This Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese is totally indulgent. It’s like your favorite restaurant appetizer turned into a meal (because you were going to eat that spinach artichoke dip as your meal anyway, right?). I’ve taken a basic spinach artichoke dip recipe, tweaked the ingredients to be a little more like a melty grilled cheese than a gooey dip, then stuffed it between two pieces of my favorite no knead focaccia bread. It’s a golden brown, crispy, melty, gooey delight.
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Is This a Melt or a Grilled Cheese?
Okay, so technically this type of sandwich is called a “melt.” A melt is a grilled cheese that has other ingredients added, like vegetables or meat, whereas a grilled cheese is a cheese-only grilled sandwich. While the difference between a melt and a grilled cheese often sparks heated debates, I want people to be able to find this recipe on the internet, and the data shows that people are searching for “spinach artichoke grilled cheese,” not “spinach artichoke melt” (literally zero Google searches for that term per month). The English language is fluid, and the use of the term “melt” is declining. So here we are!
Do I Have to Use Focaccia?
I made this sandwich with my homemade focaccia bread, but you can use any bread that you’d like. I love the focaccia because it’s really sturdy, which you want in order to hold up to the hefty filling, and it crisps up so well because of it’s olive oil soaked exterior.
If you’d like to use a different kind of bread, you’ll probably want to smear a little butter on each slice to get that nice golden brown crispy exterior. You can also stuff this filling into a tortilla and cook it up like a quesadilla!
Can I Use Fresh Spinach?
Yes, if you prefer to work with fresh spinach, simply chop it up and sauté it briefly in a skillet to cook out some of the moisture, then continue with the recipe as stated.
How Much Does This Recipe Make?
This recipe makes about 2 cups worth of sandwich filling, which will get you either two large grilled cheese sandwiches, or four smaller sandwiches.
Can I Make the Spinach Artichoke Filling Ahead?
Live alone? Don’t feel pressured to eat all the Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese filling in one sitting (No, that’s not a dare). You can keep the sandwich filling in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days and make sandwiches or quesadillas as you see fit.
Pictured with Tomato Herb Soup on a small enamelware tray (affiliate link).
Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese
Servings 2 large sandwichesIngredients
- 1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.50)
- ½ 12oz. jar quartered artichoke hearts in water ($1.30)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($0.85)
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan ($0.22)
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise ($0.20)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ( $0.02)
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 pieces focaccia* ($1.19)
- 2 tsp butter (optional) ($0.26)
Instructions
- Thaw the spinach, then squeeze out as much water as possible. You should have about 1 cup chopped spinach before squeezing the water out and about 1/2 cup after squeezing.
- Drain the artichoke hearts well, then chop them into small bite-sized pieces. Add the chopped artichokes to a large bowl with the spinach, mozzarella, Parmesan, mayonnaise, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper. Stir the ingredients until evenly combined.
- Spread about 1/2 tsp butter on each slice of bread. Pack about 1 cup of the cheese and vegetable mixture between two slices of bread, buttered sides facing out.
- Place the sandwiches in a large skillet and cook over medium-low heat until the outsides are golden brown and the filling has melted. Serve immediately.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese – Step by Step Photos
Begin with about 1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach. Thaw the spinach, then squeeze out as much moisture as possible. You’ll want about 1 cup unsqueezed, or 1/2 cup after squeezing dry.
Drain one 1/2 of a 12oz. jar of quartered artichoke hearts (packed in water), then chop them into small pieces.
Add the chopped artichokes to a large bowl with the spinach, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan, 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper, ⅛ tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Stir the ingredients until they’re evenly mixed. There should be just enough mayo to make the ingredients all stick together. You can refrigerate the filling at this point and use it later, or throughout the week.
If you’re using focaccia, slice the pieces in half so you have a top and bottom piece. If you’re using regular bread, you’ll want to spread a little butter on the outsides of each piece of bread. Fill each sandwich with about 1 cup of the filling.
Cook the sandwiches in a large skillet over medium low heat until each side is golden brown and the filling is melted.
Buttery, crispy, artichokey goodness!
I just made this and I’m in heaven! It’s simple and delicious. I’ve shared the recipe with my family and they all love it too. Thanks for another great recipe!!!
Very good! A new favorite. I had a little filling left over and mixed some of it with an egg for a sloppy omelette and then used the rest on a toasted corn tortilla.
Starving college student and I live off of this. Worth every single little penny.
Love this! I have also subbed the Mayo for cream cheese and used it for spinach-artichoke stuffed chicken breasts/chicken roll ups (where I pound or slice the chicken first and spread this filling then roll) and for either, optionally brush a very thin layer of mayo or dip in egg wash, bread with Italian style seasoned pinko and parm reg/Romano. Finally, I’ve stuffed refrigerated biscuit dough balls with it and baked! They are also yummy dipped in ranch then a coating of bread crumbs; baled and served for tailgates! Lol. Endless possibilities here, folks!
Delicious! Added a little extra spinach but otherwise followed this recipe exactly. Will definitely make it again!
This was really good! I used fresh spinach instead of frozen, and made it on store bought sourdough bread. My husband even liked it and he doesnt like artichoke hearts! Will definitely make it again!
This looks absolutely delicious! I’m going to make this for my family soon. Great blog too!
Can you link the original recipe here as well?
You can shoot us an email at support at budgetbytes.com and we’ll get that for you.
I made mine open-faced on ciabatta and used marinated artichokes (what I had) and monterey jack cheese. Toasted in the toaster oven. Delicious! I saw someone else comment they used it as an omelet filling, I may make an egg sandwich with the ciabatta!
My family is having a lot of sandwiches this summer, and this is an easy and tasty one! Once I made it on homemade focaccia and that was really good. Another time I used regular sliced sandwich bread but sprinkled a little garlic powder on the buttered outside, so when it grilled, it was like garlic bread– yum! I used a 10-ounce box of spinach and whole jar of artichokes to make extra filling. I’m thinking it will be good on toast for breakfast, maybe with an egg.
This was amazing! Even my carnivore boyfriend loved it. And the leftover filling made a perfect omelet filling :) Thanks for keeping us creative and healthy!
This was a huge hit with my teens. I used half a country French loaf (with some of the innards discarded to make room for the filling) and pecorino romano as I did it have Parmesan. I can’t think of any other way i could have gotten a whole box of spinach and all 6 oz of artichokes into the 2 kids in one meal. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
I’m trying to encourage my husband and I to eat more veggies. This was a great was to sneak them in. We both really liked it! I didn’t take the time to make the bread but I’m sure it would be even better with that. Thank you Beth for another great easy recipe!
First of all, I hate when people say they loved a recipe, then they say all the things they changed! However, I made this using shaved brussels sprouts instead of spinach (I didn’t have spinach and I had brussels sprouts I needed to use) and the recipe was amazing! I will definitely be making this again! The grilled cheese was great and I’m looking forward to trying it in quesadilla form.
Haha, I LOVE it when people share how they customized the recipes! :) It’s like creative crowdsourcing and it inspires me so much.
I just made this for lunch and OH MY GOODNESS it is amazing. Love this blog. THANK YOU.
This is delicious! My family loved it. I made the focaccia bread from scratch and made the tomato herb soup as well. We have enough to have it tomorrow too! I was missing the spinach artichoke dip from a nearby chain restaurant which has been closed since quarantine started. I have no idea when or if the apple-themed restaurant will reopen.
Too funny – I had my sandwich with the herbed tomato soup, too! I’m now out of soup leftovers but have tons of filling left!