Making air fryer grilled ham and cheese is a quick and easy way to get lunch on the table and have it turn out perfectly every time. Golden crispy bread, gooey melty cheese, and warm slices of ham meat in every bite.
To say that we're obsessed with our air fryer lately would be an understatement. I've cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, and snacks in that thing, and it's not hard to see why. It's such a fast and convenient method for cooking (plus you can stop and check on the food as it cooks, unlike an Instant Pot).
But some of our favorite things to cook in the air fryer include sandwiches like this ham and cheese or this Air Fryer Club Sandwich. Once you get used to the golden toasty bread and perfectly cooked insides, there's no going back.
Why This Recipe Works
- This recipe is very fast. Making grilled ham and cheese in the air fryer is pretty quick. Within 10 minutes, you could have 2 sandwiches cooked to perfection.
- It's beginner friendly. There are very few steps to make this recipe and they're all very easy to follow. Assembling a sandwich and flipping it over are pretty much the basic steps you'll need to understand.
- Minimal ingredients. As you can imagine, you only need a couple of ingredients to make these sandwiches. In fact, we only need 4 things, so any grocery shopping will be minimal.
🥘 Ingredients
Sandwich bread- You will need some sliced sandwich bread. You can use any type of sliced bread desired, like wheat, white, sourdough, or even low carb.
Ham lunch meat- This is necessary for the filling in these ham sandwiches.
Cheese slices- Use your favorite type of sliced cheese and you're going to love the end results. We like to use Munster, American, or Cheddar.
Butter- To get the bread nice and toasty you'll need some softened butter to spread on the outsides of the sandwich.
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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- Air Fryer 6qt or 8qt
- Butterknife
- Spatula
🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make air fryer grilled ham and cheese with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Lay out 2 slices of bread and then spread butter over one side of each.
Place the bread into the basket of the air fryer, butter side down. Try not to get them to overlap.
Place one slice of cheese on top of the bread.
Place 3 or 4 slices of ham on top of the cheese for both sandwiches.
Place a slice of cheese on top of the ham.
Now butter one side of each of the two remaining slices of sandwich bread and place them on top of the cheese, the butter side facing up.
Place the basket back into the air fryer and set it to 360 degrees F for 8 minutes. Flip the sandwiches over after 4 minutes.
Remove sandwiches from the air fryer and serve immediately.
📖 Variations
Cheeses. You can you any cheese slices that you want for this sandwich. Whatever you prefer or usually use on grilled cheese is usually a safe bet. I have tried American Kraft singles and sliced Munster cheese (as pictured), and both turned out melty, gooey, and delicious.
Ham. While ham deli meat is easy to come by, don't be afraid to use leftover holiday ham in these sandwiches too! Just make sure to slice it thin (about ¼ inch). Thicker slices may require a longer cooking time or need to be preheated before assembling the sandwich.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Making this grilled ham and cheese air fryer recipe is pretty easy, but you should note a few things before starting:
The bread can fly
The top piece of bread can "fly off" the sandwich during the first half of the cooking process. I've only experienced this once out of all the times I've made this sandwich, but it is still worth noting as a possibility.
You can secure the bread with toothpicks or by placing a small trivet over the top to hold the bread down if desired. Check on the sandwich after 3 minutes to make sure the bread hasn't flipped upwards. If it has, you may want to cook for an additional 2 minutes because the bread will not be toasted as a result of the flipping.
Flip after toasted
When you flip your sandwich at the halfway point, make sure that the bread on top is the shade of color that you want because once flipped it will not darken anymore.
When I make this air fryer grilled ham and cheese sandwich, I like two use two slices of cheese on either side of the ham so that it can hold the bread to the meat and not cause the sandwich contents to slide around when being handled.
💭 FAQs
Any number of cheese would be a wonderful pairing including swiss cheese, provolone, muenster, and cheddar cheese.
You can use either one that you may prefer. I like butter on my bread but I know many people choose to use mayo. Go ahead and use whichever one you want.
You can serve grilled cheese sandwiches on their own or with side dishes like french fries, soups, salads, and potato chips.
More great air fryer recipes to check out soon
- Air Fryer Chicken Breasts
- Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breasts
- Air Fryer Pizza Rolls
- Air Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
- Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts
- Air Fryer Frozen Waffles
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Grilled Ham and Cheese
Equipment
- Air Fryer 6qt or 8qt
- Butterknife
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 4 slices Sandwich bread ($0.16)
- 4 slices Cheese ($1.23)
- 6 pieces Ham lunch meat ($1.22)
- 2 Tablespoons Butter, softened ($0.18)
Instructions
- Lay out 2 slices of bread and then spread butter over one side of each.
- Place the bread into the basket of the air fryer, butter side down. Try not to get them to overlap.
- Place one slice of cheese on top of the bread.
- Place 3 or 4 slices of ham on top of the cheese for both sandwiches.
- Plae a slice of cheese on top of the ham.
- Now butter one side of each of the two remaining slices of sandwich bread and place them on top of the cheese, butter side facing up.
- Place the basket back into the air fryer and set it to 360 degrees F for 8 minutes. Flip the sandwiches over after 4 minutes.
- Remove sandwiches from air fryer and serve immediately.
Notes
- Two sandwiches can fit into an 8quart air fryer comfortably.
- You can use any cheese slice options including cheddar, swiss, provolone, or Munster (as examples).
- You do not have to preheat your air fryer before use.
- You can swap out the butter for mayo if you like your grilled cheeses with mayo on the bread.
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