Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich

Did you know April is National Grilled Cheese Month? Or that this Thursday, April 12th is National Grilled Cheese Day? Yes there really is a food holiday for everything. Perfect time to share this vegan Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich, an upgrade on a comfort food classic.

Not a huge fan of grilled cheese, but have specifics I do crave, and this snowy April weather has me craving them. Especially since I found a way to finally make a favorite I haven’t had in far too long! Plus it pairs perfectly with a glass of white wine for a simple dinner that makes the snow falling outside not so bad.

I don’t know if I really liked grilled cheese growing up but do remembered eating them. Take them or leave them though in my teen years, mostly leave them since dairy didn’t agree with me and I remember taking “dairy pill”. It wasn’t until I got older and a Havarti and Tomato Grilled Cheese made me like grilled cheese! That was probably over 10 years ago when I first had it and later recreated it with the version I posted 5 years ago. Even then it didn’t agree with me and up until this recent creation I have never been able to recreate it.

There have been changes in dairy free cheese over the years and Miyokos Fresh VeganMozz (which is my go-to cheese for pizza) that has been a game changer with grilled cheese but I still wasn’t able to make a Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich. Adding sundried tomatoes to a basic grilled cheese wasn’t the same.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when Alisa posted this yogurt cheese. Dairy Free “Yogurt Cheese. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I’ve made a few versions, savory and sweet, and posted a Insta Story comparing two different yogurts I’ve tried Silk and Kite Hill, both Unsweetened Plain Almond Milk Yogurt. The texture is like a whipped cream cheese and instantly I thought about making a sundried tomato one and making a Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich. It was ahhmazing!

It was like a moment and let me tell you I savored every bite of that Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich. So good I knew I had to share it for National Grilled Cheese Day even though I had other plans, I’ll get to those. Only problem is that after a couple attempts there was no way to get it to look photogenic. My husband said grilled cheese isn’t meant to be photogenic.

I tried and tried, to the point I got hungry.

Yeah guess he was right, shh don’t tell him I said that, but still too good not to share. That leads me to my what I had in mind for National Grilled Cheese Day originally which was getting that picture perfect grilled cheese that was dairy free and the key… tasted good. I was doing this for S and let me tell you there are a lot of dairy free cheeses out there that were spit into my sink. I even bought brands that we had tried before and didn’t like but after she tried some products at Expo I went back to those companies thinking maybe I was wrong back then and we’d give it another try, nope. Still confused as to how a company can make lets say a cheese slice and shredded cheese both the same “flavor” and one is good and one is awful?

So with that I gave up, didn’t even find the one that I used to make a bean and cheese burrito last year that I loved and so did the family and thought I tired them all. Sorry I’m not usually a quitter but when S said she isn’t really a fan of grilled cheese and how many times I gagged I gave up and we’re sticking to the winners we did have…. Miyoko’s (not sponsored as I’ve said many times), and this new found love for yogurt cheese!

If you’re more of a traditional grilled cheese person I have spiced up that too with another version coming later this week!

What’s your favorite grilled cheese combo?

If you’re here for Meatless Monday, I look forward to seeing what’s happening in your kitchen and hope you link up with me and my co-host Deborah. I also hope you check out and are inspired by the recipes linked up below.
Have a great week!

Print Recipe

Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich

Comfort food classic grilled cheese gets an upgrade with this dairy free (vegan) Grilled Cheese Tomato Sandwich. Gluten free friendly this sandwich is great for lunch or perfect for dinner paired with a glass of wine.

Course

Dinner, Lunch

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Passive Time

24 hours

Servings

sandwiches

Ingredients

• 4 slices of bread (used our homemade sourdough bread)
• 2 TBSP vegan butter spread, extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil
• 1 batch Dairy Free Sun-dried Tomato Yogurt Cream Cheese (recipe below)
• 4 oz Miyokos Fresh Vegan Mozz, or 4 slices of cheese of choice
• 1-2 roma tomato depending on the size of the tomatoes and the size of your bread
• 2-3 slices red onion, thinly sliced

Course Dinner, Lunch Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Passive Time 24 hours Servings sandwiches Ingredients 4 slices of bread (used our homemade sourdough bread) 2 TBSP vegan butter spread, extra virgin olive oil, or avocado oil 1 batch Dairy Free Sun-dried Tomato Yogurt Cream Cheese (recipe below) 4 oz Miyokos Fresh Vegan Mozz, or 4 slices of cheese of choice 1-2 roma tomato depending on the size of the tomatoes and the size of your bread 2-3 slices red onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Heat a large cast iron pan, griddle, or skillet over medium high heat.
2. Spread the outsides of your slices of bread with butter spread or spray/brush with oil.
3. Shred, or slice, Vegan Mozz or your cheese slices on one slice of each of the sandwiches and set buttered side down on pan.
4. Cover if needed for your cheese to melt but not too long or the whole time or you will have soggy bread. If you have issues with your cheese melting see notes.
5. Thinly slice tomato and lay on top of the cheese along with onion slices.
6. Spread the remaining two slices of bread with Sundried Tomato Yogurt Cheese and place cheese side down on top of the sandwich.
7. Flip sandwich when golden brown to cook the other side, cooking until golden brown.
8. Slice if desired.
9. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

If you have dairy free/vegan cheese that isn't melting, or takes longer, I've found two things that help. If you want you can take a slice with the cheese, not the whole sandwich, and heat in the microwave until the cheese starts to melt. At this point put on a hot cast iron or griddle to brown and crisp the outside and assemble the rest of your sandwich. Too often I hear people putting it in the microwave after, with any cheese not just dairy free when it isn't melting fast enough, which makes a soggy sandwich. The other is to keep the heat down and cover the pan so the cheese melts and then turning the heat up to brown and crisp the outside.

Print Recipe

Dairy Free (vegan) Sundried Tomato Yogurt Cream Cheese

A dreamy whipped cream cheese like textured Sun-dried flavored yogurt cheese inspired by Go Dairy Free, Dairy Free "Yogurt Cheese.

Course

Appetizers, Breakfast

Prep Time

5 minutes

Passive Time

24 hours

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 5.3- 6 oz Unsweetened Plain Greek Style Almond Milk Yogurt (used Kite Hill)
• 2 TBSP sun-dried tomatoes (if dried soaked to re hydrate, jarred seem to have more flavor)
• sea salt, to taste

Course Appetizers, Breakfast Prep Time 5 minutes Passive Time 24 hours Servings servings Ingredients 5.3- 6 oz Unsweetened Plain Greek Style Almond Milk Yogurt (used Kite Hill) 2 TBSP sun-dried tomatoes (if dried soaked to re hydrate, jarred seem to have more flavor) sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. You will need to plan head for this as you need to strain the yogurt for 24 hours and then use within 3 days of making it.
2. Place a strainer on top of a cup or bowl. Line the sieve with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth.
3. Scrape the yogurt into the center of the cheesecloth. Bring the corners of the cheesecloth together and gently twist to enclose the yogurt into a round.
4. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
5. The yogurt will have thickened at this point to a whipped cream cheese like consistency.
6. Remove cheesecloth and place yogurt cheese into a bowl.
7. Roughly chop sundried tomatoes and fold into the yogurt cheese. Season with sea salt to taste.
8. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use or for up to 3 days.