Ham & Cheese Panini Sandwich Recipe

This ham & cheese panini recipe creates a hot & toasty lunch sandwich or a quick & tasty dinner meal. Your family will love this panini because it is a delicious combination of savory ham, melted cheese and grilled bread. Paninis are so much better than boring cold sandwiches!

Ham & Cheese Panini on Honey Oat Bread (Minus A Bread Dad Bite!)

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

To make this panini sandwich, you should use fresh (non-stale) “crusty” bread such as ciabatta, French bread, Italian bread, rolls, etc. Or you can use homemade sandwich bread (e.g. bread made from Bread Dad’s bread machine recipes & oven-baked bread recipes).

Ham & Cheese Panini with Honey Oat Bread

My grilled cheese & panini sandwich recipes are based on using a two-sided griddle or panini press/grill (with top & bottom grilling units) and not a frying pan.

Ingredients

• 2 Slices – Bread – You can use homemade sandwich bread, ciabatta bread, French bread, rolls, etc.
• 1 Tablespoon – Butter (melted)
• 2 Slices – Pepperjack Cheese – You can also use soft sliced cheeses such as provolone, American cheese, etc. Use your family’s favorite soft sliced cheese.
• 3 Slices – Ham (thinly sliced cold cuts)
• 1 Slice – Medium Tomato – Tomato slice should be roughly 1/8-1/4 inch in thickness. Of course, you can exclude the tomato if you dislike tomatoes.
• Optional – 2 – Sweet Basil Leaves – Use more leaves if you love basil or the basil leaves are tiny. Exclude this ingredient if you hate basil. Instead, you can use arugula, etc.
• Optional – Pinch of Salt and/or Black Pepper

FYI – You can easily double the ingredients above to make 2 paninis, etc. Be aware that the amount of ingredients will vary based on the size of the bread used (e.g. a large French bread will require more ham, tomatoes, cheese slices, etc.)

Servings – 1 Panini

Equipment Needed – Serrated knife, cutting board, pastry brush, oven gloves, heat-resistant spatulas, cooling rack and griddle or panini press.

Sliced Ham & Cheese Panini with Ciabatta Bread

Ham & Cheese Panini Being Assembled (Before Grilling)

Instructions

• 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.
• Optional – Consider brushing the interior of each slice with melted butter. FYI – This helps to better transfer the heat to the interior ingredients but it does add more calories.
• Place both halves of the bread on a plate or cutting board. FYI – Do not place the ingredients on the panini grill until your panini has been fully assembled.
• Place a cheese slice on top of the bottom half of the bread.
• Place the ham slices on top of the cheese slice.
• Optional – Place basil leaves on top of the ham.
• Place the tomato slice on top of the ham (and optional basil leaves).
• Place the final cheese slice on top of the tomato.
• 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 use one spatula on the bottom of the panini and one 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.
• Grill for about 3-4 minutes. FYI – You can 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. You might have to grill longer if you use “medium” heat versus 325 F (as the temperature range can vary by machine). Grilling time length varies due to the type of bread used.
• 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.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help panini & griddle “novices”. Experienced panini & griddle users probably know most of these 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 Grilled Cheese & Panini Sandwich Recipes such as chicken paninis, air fryer grilled cheese and cheese steak paninis.
• Always be careful with panini presses & grills. They get very hot and can stay hot for a long time. Wear oven gloves.

• In America, panini refers to a hot sandwich that has been grilled/toasted on a panini press/grill, etc. This type of sandwich is usually filled with cheese and various other ingredients such as meat, veggies, etc. A panini also usually has the classic grilled “stripes” on the crust.
• However, the word “panini” comes from Italy. According to Wikipedia, “In Italian, the noun panino (Italian: [pa’niːno]; pl.: panini) is a diminutive of pane (lit. ’bread’) and refers to a bread roll. Panino imbottito (lit. ’stuffed panino’) refers to a sandwich, but the word panino is also often used alone to indicate a sandwich in general.”

• The best bread to use for paninis is usually “crusty” breads such as ciabatta, French bread, Italian bread, focaccia and rolls. The exterior crust on these breads helps to prevent the sandwich from being crushed totally flat by the panini press. Moreover, the crust prevents any interior liquid or melty cheesy from causing the exterior bread to become soggy.
• However, for this panini (which does not have too many wet ingredients), you can also use homemade sandwich breads such as oatmeal bread, whole wheat bread, multigrain bread, etc. Check out Bread Dad’s main Bread Recipes section if you need additional bread ideas for your paninis.
• In the photos above, I am using my Honey Oat Bread Recipe for the panini version made with slices of homemade sandwich bread. There is also a photo on this page of a ham & cheese panini that I made with ciabatta bread.
• Visitors – What type of bread did you use to make this panini sandwich? Please post your panini sandwich suggestions in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

• 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 bread to be about 1/2 inches 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!

• I like to use pepperjack cheese for this recipe because it adds a little extra spicy flavor. However, you can use other soft sliced cheeses such as provolone, American cheese, etc. Use your family’s favorite soft cheese.
• If you use a bland soft cheese, you might want to add a little salt/pepper or some herbs in order to season your panini.
• Do not add a billion slices of cheese or it will be harder for the cheese to melt properly.
• If you have trouble melting your cheese, you should consider using room temperature cheese versus refrigerator cold cheese.
• It is easy to add extra ingredients to make your panini even more unique or flavorful. You can add extra ingredients such as crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, caramelized onions, arugula, grilled peppers, etc.
• Visitors – What extra ingredients do you like to add to your ham & cheese paninis? Bacon? Mustard? Herbs? Extra cheese? And what type of cheese do you like to use for your ham & cheese paninis? Please add your panini suggestions & tips to the comment section below.
• Visitor variations – Stephanie added some “sliced onion” (I wonder if she pre-grilled them on the panini machine before adding them to the sandwich – yum!)

• To make this ham & cheese panini, I used ham deli cold cuts. However, you can also use very thin slices from baked ham, etc.
• 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.
• An overly thick panini also increases the chances that the top of the panini might slip off (when pressed down by the panini press) and wreck your panini during the grilling.
• Make sure not to add too many “wet” ingredients to a panini such as sauteed mushrooms, sauces, etc. Excess wet ingredients can create soggy paninis (especially if you use non-crusty bread such as homemade sandwich bread). If you use wet ingredients such as sauteed mushrooms or onions, you should try to dry off any excess moisture or oil from these ingredients.

• 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.
• Optional – You can also brush some melted butter on the soft interior side of the bread. This helps to transfer heat to the interior ingredients. However, it also adds more calories and fat to the panini.
• If you don’t want to use melted butter, you can replace it with olive oil, etc.
• FYI – I am old school so I like to use melted butter or olive oil to “coat” the exterior of my paninis. However, in recent years, a growing number of people like to brush a thin layer of mayonnaise on the outside of their panini slices (instead of melted butter or olive oil). They like the added flavor, believe mayo “browns” the panini better and like how mayo is already soft. Also they see mayo as a readily available substitute if they are out of butter. What do you think about mayonnaise “coated” paninis?
• Visitors – Do you brush butter/oil on the exterior of the panini or on the exterior AND interior of your paninis? Also do you prefer to use melted butter, vegetable oil or mayonnaise to coat your panini? Please add your panini suggestions & tips to the comment section below.

• 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 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.

• Do you find it hard to heat the interior of your panini before it burns? If so, you should lower the heat on your panini press. This will allow you to grill the panini for longer before it burns. This also means that the panini interior will have a longer time to heat up. Also make sure the bread slices are not too thick and you haven’t added too many interior ingredients.
• 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.
• However, do NOT use your microwave to reheat your paninis. A microwave is more likely to make your panini soggy.
• Visitors – What is the craziest thing you placed in a panini (and really liked!)? Anchovies? Chocolate chips? Sliced apples? Potato chips? Please post your panini suggestions in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

• 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.
• Want more recipes? Check out the 100s of grilled cheese & panini recipes in these popular Sandwich Recipe Cookbooks.
• In case you want to make your grilled sandwiches & 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

1. Wikipedia, Panini Sandwich
2. Wikipedia, Ham
3. Wikipedia, Cheese

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