Kimchi Grilled Cheese Recipe (2024)

I make this frequently on sourdough. Any good melting cheese works. Tips: gently toast and warm the bread dry on the skilllet, then flip the pieces over and add cheese. That will kick start the melting process, especially if you’re using refrigerated kimchi. You can also warm the kimchi a bit but I find that the tip above plus very low heat and patience works well even with cold kimchi. And I use butter or oil, never mayonnaise.

I use sauerkraut instead of kimchi.

It has to be real full fat mayo or it won't work. Light mayo or mayo alternatives will stick. Hellman's original works for me every time. I never use butter now.

I made mine with gouda from the Union Star cheese factory in Zittau, Wisconsin. My face melted along with the cheese.

A great recipe with a simple change/addition- Instead of draining your kimchi (the older the better) try frying it with butter and sprinkling with some brown sugar. Add pan fried spam to the mix and you’ve got yourself a melt with sweet, savory, salty, gooey goodness straight from a Korean American childhood.

I have been eating Kimchi for over sixty years but never thought to use it in a grilled cheese sandwich. I use well-aged kimchi (two-three months). Today with butter, Jewish Rye produced an excellent lunch. Will try other variations. Soon.

fry the egg first, let the yolk barely set, set aside, then add to sandwich with the kimchee

I used mild Mexicana blend cheese and it turned out really well! Definitely squeeze the kimchi to get liquid out.

I recommend grilling the kimchi along with the slices of bread before adding it to the sandwich. It creates a wonderful Unami flavour and takes some of the heat out of the kimchi for those who like it milder. I also serve it with pickles - perfection.

I've been using mayonnaise instead of butter for grilled cheese sandwiches for years. I find it adds a little extra flavor to the bread, and it's easier to spread than cold butter.

A now defunct cafe in Washington’s Skagit Valley had a tuna and kimchi sandwich called The Writer’s Sandwich named after a local fellow… Tom Robbins. I’m not a huge kimchi fan but it was a great combination.

This is fire. I used sourdough bread and sharp cheddar cheese with good ol’ Costco kimchi. I subscribe to mayo on the outside and a little schmear of butter on the inside. This really hits the spot when you’re craving a grilled cheese but also need a little more substance and spice.

Mayo gives you a little extra sweetness that goes great on grilled cheese.

I had fontina cheese and homemade bread. The recipe worked very well. I grilled the bread slowly until the cheese melted, and turned it up after adding the kimchee. I flipped it until adequately browned on both sides. From now on I probably will use mayonnaise for all of my toasted cheese because it did not get overly brown before the cheese melts.​

Respectfully, the sandwich described in this recipe is not a grilled cheese sandwich. It is a melt. https://www.reddit.com/r/grilledcheese/comments/2or1p3/_/Otherwise, this looks delicious! Mayo is probably a good call to up the crunch when you have a looser filling.

Holy Cow!!! This was delicious. I used Monterey Jack freshly grated on a mix of the small and big holes of my box grater. I’ll admit after the 4 minute mark I started to have my doubts that all that cheese would melt before the bread burned, but low and behold at the 9 minute mark I had beautiful melty cheesy bread to top with kimchi. Sealed up the sandwich, covered it, and set a timer for 3 minutes, flipped at 1:30 and had a gorgeous golden brown crispy gooey sandwich.

My Korean son-in-law gave me a great tip. Before adding the kimchi to the sandwich, saute it on medium heat in some olive oil until it cooks way down and turns a caramel color (like you would caramelize onions - it takes 15 minutes ). Then add that to the sandwich and grill as stated. The kimchi ends up a little sweet and caramelly as well as spicy.

This is a brilliant sandwich, but after 4 burned attempts, I’ve now put the open faced cheese under the broiler, then moved the pan to the burner once I added the kimchi. Seems to be working.

Adding kimchi makes this a more wholesome, flavorful meal than plain grilled cheese.

Super good. I added two slices of black forest ham to white cheddar and took the kimchi out of the fridge to room temp. Delish

Cover while cheese is melting

For a very low carb version (no bread), try a mound of cottage cheese in a bowl, topped with kimchi, diced cucumbers, and crispy bacon bits. It's a nice combination of creaminess, heat, salt, and a little crunch. It is one of my favorite things to have for lunch. If you use good quality prepackaged bacon bits, it comes together in 2 minutes.

Made this with a chinese tomatoe egg drop soup. Might be a little derivative but it was amazingly delicious

Just made this recipe using Harvarti slices I had to use up. I also used ghee instead of mayo or butter and added red onions and tomato. I missed the step of chopping the kimchi which would have helped when eating. Otherwise, it tasted delicious!

Delicious, but note that heating the kimchi will kill the wonderful probiotics it contains.

I mix my kimchi with salmon and natural yeast. Then I make my toasted cheese with that mixture

I love all the variations listed in the comments for this… I too make grilled Kimchi sandwiches… but add beets… and Gruyère cheese… SOOOOO good. I make my own kimchi taught to me by my S. Korean friends… I added beets here as that little bit of sweet on. Abed of kimchi is all around fabulous explosion of flavors in your mouth… I use Kewpie mayo. On the sourdough bread and grill with olive oil. Just the best.

Mayo is absolutely better than butter for grilled cheese sandwiches. I discovered this about 5 years ago & will never go back.

Maybe without the mayo.

An all season umami meal. Used shredded Gruyere with a dash of shredded Parmesan on thick cut sourdough in a pan because I do not have my panini press. Instead of mayo, I browned with a creamy mayo-like seasoned sauce from a local restaurant. I am going to try the suggestions and ideas from other note makers including adding an egg and chili crisp for a savory breakfast.