Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
California Grilled Cheese
A grilled cheese with avocado, tomato and chicken has plenty tucked between its crisp sourdough slices. The soft avocado is especially good against the golden bread, with melted American cheese holding its own.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Total
- 10 min
- Original yield
- Serves 1
- Ingredients
- 9 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Main course
- Primary protein
- Chicken
- Cuisine
- American
- Cooking method
- Grilling
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: 30 minutes or less
A few quick notes
1. Butter faces the skillet
Spread butter on one side of each bread slice and place that side down in the skillet.
2. Build the two halves separately
Put avocado and tomato on one slice, with cheese and chicken on the other, before cooking open-faced.
3. Wait for crisp golden bread
Cook the open sandwich over medium heat until its bread is golden and crispy before closing it.
Get to know the ingredients
Sourdough slices
Use the sourdough slices for the two open halves, buttered outside and spread with mayonnaise inside.
Mayonnaise inside
Spread mayonnaise over the unbuttered bread surfaces before the avocado, tomato, cheese and chicken are added.
Sliced tomato
Add the tomato to the avocado half and season that half with salt and pepper before cooking.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 1. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 3 steps completeMake room for California Grilled Cheese
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Close and serve
Once the bread is crisp and golden, put the two loaded slices together and serve the warm sandwich.
A little more help as you go
Keep cheese with the chicken
The American cheese and chicken share one half while the avocado and tomato sit on the other.
Cook the halves open
Leave both halves open-faced in the skillet for the cooking stage, bringing them together only at the end.
A few questions you might have
Does the avocado need cooking separately?
It goes directly onto one bread half with tomato, and that loaded half cooks open-faced in the skillet.
Is mayonnaise used to fry the outside?
Butter goes against the pan; mayonnaise is spread on the unbuttered inside surfaces before adding the fillings.
What cheese is listed?
American cheese slices go on the same bread half as the sliced chicken breast before the open-faced cooking.
When do I salt the sandwich?
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the avocado and tomato half during assembly, before the skillet cooking stage.
Do I flip a closed sandwich?
The directions cook the two halves open-faced until golden underneath, then put them together to serve.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: chefsavvy.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.
