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!
Jump to:
- 👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 🥘 Ingredients Needed
- 🔪 Instructions
- 👪 FAQs
- 💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- 📖 Substitutions and Variations
- 🥫 Storage and Reheating
- ⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
- 💡 What To Serve With This Dish
- 🍤 More Seafood Recipes You'll Love
- Shrimp Melt Sandwich Recipe
- 📋 Recipe Card
- 💬 Reviews and Comments
👩🏻🍳 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
- Heat olive oil in a skillet and add shrimp, Old Bay and paprika.
- Cook until the shrimp is pink and heated through.
- 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.
- Add the shredded cheese.
- Top with the other slices of bread, buttered side up.
- 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
I love using a monterey and colby jack blend, but cheddar and mozzarella are also reliable options to pair with seafood.
Between 425 and 450 degrees F is ideal for toasting sandwiches in the oven; they'll get nice and crispy without having to spend too much time cooking.
Most storebought mayonnaise has a higher smoke point than butter, which means it's much harder to burn your grilled cheese. Cooking your grilled cheese in the oven is another way to ensure a perfect cook, so if you like the taste of buttered bread but don't want to risk burning, the oven method is a safe bet!
💭 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!
🍤 More Seafood Recipes You'll Love
- Shrimp Curry with Broccoli and Rice - A simple and easy meal that's full of nutrition and flavor.
- Brazilian Fish Stew - Tilapia and lots of veggies make up this quick and easy fish stew.
- Lemon Dill Tuna with Noodles - A refreshing twist on the classic tuna casserole.
- Shrimp Scampi Without Wine - No wine is needed to make a delicious and flavor-packed sauce for this seafood pasta dinner!
- Creamy Lobster Bisque Soup - This gourmet homemade soup from Stay Snatched is a creamy and comforting seafood meal!
- Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos - You don’t need to head out to Bonefish Grill to enjoy this delicious and flavor-packed dish with crispy fried shrimp and sweet and tangy bang bang sauce.
Shrimp Melt Sandwich Recipe
Love this recipe? Awesome! Please give it a 5 star ⭐ rating below! And if you make this, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram. You can find me at DizzyBusyandHungry or #dizzybusyandhungry!
📋 Recipe Card
Zingy Shrimp Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 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
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
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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Happy cooking!
Ashley @ 3 Little Greenwoods
Ooooo. This looks so good. Pinning!
Bernadette
Thanks so much Kristin! I can't wait to try this recipe. It is perfect for Fridays during Lent. I also like that I can finish the meal in the oven rather than standing over the stove. I think this grilled cheese would be a fabulous appetizer as well.
Kristin King
Hi Bernadette! Your son is actually Thing 1's friend I mentioned in my post, not sure if you were aware of that! 🙂 I was a little nervous about serving an experimental recipe to a guest, but he was such a good sport and so gracious. And I think he really did like it, so if you try the recipe, you know you will have at least one kid enjoy it! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!
lynn buttedal
yummy shrimp grilled cheese!
Jersey Girl Cooks
Love this grown up grilled cheese that my daughter will love too. My picky eater son will probably not eat this but that means more for the rest of the family...lol.
Kristin King
Haha! I totally relate, sometimes when my picky eater doesn't like something I am kind of glad because there is more for the rest of us! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!
Shannon @ MamaMusing Online
I'm a huge shrimp fan, but my husband is not. But he does love grilled cheese, so I'm going to surprise him and try this!
Kristin King
Good luck! I hope he likes it! 🙂
Lisa @ ShopGirlDaily.com
Wow. I can't believe I've never thought to put shrimp on a grilled cheese before! I love shrimp and I love cheese so this seems like a no brainer!
miss messy
Why have I never put shrimp in grilled cheese before? This sounds amazing 🙂
Marion@Life Tastes Good
Great idea! I love shrimp and I love grilled cheese!! Why not put them together?! No reason! stumbled 🙂
Edward Antrobus
Of course, shrimp has a few reasons why it's per-capita consumption is so low compared to beef and chicken. 1) There are a lot of people with shellfish allergies. My wife is one. Luckily, I never really developed a taste for it so I don't miss it like I miss other foods she can't eat or doesn't like. The other reason is, of course that it's really expensive compared to warm-blooded animals. Chicken and ground beef are under $3/lb and even NY Strip is just $6 while shrimp is $9/lb
Kristin King
Yes, that is very true! The price factor is one of the reasons we don't enjoy shrimp more often! 🙂
Denise
Kristin, Such a great grown up grill cheese! Can't wait to try this one. Pinning the recipe and the shrimp graphic. I know I will use that information over and over. Thanks!