This BLT panini sandwich recipe is a delicious combination of bacon, lettuce, tomato and grilled cheese! It is the hot, toasty & cheesy version of a regular BLT.
In my opinion, BLT grilled cheese paninis are a quick way to make a special lunch or dinner sandwich. Your family will love them. They are so much better than a regular boring cold cut sandwich.
BLT Panini Sandwich – After Being Grilled
Recipe Sections
My BLT grilled cheese sandwich recipe is based on using a two-sided panini press/grill (with top & bottom grilling units) and not a frying pan, etc.
BLT Panini Sandwich – Before Being Grilled
Ingredients
- 2 Slices – Bread – I prefer to use homemade bread (versus packaged store bread).
- 1-2 Slices – Cheese – Use your family’s favorite cheese. This cheese is placed on the bottom layer of the panini. There are 2 layers of cheese in this recipe.
- 4-5 Leaves – Lettuce – I prefer to use “crunchy” lettuce such as Romaine or Iceberg.
- 1-2 Slices – Tomatoes – Thinly sliced
- 3-4 Slices – Crispy Bacon – Fried or baked bacon.
- 1-2 Slices – Cheese – This is a second layer of cheese & is placed on top of the bacon.
- 1 Tablespoon – Butter (melted) – To brush on exterior of bread slices.
FYI – You can easily double the ingredients above to make 2 paninis, etc. Obviously, the amount of ingredients (e.g. number of cheese slices) will vary based on the size of the bread slice used. For example, a sandwich made with bread slices from a 2lb loaf will require more interior ingredients than a sandwich made with slices from a smaller 1 lb loaf.
Servings – 1 Panini
Equipment Needed – Serrated knife, cutting board, pastry brush, oven gloves, heat-resistant spatulas, cooling rack and panini press.
BLT Panini Sandwich – Being Assembled
Instructions
- Fry or bake the bacon. FYI – I prefer crispy bacon for my BLTs. See the tips section below if you need info on how to fry bacon.
- Preheat your panini press. Set the temperature to 325 F (or to medium heat if you can not set the temperature on your panini press) and turn on the panini grill.
- Melt the butter in your microwave.
- Brush the exterior of each slice with a thin layer of melted butter. FYI – I use a pastry brush to “brush” on the melted butter.
- Place both halves of the bread on a plate or cutting board. FYI – Do not place any ingredients on the panini grill until the sandwich has been fully assembled.
- Place cheese slices on top of the bottom half of the bread.
- Place lettuce leaves on top of the cheese slices.
- Place tomato slices on top of the lettuce.
- Place crispy bacon on top of the tomato slices.
- Place the final cheese slices on top of the bacon.
- Finally, place the top slice of bread on the cheese (to complete the structure of the panini sandwich).
- Use two wide non-scratch spatulas to scoop up the panini and transfer the assembled panini to the hot panini press. Wear oven gloves. FYI – I like to place one large spatula under the bottom of the panini and another large spatula on top in order to hold the panini together when moving the panini to the press/grill.
- Gently lower the panini press/grill lid on top of the panini. FYI – Be careful lowering the top of the panini press, you don’t want to accidentally push off the top of your panini.
- Grill for about 3-4 minutes. You should check every couple of minutes to see if the panini has finished (as panini press temperatures can vary by machine) and to avoid over-grilling & burning the panini. Grilling time length can also vary due to the type of bread used. FYI – I always check at the 3 minute mark to see if it needs extra grilling or not.
- Turn off the grill. FYI – Be careful as panini grills can stay hot for a long time.
- Use the two spatulas to remove the finished panini from the panini press. Wear oven gloves.
- Since the panini is very hot, you should place the panini on a wire cooling and let it cool for 1-2 minutes. FYI – A wire cooling rack helps to prevent a soggy bottom (versus allowing the panini to cool on a plate). The cooling rack lets moisture out versus being trapped by a plate.
- Serve the panini while it is still warm. Cut the panini in half if desired.
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Helpful Tips
- The tips below are designed to help panini “novices”. Experienced panini makers probably know most of these panini tips already.
- Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include this recipe’s tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
- This recipe is one of Bread Dad’s Easy Panini Recipes such as grilled cheese paninis, ham & cheese paninis and caprese paninis.
- Always be careful with panini presses & grills. They get very hot and can stay hot for a long time. Wear oven gloves when using a panini press/grill.
- I think that paninis taste best with homemade bread. The panini shown in the pictures above was made with Bread Dad’s Bread Machine Multigrain Bread (for a little extra crunch). However, you can also use Bread Machine White Bread, Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread, Bread Machine French Bread, etc.
- Of course, if you don’t have any homemade bread, you can also use packaged store bread to make your paninis. However, in my opinion, it just won’t taste as good as paninis made with fresh homemade bread!
- I find that paninis are a great way to use up homemade bread that has been hiding in the freezer. The grilling & the melted butter/cheese help to hide minor freezer burns or freezer-induced dryness. Just make sure to thaw out the frozen bread slices before making your paninis (leave them out at room temperature for 1-2 hours to thaw).
- Of course, one of the advantages of homemade bread (beyond taste & freshness) is the ability to screen out weird chemicals & preservatives. You know what you are putting into your homemade bread (versus what goes into factory-produced bread).
- Do not use overly thin sandwich bread slices to make your paninis. Thin slices are more likely to break or become soggy. I like to cut slices that are a little thicker than I normally use for sandwiches.
- Do not use overly thick bread. If the bread is too thick, it will be harder to heat the interior of the panini. I usually aim for my panini bread slices to be about a 1/2 inch thick.
- Do not use stale rock-hard bread to make your panini. A panini grill will not soften the stale bread. You will just be making a hot cheesy rock!
- Use your family’s favorite soft cheese to make your paninis. I like to use pepperjack cheese for this recipe because it adds a little extra spicy flavor. However, you can also use other soft sliced cheeses such as provolone, American cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, etc.
- Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to your BLT paninis (e.g. avocado)? Also what type of cheese do you like to use with your BLT paninis? Please add your panini suggestions & tips to the comment section below.
- However, do not make your panini too thick (with tons of interior ingredients) as it will be harder to heat the interior of the panini. In addition, an extra tall “dagwood-type” sandwich with many interior ingredients has a greater chance of falling apart during the move to the grill and the actual grilling.
- An overly thick panini also increases the chances that the top of the panini might slip off (when pressed down by the top of the panini press) and wreck your panini during the grilling.
- Be careful lowering the top of the panini press, you don’t want to accidentally push off the top of your panini. Lower the panini top slowly & gently.
- You should brush melted butter on the exterior sides of the panini before grilling (e.g. crusty top and crusty bottom). This helps to add flavor and creates a more crunchy crust. The melted butter also helps to transmit the heat of the grill into the bread.
- If you don’t want to use melted butter, you can replace it with olive oil, etc.
- If you need information on how to fry bacon – You can fry your bacon in a frying pan. Use medium heat and flip the bacon frequently. It will take roughly 4-8 minutes to fry the bacon (depending on the temperature used & your desired level of bacon “crispiness”). Wear oven mitts & a long-sleeved shirt when frying bacon as the hot fat/grease of the bacon can splatter and burn your skin. Also some people like to bake their bacon in an oven in order not to flip the bacon and to reduce the potential for grease/fat splatters.
- I prefer to use a panini press/grill versus a frying pan to make my paninis. Why? There is no flipping of the panini or grilled cheese and in my opinion, you also get the benefit of beautiful grill marks on the bread. Flipping the sandwich during grilling increases the chances that the sandwich will fall apart accidentally. In addition, flipping is more likely to cause hot oil or butter to splatter or spill.
- FYI – This BLT panini is basically a grilled cheese sandwich made with bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, homemade bread and your favorite cheese!
- Do not forget to preheat your panini grill or the grilling will take longer than expected.
- FYI – My panini grill “beeps” when it has reached its set temperature target (e.g. 325 F). However, other panini grills do not have this feature so you might need to let your panini grill warm up for at least 5 minutes before using it to bake your panini. Read your manual for the specific time needed to preheat your grill.
- Check your panini every couple of minutes to see if it is grilling properly. You do not want your panini to burn.
- Do not leave your panini unattended and forget about it. You could cause a fire, burn your food, etc.
- Make sure the top of the panini press/grill is fully pressed against the top of the bread. The heat from the top grill adds the characteristic grill “marks” to the bread and makes sure the top of the bread is properly heated. With most machines, you do not have to physically press down on the panini. You just let the weight of the top do the “pressing”.
- Try to make sure the top of the panini press/grill is flat and even when you lower it onto the panini. A non-level top is more likely to result in uneven heating and/or pushing the top of the panini off the sandwich. Wear oven gloves if you are handling or adjusting a hot panini press/grill.
- If you need to reheat your paninis, you can reheat them in your regular oven, a toaster oven or even by using a low heat setting on your panini press.
- I do not like to use my microwave to reheat my paninis. A microwave is more likely to make paninis soggy.
- Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a panini press/grill. The panini press/grill gets very hot during the baking process and it will stay very hot even after you turn off the panini press/grill (it takes a long time to cool).
- Do NOT let kids near your panini grills because panini grills can stay hot for a long time. They might accidentally burn themselves on the panini grill.
- Make sure to READ your panini press/grill instruction manual in order to operate your press/grill safely & correctly. Always follow the safety instructions in your panini press manual.
- If you need any panini tools (e.g. extra large heat-resistant spatulas) or panini cookbooks, check out Bread Dad’s section on Panini Grills, Tools & Books.
- In case you want to make your paninis with homemade bread (such as French bread, multigrain bread and rolls), you might want to explore Bread Dad’s sections for bread machine recipes and homemade bread recipes.
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Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Panini Sandwich
- Wikipedia, BLT
- Wikipedia, Grilled Cheese
BLT Panini Recipe (Grilled Cheese)
This BLT panini sandwich recipe is a delicious combination of bacon, lettuce, tomato and grilled cheese! It is the hot, toasty & cheesy version of a regular BLT. Visit Bread Dad (BreadDad.com) for more easy panini recipes & bread recipes.
Servings: 1 Panini
Ingredients
- 2 Slices Bread – I prefer to use homemade bread (versus packaged store bread).
- 1-2 Slices Cheese – Use your family's favorite cheese. This cheese is placed on the bottom layer of the panini. There are 2 layers of cheese in this recipe.
- 4-5 Leaves Lettuce – I prefer to use "crunchy" lettuce such as Romaine or Iceberg.
- 1-2 Slices Tomatoes – Thinly sliced
- 3-4 Slices Crispy Bacon – Fried or baked bacon
- 1-2 Slices Cheese – This is a second layer of cheese & is placed on top of the bacon.
- 1 Tablespoon Butter (melted) – To brush on exterior of bread slices.
Instructions
- Fry or bake the bacon. FYI – I prefer crispy bacon for my BLTs. See the tips section below if you need info on how to fry bacon.
- Preheat your panini press. Set the temperature to 325 F (or to medium heat if you can not set the temperature on your panini press) and turn on the panini grill.
- Melt the butter in your microwave.
- Brush the exterior of each slice with a thin layer of melted butter. FYI – I use a pastry brush to "brush" on the melted butter.
- Place both halves of the bread on a plate or cutting board. FYI – Do not place any ingredients on the panini grill until the sandwich has been fully assembled.
- Place cheese slices on top of the bottom half of the bread.
- Place lettuce leaves on top of the cheese slices.
- Place tomato slices on top of the lettuce.
- Place crispy bacon on top of the tomato slices.
- Place the final cheese slices on top of the bacon.
- Finally, place the top slice of bread on the cheese (to complete the structure of the panini sandwich).
- Use two wide non-scratch spatulas to scoop up the panini and transfer the assembled panini to the hot panini press. Wear oven gloves. FYI – I like to place one large spatula under the bottom of the panini and another large spatula on top in order to hold the panini together when moving the panini to the press/grill.
- Gently lower the panini press/grill lid on top of the panini. FYI – Be careful lowering the top of the panini press, you don't want to accidentally push off the top of your panini.
- Grill for about 3-4 minutes. You should check every couple of minutes to see if the panini has finished (as panini press temperatures can vary by machine) and to avoid over-grilling & burning the panini. Grilling time length can also vary due to the type of bread used. FYI – I always check at the 3 minute mark to see if it needs extra grilling or not.
- Turn off the grill. FYI – Be careful as panini grills can stay hot for a long time.
- Use the two spatulas to remove the finished panini from the panini press. Wear oven gloves.
- Since the panini is very hot, you should place the panini on a wire cooling and let it cool for 1-2 minutes. FYI – A wire cooling rack helps to prevent a soggy bottom (versus allowing the panini to cool on a plate). The cooling rack lets moisture out versus being trapped by a plate.
- Serve the panini while it is still warm. Cut the panini in half if desired.
Notes
This is a Bread Dad recipe and may not be copied or reproduced. Material on this website is copyright protected under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Legal Disclaimer
Nutrition data will vary based on the type of cheese used, size of bread slices, amount of extra ingredients used, etc. The nutritional information is provided using recipe tools such as WP Recipe Maker. These figures should only be considered as an estimate. They should not be construed as a guarantee of accuracy given visitors may use different serving sizes, ingredients, etc. See our legal disclaimer for additional nutrition disclosures.
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