Shrimp Grilled Cheese

Shrimp Grilled Cheese is an easy and unique way to upgrade your grilled cheese sandwich! You only need to spend 20 minutes in the kitchen to make this great weeknight dinner that your family will love.

Stuffed with yummy shrimp, gooey cheese, and nutritious spinach, this shrimp melt sandwich is also a great way to get more veggies into your kids. Use hearty multi-grain bread grilled to a crisp for a tasty, filling, and fiber-rich meal!

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👩🏻‍🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe

Perfect for picky eaters, this shrimp grilled cheese takes the classic grilled cheese sandwich and gives it a seafood twist! This simple but tasty shrimp melt sandwich combines zesty seasoned shrimp with creamy grilled cheese.

With spinach for some added nutrition, this grilled cheese and shrimp is like a whole meal in your hands!

For a fun twist on this recipe, season your shrimp with Blackening Seasoning.

Like this Air Fryer Avocado Grilled Cheese, this is a reliably easy recipe that's great for weeknight dinners and is designed to satisfy even the most picky eaters, kids and adults alike!

And it's even more flavorful than my Grilled Avocado Sauerkraut Sandwich, which is a crispy, yummy, healthy favorite!

🥘 Ingredients Needed

• olive oil - you'll use this to cook the shrimp a bit before assembling the sandwiches.
• shrimp - small shrimp works best for this recipe.
• Old Bay and paprika - a warm and flavorful spice combo that will bring out the incredible seafood flavors.
• bread - I like to use some kind of multi-grain bread for an even healthier sandwich.
• butter - helps your bread get nice and browned.
• spinach - for added color and a nutrition boost.
• shredded cheese - a monterey jack/colby jack blend works great with this shrimp sandwich recipe, but you can use whatever cheese you like!

🔪 Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet and add shrimp, Old Bay and paprika.
2. Cook until the shrimp is pink and heated through.
3. Butter one side of each slice of bread and place 6 face down on a baking sheet. Distribute spinach and cooked shrimp across the bread.
4. Add the shredded cheese.
5. Top with the other slices of bread, buttered side up.
6. Bake at 450 degrees F for 6-8 minutes, then turn the sandwiches over and give them another 6 minutes or so until golden brown and crispy.

👪 FAQs

💭 Expert Tips and Tricks

• Larger shrimp can be used, just be sure to monitor the cooking times and ensure that they cook all the way through.
• Adding some garlic or lemon juice to the cooking shrimp is a great way to add more flavor.

Great as a quick and filling weeknight dinner or even a hearty lunch, this shrimp grilled cheese is a great way to work more seafood into your diet!

📖 Substitutions and Variations

• Feel free to use other cheeses like mozzarella, cheddar, gruyere, or pepper jack for other flavor combinations.
• Add some green onions or parsley for even more flavor.
• To maximize on the seafood flavor, cook some crab (real or imitation crab meat would both work!) along with the shrimp.
• Bacon is a delicious addition to this grilled cheese and shrimp sandwich.

🥫 Storage and Reheating

If you have leftover sandwiches, wrap them in some plastic wrap or foil and store them in the fridge. To reheat, I recommend popping them in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes--microwaving will often cause your grilled cheese to get soggy.

You can also freeze these grilled cheese sandwiches for up to 3 months. Place them in plastic bags and use some parchment paper between them if you need to stack in layers. Cook them right from the freezer, adding a couple of minutes to account for the temperature difference.

⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions

The shrimp for this grilled cheese can easily be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until it's time to assemble the sandwiches!

💡 What To Serve With This Dish

Serve this shrimp grilled cheese with an Apple Walnut Salad or this delicious and healthy Quinoa Chickpea Salad. For a warm and comforting combination, try it with some Instant Pot Minestrone Soup!

Shrimp Melt Sandwich Recipe

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📋 Recipe Card

Zingy Shrimp Grilled Cheese

Recipe Author: Kristin

Cheesy shrimp with a kick, stuffed between two pieces of multi-grain bread and grilled to gooey goodness!

5 from 21 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Servings 6

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 pound small shrimp
• ▢ ½ teaspoon paprika
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Old Bay spice (add more or less to taste)
• ▢ 12 slices of bread (I used a multi-grain variety)
• ▢ Buttery spread or butter
• ▢ 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• ▢ 1 ½ cups shredded monterey jack/colby blend

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet.
  1 tablespoon olive oil
• Add the shrimp, paprika, and Old Bay and cook until the shrimp is pink and cooked. Set aside.
  1 pound small shrimp, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon Old Bay spice
• Butter one side of each of the 12 slices of bread with the buttery spread.
  12 slices of bread, Buttery spread or butter
• Place 6 of the slices butter side down on a baking sheet.
• Distribute the spinach across the 6 slices, then distribute the cooked shrimp, then then the shredded cheese.
  3 cups fresh baby spinach, 1 ½ cups shredded monterey jack/colby blend
• Place the remaining 6 slices of bread on top, buttered side up.
• Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes, then flip the sandwiches and bake about 6 minutes more, until the sandwiches are golden brown and crispy. (Alternatively, you can grill them on the stove top on a griddle or in a skillet).

Notes

• Feel free to use different cheese combinations like mozzarella, cheddar, or gruyere.
• If you use larger shrimp, be sure to adjust the cooking time to ensure proper cooking.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 381kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 221mg | Sodium: 1089mg | Potassium: 288mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1815IU | Vitamin C: 7.3mg | Calcium: 428mg | Iron: 4.3mg

Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.

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