The BEST Gluten-free Dairy-free Grilled Cheese
A comfort food classic made allergy-friendly! This Gluten-free Dairy-free Grilled Cheese is warm, gooey, golden perfection—without the dairy, gluten, eggs, or nuts.
Whether you’re packing lunches, feeding picky eaters, or just craving a quick, satisfying bite, this easy grilled cheese hits the spot every time. And bonus? It’s completely plant-based, vegan, and kid-approved.
You don’t need fancy ingredients or complicated prep to bring this favorite to the table. Just three simple, allergen-friendly ingredients that toast up into a golden, melty sandwich everyone can enjoy.
I tested 6 brands of dairy-free cheese slices to find the best one! Combined with my favorite gluten-free bread makes for an amazing sandwich, even without the gluten or dairy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
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Allergy-friendly: Completely gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and egg-free.
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Vegan + plant-based: No animal products, just simple goodness.
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Quick + easy: Ready in minutes with just 3 ingredients.
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Kid-approved: Crispy outside, melty inside—what’s not to love?
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Customizable: Switch up the bread or cheese to your liking.
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Tried + Tested: We did the work to test all the dairy-free sliced cheese and gluten-free breads we could find so you wouldn’t have to!
Ingredients
You only need a few pantry staples for this Gluten-free Dairy-free Grilled Cheese:
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Gluten-free bread – Soft or hearty, use your favorite brand that toasts well. However, our hands down absolutely-love-it-favorite is Franz Sourdough Bread. It gives such an amazing crunch and texture, you won’t want to use anything else! Read all about what our Favorite Gluten-free Breads are and why, plus which ones we won’t be buying again here.
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Dairy-free cheese – Choose a meltable slice-style vegan cheese for the best gooey texture. Our family all preferred the Daiya brand of sliced cheese. See below for our dairy-free full sliced cheese review!
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Vegan butter – For that golden, crisp exterior—don’t skip this! We prefer the close-to-dairy taste of the Country Crock spreadable brand that we find at Walmart.
The Best Dairy-free Sliced Cheese
We wanted to know – what is the BEST dairy-free sliced cheese for a grilled cheese? So, we tried 6 different types of vegan sliced cheddar cheese. My large family rated them based on melt, texture, and flavor.
Keep in mind, two of my boys do NOT usually like dairy-free cheese. They think vegan cheese tastes and smells weird, and dislike the texture. So, I knew they would give me honest feedback.
I am listing them below in order of our favorite to least favorite, with details and rating below them.
- Daiya Cheddar or American – WINNER: Crowd favorite!
- The melt was great, the texture was good – a little bit of stretch, not too creamy or waxy.
- The flavor was good. A few thought it wasn’t flavorful enough (definitely not a “sharp” cheddar) but liked that it was more neutral and not too “vegan-y” tasting. Definitely the overall winner!
- Follow Your Heart American – Runner-up
- The melt was good, however the texture was disliked by several of my kiddos. They found it weirdly creamy.
- The flavor was good. It had more of a “sharp” cheddar tangy to it I enjoyed. But, several of my kids found it too “vegan-y.”
- Violife Cheddar Slices + Mature Cheddar Slices – Wouldn’t buy again
- Now, I love Violife cheese shreds. They are one of our top 2 favorites, which you can read more about here.
- But, these cheese slices just missed the mark, sadly. The melt was terrible, it took forever and even after 30 minutes weren’t fully melted. This resulted in a waxy texture no one liked.
- The taste was lacking. We didn’t feel like it tasted like much of anything.
- Chao Creamery Creamy Original – Wouldn’t buy again
- This was a new to me brand that I was excited to try. A follower recommended it, so maybe it’s just not for me.
- This cheese would NOT melt. Like, stayed on the pan for 30 minutes and still was not melted.
- This cheese also didn’t have much flavor.
How to Make It
Unlike regular cheese, vegan cheese takes longer to melt. If you cook it like a regular grilled cheese over medium heat, it won’t melt. To get a gooey, melted grilled cheese we found two methods that worked consistently for us:
Method 1 (fastest – 6 min)
- Place the cheese between two slices of bread and put in the microwave. Place a glass mug or cup of water in the microwave as well to prevent the bread from getting hard. Microwave for about 30 seconds, or until cheese is melted, flipping halfway through.
- Preheat a skillet over medium heat. A nonstick or cast iron pan works best.
- Butter one side of the sandwich with vegan butter.
- Place the sandwich buttered-side down in the pan.
- Butter the other side of the bread.
- Grill until golden, about 3 minutes, then carefully flip and cook the other side until the cheese is melted and the bread is crisp.
- Let cool slightly before slicing and serving—this helps the cheese stay put!
Method 2 (no microwave – 20 min)
- Preheat a skillet over low-medium heat. A nonstick or cast iron pan works best.
- Butter one side of each slice of gluten-free bread with your vegan butter.
- Place one slice of bread buttered-side down in the pan. Top with the cheese.
- Butter the other slice of the bread and place on top of the cheese.
- Grill until golden. To get the cheese melted, you will need to go “low and slow” – low heat for a long time. This will be about 10 minutes each side, then carefully flip and cook the other side until the cheese is melted and the bread is crisp, for 20 minutes total.
- Let cool slightly before slicing and serving—this helps the cheese stay put!
That’s it! A perfectly crispy, gooey Gluten-free Dairy-free Grilled Cheese in minutes, with no fuss and no allergens.
Other Easy Lunch Recipes You Will Love
Need more allergy-friendly lunch inspo? Try these easy, family-friendly meals from Wholefoodfor7:
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Southwest Chicken Salad – This recipe is my kind of meal: minimal effort, maximum flavor. Perfect for meal prep, a quick lunch, or even stuffing into lettuce wraps for an easy dinner. Budget-friendly, dairy-free, easy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free.
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Whole30 Chicken Salad – An EASY allergen-friendly take on the classic. All the flavor, but in a simple way that is budget-friendly, dairy-free, easy, egg-free, gluten-free, Keto, nut-free, Paleo, Whole30.
- Everything Bagel Tuna Salad – I don’t usually love tuna, but this quick tuna salad adds a few ingredients that makes it delicious! Budget-friendly, dairy-free, easy, gluten-free, nut-free, Paleo, Whole30.
This Gluten-free Dairy-free Grilled Cheese is a staple you’ll want on repeat—simple, satisfying, and safe for all the eaters at your table. Whether you’re eating plant-based, dealing with food allergies, or just want a cozy, nostalgic meal, this one checks all the boxes.
Gluten-free Dairy-free Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 slices gluten-free bread Franz Gluten-free Sourdough or Brioche bread; or other gluten-free bread of choice, see notes
- 4 slices Daiya dairy-free sliced cheese see blog post for cheese reviews
- 1/4 cup vegan butter or other dairy-free butter of choice
Instructions
Method 1 (fastest - 6 min)
- Place the cheese between two slices of bread and put in the microwave. Place a glass mug or cup of water in the microwave as well to prevent the bread from getting hard. Microwave for about 30 seconds, or until cheese is melted, flipping halfway through.
- Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Butter one side of the sandwich with vegan butter. Place the sandwich buttered-side down in the pan. Butter the other slice of bread that is now on top.
- Grill until golden, about 3 minutes, then carefully flip and cook the other side until the cheese is melted and the bread is crisp.
- Let cool slightly before slicing and serving—this helps the cheese stay put!
Method 2 (no microwave - 20 min)
- Preheat a skillet over low-medium heat. Don't heat too high, or the cheese won't melt before the bread is done.
- Butter one side of each slice of gluten-free bread with your vegan butter. Place one slice of bread buttered-side down in the pan. Top with the cheese. Place the other slice of buttered bread on top of the cheese, butter side up.
- Grill until golden. To get the cheese melted, you will need to go "low and slow" - low heat for a long time. This will be about 10 minutes each side, then carefully flip and cook the other side until the cheese is melted and the bread is crisp, for 20 minutes total. You can turn up the heat to medium and cook a few more minutes on each side once the cheese is melted, to get the bread extra golden and crispy, if desired.
- Let cool slightly before slicing and serving—this helps the cheese stay put!
Notes
Nutrition
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