Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheesewith spinach and pear salad
Everyone loves a grilled cheese and this version is a Cook Smarts classic that was first featured in 2016. It always gets great reviews from our community. A fresh salad with tart vinaigrette balances out the rich flavors.
Smarts: Both the grilled cheese and salad use baby spinach so that you can buy a big bag. If you prefer different greens for the salad, any will work.
Ingredients
- Garlic - 1 clove, chopped
- Artichoke hearts, frozen or canned - 8 oz, chopped
- Cheese, shredded provolone - 6 oz (sub slices, chopped)
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Spinach, baby - 4 oz
- Mayonnaise - 3 Tbsp
- Bread, sandwich - 8 slices
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Pears, any variety - 1, sliced
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Honey - 2 tsp
- Vinegar, balsamic - 2 tsp
- Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
- Spinach, baby - 6 oz
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Garlic / Artichoke hearts / Cheese - Prep as directed. Store in separate containers. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Pears - Slice pears.
Make
- Heat a non-stick frying pan or skillet over medium-high. Add oil and garlic and artichoke hearts to heated oil. Saute until garlic is fragrant, ~1 minute. Add spinach (portion for the sandwiches) and a pinch of salt. Saute until spinach is wilted and most of the liquid has cooked off, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain off an remaining liquid.
- Transfer spinach mixture to a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly. Stir in mayonnaise and cheese. Season with some salt and pepper, if needed.
- Wipe out pan and return it to heat.
- Assemble grilled cheese sandwiches by buttering one side of each piece of bread. Place half the slices of bread buttered-side down in hot pan. Top with spinach-artichoke filling and then add remaining bread, buttered-side up. Cook until bottom of bread is golden brown, ~3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until filling is completely melted, ~3 minutes more.
- While sandwiches cook, whisk together mustard, honey, vinegar, and oil. Toss with pears and spinach.
- Slice sandwiches and enjoy with salad on the side.
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
This meal has 52 reviews
I've made this a few times now and it doesn't disappoint!!
These are a great grown up grilled cheese. Love the artichokes with the spinach.
The grilled cheeses were delicious, but the salad was just OK
Awesome on sourdough! I added some other things to salad like cucumber, avocado, celery. Yum.
Easy and delicious
It would have been helpful to chop the spinach before mixing it in with the filling - long pieces came out of our sandwiches. I decided to make tomato soup instead of the salad, which is definitely something I'd do again. I'd use less mayo next time.