The Ultimate Grilled Veggie Sandwich packed with zucchini, baby spinach and portobello mushrooms and a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce. You’ll never want another sandwich again.
I’m back home after being on vacation for about two weeks. Two weeks was great and we had so much fun. . but it felt like a month. I loved our vacation but living out of a suitcase is one of my most unfavorite things in the world. Especially when you over pack like I always do and are constantly digging around a very large suitcase looking for that pair of shorts for over 5 minutes.
I’m happy to be home and ready to get back to a normal routine. On vacation, you relax, forget what day it is and eat what you want, right? Well, I did and now it’s time to get back to healthier and lighter.
Ok, so healthier and lighter will have to start tomorrow because I have to share this freaking delicious grilled veggie sandwich with you guys!! This ultimate grilled veggie sandwich has some of my faves: zucchini, baby spinach and portobello mushrooms. Oh baby.
I also used gruyere, butter and one of my favorite Korean food ingredients, gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), for a little kick. So, be sure to check this sandwich out! It’s got crazy flavor, texture and just the right amount of spicy.
The Ultimate Grilled Veggie Sandwich
Ingredients
For the gochujang sauce:
- 1/4 cup gochujang
- 1 to 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
For the sandwich:
- 1 tablespoon butter for the skillet + more for spreading on your bread slices
- 4 slices bread any kind (I used a multigrain bread)
- ½ cup freshly grated gruyere cheese; split
- 1 medium sized zucchini; sliced using a vegetable peeler
- 1 heaping cup portobello mushrooms; sautéed
- 1 heaping cup fresh baby spinach
- Dijon mustard optional
Instructions
For the gochujang sauce:
- Combine the gochujang, honey and sesame oil in a small bowl. Whisk together until well blended. Taste and adjust any ingredients as necessary. Set aside.
For the sandwich:
- Butter one slice of bread on both sides and set aside. Using a cast iron skillet or non-stick skillet, heat one tablespoon of butter in your skillet over medium heat. Let the butter melt completely and then lay your slice of buttered bread into the skillet and top with a ¼ cup of the grated gruyere cheese. Cover the skillet with a lid and let the cheese melt until it's almost entirely melted, for about 2-3 minutes.
- Lift the lid and top the melted cheese with the raw zucchini, sautéed mushrooms and baby spinach and cover again with the lid for just a minute or two. Butter one side of the second slice of bread and spread dijon mustard and the gochujang sauce on the other side. Place the bread, dijon mustard/gochujang sauce side down onto the baby spinach and flip your sandwich to begin toasting the other side. Flip a couple more times if desired until you have nice, golden brown toasty bread on both sides.
- Repeat everything for your second ultimate grilled veggie sandwich. Enjoy!
Don’t you want to devour this bad boy on your next Meatless Monday? Grilled Veggie Sandwiches never looked so good. I hope you give this one a try!
I had never heard of “gochujang” before and now I am spellbound! This sandwich is very appropriately named – it is one awesome sandwich even Dagwood would devour! 🙂
haha, thank you Shashi . .if you like a little spice and heat, you will love gochujang. You can find it at any Asian or Korean market!! I hope you try it. . it’s a very popular ingredient in a lot of Korean cooking.
Alice, the whole living out of a suitcase thing gets old real fast, right? But luckily you came home and created this gorgeous thing! I rarely bring sandwiches for lunch because by the time noon rolls around, they are a sad soggy mess. This looks like the perfect weekend lunch–love the gochujang!
Hi Amy, yeah. . now that I work from home, I cook and eat right away. . so yeah this one would probably need to be for quick dinners at home or weekend lunches. . because you gotta add the gochujang sauce! 🙂
This sandwich looks incredible Alice, WOW!!
Thanks so much, Matt!! I’ll trade you for a frittaffle! 😛
I’ve been on vacation too Alice and like you I ate just about everything I could get my hands on. This gorgeous sandwich is definitely in order!
Thanks so much, Maria!
Alice I ALWAYS over pack too and dislike strongly living out of a suitcase. But that’s a whole other discussion I cannot focus on with this grilled sandwich infront of me!! Holy moly!!!
I can totally live on sandwiches like this!! This sandwich looks ultra delicious! ! This would make one great summer time dinner… 🙂
Recipe names that contain the word ultimate are my favorite :). I knew this had to be good even before seeing or reading anything, ha. It looks absolutely delicious. YUM!
Hi Kathi! haha, me too. . “ultimate” means it has to be good, right?! 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
This sandwich looks so PERFECTLY toasted and absolutely delicious!! I so wish I had everything I needed to make this for dinner tonight… 🙁 definitely going to make it soon! Pinned 🙂
Thanks so much, Rachel. . I hope you are able to make it soon!!! I can’t seem to get enough zucchini . . love putting zucchini in everything over the summer!
YUM! This sandwich is perfect for me Alice – load on the veggies!!
Hi Jessica, I know, right?! Love me a good veggie sandwich!
Welcome back Alice, so glad you had lots of fun! I tend to over pack too and always appreciate coming home 🙂 This sandwich would be EXACTLY what I would be looking forward to coming home to – it looks incredible! Love the gochujang sauce in here – it sounds amazing with all those veggies!
Thanks so much Kelly!!! So good to be back home! 🙂
If this is healthier…I’m so in! I’m with you on going lighter after vacation. This is a super sandwich idea for lunch or dinner (hey, I’d take one now for breakfast too!). Love this idea!!
My diet actually starts today. . since I loaded on the butter and cheese .. this sandwich would not be classified as healthy. . but I couldn’t resist!!
OMG this sandwich is absolutely amazing!!!!! Bananas girl! That melted cheese coming down the bread is unreal.
haha, thanks Jocelyn!! Isn’t cheese ooze the best?!
This is a great way to get me to eat my veggies! So pinning this!
Thanks Nicole!!
Grilled veggies are my most favorite thing, I could eat this sandwich every day!
this sandwich looks AMAZING.. definitely know what im recreating for lunch. your right about calling it ‘the ultimate’!
Haha, thank you Thalia!!
Thank you for this healthy recipe! After eating so many not so healthy foods this summer, a dish like this is really needed!
I love veggie paninis like this – definitely one of my my go-tos at lunch!
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Thanks so much for the visit, Luci!!