast in the air fryer, you might ask? Pretty much any sandwich you'd like, especially anything with cheese, will do. Sandwiches with components that taste good warm, like ham, turkey, and even peanut butter and marshmallow, are great, too. If you need a little inspiration, just cruise the internet for toasted sandwich recipes or jot down ideas next time you're at your favorite sandwich shop. Then, grab your ingredients at home and give them a try in your own fryer.

The beauty of an air fryer is its nearly instant heat that makes things crispy in just a couple of minutes. You can use this to your advantage to elevate any sandwich just by placing it in the fryer all at once, but it's a good idea to break it down into a few steps, especially if you have multiple components that will make the sandwich pretty thick. If you're making a really good Cuban sandwich, for instance, toast the bread for a minute or so first, then layer the ham and pork and flash it in the fryer again, then layer on the Swiss cheese and cook it until it starts to bubble. This would also be a good technique for anything with thick bread, like a Caprese grilled cheese sandwich on a baguette or an Italian sandwich on a ciabatta roll. Toasting the inside of the bread also keeps the inside of the sandwich from getting too soggy.

With that said, if you're only making a sandwich with one or two ingredients, like a toasted cheese or tomato and cheese, you can definitely get away with cooking everything all at once in the air fryer. Just assemble the sandwich like you normally would, butter the outside of the bread, and toast it for two to five minutes between 350 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit until it starts to look golden brown and the cheese is melting.

One major factor to keep in mind when you're making a toasted sandwich in the air fryer is the actual air inside the fryer. An air fryer works its magic by circulating hot air all around the food inside the basket using a high-speed fan (that's what makes all the noise when you turn it on). While this process makes cooking go really fast, it's also going to make light foods fly around inside, like a slice of sandwich bread. To keep things in place when you're air-frying a sandwich, grab a toothpick or two and stick them through the center of the sandwich once the top slice of bread is in place. Just make sure to use plain wooden toothpicks and not the ones with plastic frills attached that you sometimes get with sandwiches at restaurants because the plastic will melt and ruin your sandwich; plus it's a fire hazard.

If you're not sure what to toast in your air fryer, start with some classic sandwiches like tomato and cheese, ham or turkey and cheese, and even a basic tuna melt. For kids (and kids at heart), try smearing a little marshmallow fluff on one slice of bread and peanut butter on another for a toasty treat. Once you get the hang of heating your sandwiches in the air fryer, you can scale up your ingredients to try all sorts of combinations.