Loaded with thinly sliced zucchini, fresh spinach, juicy tomatoes, vegan provolone cheese, creamy avocado, and a flavorful pesto spread, this delicious vegan grilled cheese sandwich is pressed until golden and crispy and ready to eat in 15 minutes!
This is the ultimate vegan grilled cheese sandwich! The combination of savory pesto, melted vegan provolone cheese, zucchini, tomatoes, fresh spinach, and creamy avocado pressed between two slices of crispy Ezekiel bread is so delicious! This meal is easy to make and assemble in just about 15 minutes, it’s a great option for a quick and satisfying lunch or dinner.
How Do You Melt Vegan Cheese Slices?
Just like you melt dairy-based cheese slices, you have to heat the vegan cheese to melt it. The easiest way is to use a sandwich press so the heat comes from the top and bottom, but you could also toast the sandwich in a covered pan. By covering the pan, the heat is trapped and it will help to melt the cheese.
How To Make It – Step by Step Instructions
First, use a hand mandolin to thinly slice long thin pieces of zucchini to use as the sandwich “meat.” Next, lay two pieces of bread on a plate. Spread pesto sauce on one piece of bread. On the other piece, stack one slice of vegan cheese, a couple of slices of zucchini, tomato slices, avocado, and a handful of fresh spinach. Top with one more piece of cheese, put the second piece of bread on top, and use your palm to lightly press it down.
Use a misto to spray a very light coat of avocado oil on the outside of both slices of bread. This will help the bread to get crispy and develop grill marks while it’s pressing.
Lastly, press the vegan grilled cheese sandwich in a press for a few minutes until it’s golden and crispy or you could heat it in a pan over medium heat until the cheese melts. If you cook it in a pan, cover it to keep the heat in (to melt the cheese), and use a spatula to press the top of the sandwich down every few minutes. After a few minutes, flip the sandwich and let the other side cook for 2-3 minutes.
What is the Best Vegan Cheese to Use?
I’ve tried a lot of vegan cheese brands over the years. Any of the following brands of vegan cheese will make an excellent grilled cheese! They all taste delicious, they melt well, and the texture is spot on.
- Violife Smoked Provolone Slices
- Violife Mature Cheddar Slices
- Follow Your Heart Pepper Jack Slices
- Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda Slices
- Chao Creamy Original Slices
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve the vegan avocado grilled cheese with a side of fruit, kale chips, or Hippeas, but it’s especially delicious to dip it into a bowl of creamy roasted red pepper tomato soup. It’s a classic comfort food combo! Any of the following recipes would make a great vegan side dish to go with the sandwich for lunch or dinner.
How to Store & Reheat It
If you want to save half of the vegan grilled cheese sandwich for another meal, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. When you’re ready to eat it, it’s best to reheat it in a sandwich press or in a pan on the stove. However, I wouldn’t freeze it because the fresh ingredients won’t defrost well.
Substitutions & FAQ
- Cheese Substitutions: Instead of using vegan cheese, you could use a few dollops of roasted red pepper hummus or vegan chive cream cheese (I use Kite Hill).
- Pesto Substitutions: I used store-bought pesto (from Sprouts) to save time, but you could make homemade vegan pesto if you want to or skip it and use another spread. Vegan chipotle mayo, pistachio kale sauce, vegan ranch, or creamy garlic aioli can be used as a spread instead of pesto.
- What brand of vegan cheese should I use? You can use any type of vegan cheese that you like, but I recommend Violife, Follow Your Heart, or Chao slices because they taste delicious and they melt well.
- What bread should I use? Any vegan bread (see my favorite brands, here) can be used, but I usually use Ezekiel bread because that’s what I keep on hand to make my favorite high-protein avocado toast that we eat for breakfast a lot.
- Vegetable Options: If you want to add more veggies to the sandwich, roasted mushrooms, fire-roasted red peppers, sliced red onions, artichoke hearts, cucumber slices, thinly sliced red cabbage, or carrot sticks would be tasty additions.
- Gluten-Free? To make this sandwich gluten-free, you need to use gluten-free vegan bread. Most vegan cheeses are gluten-free, but check the package ingredients just to be sure.
Success Tips
- The easiest way to slice zucchini into thin slices is to use a hand mandolin. If you don’t have one, you can slice the zucchini into coins by hand with a sharp knife.
- Use a misto to spray a light layer of avocado oil on the top and bottom of the sandwich. When you press or heat the sandwich in a pan, the oil will help the bread to develop a crispy golden crust.
- Pressing the vegan grilled cheese in a press is the easiest way to get those beautiful grilled marks. If you don’t have a press, you can heat the grilled cheese sandwich in a pan.
- Use one of the vegan cheese brands that I recommended earlier in the post, or use a vegan cheese that you’ve tasted before so you know that you like the flavor and are sure that it melts well. Some vegan cheeses can have a weird aftertaste or they don’t melt very well.
- Put one piece of vegan cheese beneath the veggies and one above, so when the cheese melts it melts into the veggies and holds it all together.
Want More Vegan Pesto Recipes?
Pesto Spinach Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes
Pesto Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Want more easy vegan recipes? First, read this Step-by-Step Guide to Veganism and then join our vegan Facebook community below!
Vegan Zucchini Avocado Grilled Cheese
Equipment
- Sandwich Press or Medium-Sized Pan
Ingredients
- 2 slices Ezekiel bread (Use gluten-free bread if necessary)
- 1 tbsp pesto
- 2 slices vegan provolone cheese
- 1 small zucchini (sliced into thin layers or coins)
- 1 small roma tomato
- 1/2 ripe avocado (sliced or mashed)
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1 tsp avocado oil
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Use a hand mandolin to slice the zucchini into long thin pieces to use as the sandwich “meat”.
- Lay two pieces of bread on a plate. Spread pesto on one piece of bread. On top of the second piece, stack one slice of vegan provolone, thinly sliced zucchini, sliced tomatoes, avocado, spinach, and the second piece of provolone.
- Put the other piece of bread on top of the sandwich and press down lightly. Spray a light layer of avocado oil on the top and bottom of the sandwich and sprinkle a little bit of garlic powder on both sides.
- Press the sandwich in a press for 3-5 minutes or until both sides are golden and crispy and the cheese has melted. Or you can put the sandwich in a covered pan over medium heat, using a spatula to press the top of the sandwich down every few minutes. After a few minutes, flip the sandwich and let it cook for 2-3 more minutes.
- Let the sandwich cool for 1-2 minutes and then slice it in half before serving.
Notes
- The easiest way to slice zucchini into thin slices is to use a hand mandolin. If you don't have one, you can slice the zucchini into coins by hand with a sharp knife.
- Use one of the vegan cheese brands that I recommended earlier in the post, or use a vegan cheese that you've tasted before so you know that you like the flavor and are sure that it melts well.
- Put one piece of vegan cheese beneath the veggies and one above, so when the cheese melts it melts into the veggies and holds it all together.
- You can store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Reheat the sandwich in a press or in a pan on the stove, but don't freeze it.
Nutrition
*This recipe was originally posted on 5/28/15 but I updated it with better recipe instructions on 9/3/20.
