Pizza Grilled Cheese

This pizza grilled cheese features gooey mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, salty pepperoni, pizza sauce, and lots of fresh basil sandwiched between toasty garlic butter bread slices.

Fancy grilled cheese will always and forever win lunch! Jamming pizza into the party just further proves the point.

This grilled cheese definitely isn’t the healthiest lunch you’ll ever have, I won’t sugarcoat it. But dang, if it isn’t the most delicious sandwich.

We’ve got two kinds of cheeses here today, lots of pepperoni business, and even a little fresh basil action sealing this killer pizza deal. Lunch is permanently sorted.

You won’t need more than about 20 minutes to pull off this masterpiece of a grilled cheese! No fancy ingredients either and this recipe is super adaptable to including other classic pizza toppings.

Honestly the more loaded you can stuff this grilled cheese, the better off you’ll be.

This Grilled Cheese features…

• A golden, crispy exterior brushed with garlic butter
• Gooey mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
• Herby fresh basil, savory pizza sauce, and pepperoni slices
• Minutes to make and only 9 ingredients needed

Making the Grilled Cheese

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Unsalted butter
• Garlic
• Italian seasoning
• Ciabatta bread
• Pizza sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Pepperoni
• Basil

Choosing Your Bread

This grilled cheese works well with a variety of bread types. I recommend going with a rustic loaf such as ciabatta, Italian, sourdough, or multi-grain.

Tips for Perfect Grilled Cheese

1. Make garlic butter – a quick garlic butter brushed onto bread slices adds a pizza-like flavor to the grilled cheese.
2. Shred cheese manually – I recommend shredding your cheese yourself instead of relying on pre-shredded cheese. It will melt much better!
3. Use a combination of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese – these two cheeses compliment each other very well and give the grilled cheese a pizza-like flavor.
4. Cook grilled cheese over medium heat – don’t be tempted to bump the heat up otherwise the outside of grilled cheese will burn before the cheese melts.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this grilled cheese.

• Use a different combination of cheeses – try shredded gouda, asiago, pepper jack, fresh mozzarella, or cheddar.
• Try different herbs – try using fresh oregano or parsley in place of the basil.
• Skip pepperoni – for a meatless grilled cheese, simply skip the pepperoni.
• Add other classic pizza toppings – try adding sauteed mushrooms, onions, or peppers.
• Make it into a quesadilla – use a burrito-sized flour tortilla in place of the bread for a pizza quesadilla.

This grilled cheese absolutely tastes like pizza and grilled cheese all smashed into one! The garlic buttery outside is absolutely outstanding with all that gooey cheese, savory pizza sauce, and salty pepperoni stuffed inside.

Make sure you have extra pizza sauce on standby alongside this grilled cheese for dipping! You’ve just gotta.

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch this sandwich made step-by-step on Google web stories.

Try these other fun sandwich recipes next!

• Caramelized Onion Turkey Brie Panini
• Pesto Grilled Cheese
• Apple Gouda Pesto Turkey Panini

This post was updated with new recipe tips and photos on 7/26/24.