Vegan Air Fryer Cheese Toasties

These vegan air fryer cheese toasties will become your favourite lunch. Air fryers make the best toast, just like fried bread but less oil.

My son was the one that suggested making cheese toasties in the air fryer.

It became a constant refrain in my kitchen, once the air fryer arrived "Can you cook it in the air fryer?".

This question was asked about just about everything. Yes, the men in my life were excited about this new gadget.

The boy was spot on as these vegan air fryer cheese toasties are so, so good.

Jump to:

• 🍞 Toast in the air fryer
• 🍞 Air fryer toast tips
• 🧀 Helping vegan cheese to melt
• 🥪 What you need to make the best vegan grilled cheese
• 🍞 What type of bread makes the best cheese toastie?
• 🥪 Vegan grilled cheese variations
• 🥗 How to serve vegan grilled cheese
• 🥪 More toasted sandwiches to try
• 📋 Want new recipes delivered to your inbox?
• ⭐ Pin it for later
• 🥦 Living on the Veg
• 💭 How to make easy air fryer cheese toasties
• 📖 Recipe
• Comments

🍞 Toast in the air fryer

Healthy fried bread with a fine spray of light oil and cooked until crisp in the air fryer.

Super crisp and golden. Wait until you try it!

Add it to a full cooked vegan Scottish breakfast with vegan sausages, baked beans, tattie scones (Scottish potato scones), air-fried or grilled tomatoes and mushrooms.

Or use it to make the best vegan air fryer cheese toasties.

🍞 Air fryer toast tips

If you can get hold of a grill rack to fit your air fryer or if it comes with one, you can slide slices of bread between each of the struts upright, so you can toast a few slices at once.

All standing upright in a row like a line of soldiers on parade.

While we are talking about air fryers, have you tried my air fryer falafel, which is oil-free, air fryer golden syrup flapjacks, crunchy air fryer chickpeas or air fryer vegan fruit scones?

🧀 Helping vegan cheese to melt

You might be wondering how I got vegan cheese to melt like that, all gooey and delicious.

Applewood Smoky Vegan Cheese was a good place to start as it melts quite well already.

However, you could use this technique with plain vegan cheddar too.

I grated the cheese and mixed it with vegan cream cheese for that super melt in these grilled cheese sandwiches.

I also air-fried the cheese toastie open first to give the cheese a chance to melt before adding the top slice and allowing it to continue to toast.

🥪 What you need to make the best vegan grilled cheese

Here are the ingredients you need.

• white bread
• spray olive oil - or rapeseed oil
• smoked vegan cheese - grated
• vegan cream cheese
• paprika
• tomato puree - optional
• pizza seasoning - optional
• salt and pepper

We spread one slice of the bread with tomato puree before adding the cheese mixture.

This was another of my son's ideas and it does give it a bit of a pizza flavour, especially if you top the cheese with dried oregano or even my homemade pizza seasoning.

That seasoning is fabulous stuff. It perks up so many dishes.

🍞 What type of bread makes the best cheese toastie?

For the best British-style cheese toastie, you want bog-standard white sliced bread.

Once toasted it is soft inside and crisp on the outside and is a good size for a filled toastie.

🍞 Types of bread that make good toasties

Here are a few more options. Each on you choose will make a very different toastie.

• White sliced bread - a good old British classic
• Bloomers bread - heavenly toasted
• Sourdough - for that bistro type grilled cheese
• Wholemeal bread - so you can pretend it's healthy
• Seeded bread - same again

🥪 Vegan grilled cheese variations

Here are some tweaks you can make to your air fryer vegan grilled cheese.

1. Smoked Cheese - use vegan cheddar instead
2. Mozzarella - mix vegan mozzarella with vegan cheddar
3. Pickle - a very British option, use vegan cheddar and top with sandwich pickle.
4. Gherkins - sliced gherkins, also known as dill pickles are a tasty addition to grilled cheese
5. Tomato - add thin sliced seasoned with salt and pepper
6. Onion - add fine slices
7. Mushrooms - add grilled or air fried mushroom slices
8. Sriracha - spread one slice of bread with this tasty hot sauce
9. Chilli - add chilli flakes to the cheese
10. Oregano - add a good sprinkle on top of the cheese

🥗 How to serve vegan grilled cheese

Here are some ideas for serving grilled cheese.

• Green Salad - with a dressed green salad (try my vegan ranch dressing)
• Chopped salad - try Tex Mex corn chopped salad
• Coleslaw - try carrot & dill coleslaw or balsamic beet slaw
• Potato salad - I am crazy about this dill potato salad
• Sweet potato fries - try these chunky paprika sweet potato fries
• Chips - good old British chips or skinny fried
• Tortilla chips - try making your own paprika tortilla chips, they are super easy to make and so crunchy
• Tomato soup - a classic combo, try this easy recipe for creamy tomato soup made with tinned tomatoes

🥪 More toasted sandwiches to try

Here are a few more toasted sandwiches you might enjoy.

• Black Olive & Tomato Toasties - with black olive tapenade
• Falafel Beetroot Bagel Sandwich - a toasted bagel sandwich and a favourite in this house
• Smoky Vegetable Quesadillas - a toasted sandwich of sorts and delicious
• Vegan Cuban with Mushrooms - for all you mushroom-lovers
• Reuben Sandwich - with a creamy dressing

Check out my vegan sandwich and wrap page for more ideas.

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💭 How to make easy air fryer cheese toasties

Step-by-step photos. Keep scrolling for the full printable air fryer toastie recipe (with full ingredient list and nutritional info).

Step 1

• Mix the vegan cream cheese in a bowl to soften it.
• Add the grated smoked vegan cheese or cheddar to the bowl, then add the spice and season.
• Mix well.

Step 2

• Lightly spray the outside of each slice of spread with light oil.
• Spread the other side with tomato puree (optional), then top with cheese mix.
• Add both of your topped bread and a plain slice to the shelves of your air fryer, if you don't have shelves you should be able to get a shelf with legs to place in your air fryer drawer to separate the slices.
• Let it melt.

Step 3

• Once the cheese has melted, add the top slice and pop back in the air fryer.
• Air fry the whole toastie until golden.
• Enjoy!