A grilled cheese sandwich with crusty, buttery bread and a warm, gooey cheese center. Who can resist right?
But this one is extra special. It’s layered with spicy Andouille sausage chunks for a Cajun take on a grilled cheese sandwich. A thin smear of Dijon mustard adds even more flavor and a little butter is mixed with the cheese to make an extra buttery, gooey, and rich sandwich.
Cajun Grilled Cheese is definitely a grown-up kind of grilled cheese with the extra flavor and a good amount of spice from the Andouille. A manly sandwich at that. It’s best washed down with a couple of cold beers.
If you’re not familiar with Andouille sausage, it’s a spicy smoked pork sausage that is used frequently in Cajun cooking. There are many mail-order sources for it if it’s not available in your area. You can also get Aidells Cajun Style Andouille
through Amazon.
If you have extra Andouille sausage, try one of these recipes: Crawfish Jambalaya, Cajun Pastalaya or Andouille Sausage and Corn Bread Stuffing.
Cajun Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 Andouille sausages
- 5 tablespoons butter,, softened
- 6 ounces extra-sharp cheddar,, shredded
- 8 slices Italian or French bread
- 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 6 ounces Monterey Jack,, shredded
Instructions
- Slice sausages in half lengthwise and then cut into thin halfmoon shapes.
- Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned, about 6-8 minutes. Remove sausage from pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Wipe skillet clean to use for grilling the sandwiches.
- In a medium bowl, stir together cheddar cheese and 3 tablespoons butter until well mixed.
- Spread remaining 2 tablespoons butter on 1 side of each piece of bread.
- On four slices of bread, spread the cheddar/butter mixture on the non-buttered side. Top the cheddar with the Andouille sausage. Sprinkle the Monterey Jack cheese on top of the sausage.
- Taking the remaining 4 pieces of bread, spread the Dijon on the non-buttered side and place on top of the slices layered with filling, placing the Dijon side down.
- Heat skillet over medium heat and add 2 sandwiches at a time. Cook until nicely browned on bottom. Press with spatula to flatten some and flip to other side. Cook until second side is nicely browned. If cheese still isn't completely melted, turn heat to low and cook until cheese melts.
- Repeat with remaining 2 sandwiches.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclosure: Spicy Southern Kitchen is an amazon.com affiliate.
Recipe Source: adapted from Food and Wine
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Andouille sausage does not make anything Cajun. Nor would using “Cajun Seasoning”. Where are the spices that you painstakingly tasted as you cooked? We, the cajuns, don’t use Italian bread. We use French bread.
Thank you for your input Reed. “Cajun” is used in the name of the recipe. No where do I claim that it is cajun food. In the American vernacular, many people would agree that the word cajun has come to mean “spicy”. Definitely not its real meaning, but one that is widely used outside of Louisiana. That is all that is meant here. When I go to a restaurant and order Cajun Fries, I don’t expect that they are named that way because they are just like the fries people in New Iberia cook. Same thing with “French” Fries.
I love anything Cajun. Really like the traditional flavors you have included. I featured this on my Friday Five – Americana series addition featuring grilled cheese sandwiches – http://www.feedyoursoul2.com/2014/02/friday-five-americana-series-addition-1.html
Holy smokes, this looks incredible! Look at all that gooey cheese. And I bet that sausage takes it over the top 🙂
These look pretty awesome! We love andouille sausage, so putting in a grilled cheese sounds delicious!
Oh my! This is a must make! Andouille sausages in a grilled cheese? Yes please!
I <3 grilled cheese sandwiches!
This must be one of the best grilled cheeses I’ve ever seen. Oh, it looks so amazing! Lovely idea, Christin! x
Now this is a grilled cheese to get excited about! Love the addition of sausage and mustard.
Ummm yeah, my husband would go NUTS for this grilled cheese! With the andouille sausage and definitely washed down with a beer : ) haha Happy Friday Christin!
This looks incredible! I can never resist a grilled cheese sandwich and know my hubby would love this spicy manly version 🙂 Pinning – have a great weekend Christin!