Mozzarella Sandwich
Updated Jul 07, 2025
Mozzarella Sandwich made with fresh tomatoes, pesto, and sourdough bread. It's a caprese panini-style sandwich that takes 15 mins to prep and make!
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My Mozzarella Sandwich takes 15 minutes to make!
This mozzarella sandwich is what I make when I want something warm and melty. The homemade pesto makes it taste fresh, but it comes together fast, especially if you’ve got everything on hand.
I usually make this mozzarella sandwich on sourdough with mozzarella cheese (obviously), tomatoes, and jarred roasted red peppers kind of like a caprese panini with a little extra going on And if I’ve got leftover pesto, I’ll use it the next day to make Pesto Eggs or Pesto Pasta with Chicken because I’m not letting that go to waste.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Mozzarella Sandwich Ingredients
- Sourdough Bread. I may be biased, but I can’t help but use sourdough here!
- Pesto. I like to make my own homemade pesto but store-bought is fine as well!
- Mozzarella Cheese. Go for a large ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded mozzarella also works but isn’t the same, imo.
- Tomatoes. One large heirloom tomato is what I like for these sandwiches! But any type of tomato will work so long as it can be sliced flat.
- Roasted Red Peppers. When I have time, I like to roast my own red peppers, but jarred red peppers are great, too.
- Seasoning. For flavor, you’ll just need salt, pepper, and olive oil. Fresh basil also goes great with all the other flavors in this caprese panini
Recipe Video Tutorial
How to Make Caprese-Style Mozzarella Sandwiches
Mozzarella Sandwich Recipe
This Mozzarella Sandwich is made with fresh tomatoes, pesto and sourdough bread. It's a caprese panini-style sandwich that takes 15 mins to prep and make!
Video
Ingredients
For the Sandwich
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese sliced
- 1 large tomato sliced
- 2 oz roasted red peppers jarred
For the Pesto
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic clove peeled
- 2 tablespoons walnuts
- 2 tablespoons Grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- To make the pesto, place the basil, garlic, walnuts and Parmesan cheese in the food processor; season with salt and pepper, to taste, and blend. While the food processor is on, pour the olive oil slowly into the mixture in order to allow the olive oil to emulsify.
- Spread the pesto equally on the 4 slices of bread and place two slices of bread on the panini maker or in a toaster oven for 2 minutes.
- Then place the mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and roasted red peppers on top of two bread slices and allow the cheese to melt and the veggies to soften, keeping the panini maker open.
- Once the cheese starts to melt, add the second slices on top to close the sandwiches, then close the panini maker for 2-3 minutes. Remove, slice in half and serve immediately
Equipment
Notes
Storage: Leftover pesto should be covered and stored in the refrigerator, it will keep fresh for one week. I would not recommend storing the sandwich though for more than a couple hours. If you have sandwich leftovers, it’s best to reheat using a toaster oven or panini maker.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g, Calories: 449kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 25g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 24mg, Sodium: 742mg, Potassium: 302mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 960IU, Vitamin C: 16.1mg, Calcium: 224mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Recipe Tips
- Don’t have a panini maker? No problem. If you’re in the market, this panini maker is my personal favorite, but you can also use a toaster oven or a grill pan to make this mozzarella sandwich!
- Use the freshest ingredients you can. This recipe is very simple, so the quality of your mozzarella, bread, basil, and pesto makes all the difference when it comes to flavor.
- Use thick, sturdy sourdough bread. You’ll want to look for bread that’s not airy on the inside so the sandwich stays put when you press it in the panini maker.
Serving Ideas
- Dip your sandwich in some soup! My personal favorite is Roasted Red Pepper Soup. But, I’ve also served it with Cauliflower Soup, Zucchini Soup, and Roasted Tomato Soup.
- Pair it with a salad. This mozzarella sandwich goes well with so many like my Chickpea Salad, Mixed Greens Salad, Apple Walnut Salad and Spinach Strawberry Salad!
Comments
I do not have a panini grill so will have to use a skillet. Do I use a bit of oil or butter in the skillet first before adding the sandwich?
Yes, put a little bit of butter or oil in the skillet before adding your sandwich. Enjoy!!
A great sandwich, well-communicated instructions and suggestions. I thought “who needs tomato with the red peppers?” and the answer is: perfect! Follow the directions! THANK YOU.
Aww yay, I’m so happy to hear that!! Glad you liked the recipe, Chris!!
wow this looks amazing
Thank you so much!
Delicious ! Yum !
Thank you, Pat!
Made this for dinner tonight. My husband and I loved it! I will definitely keep it on our menu rotation. Thank you for sharing!
So glad you and your husband enjoyed the sandwich, KC!
I absolutely loved this sandwich and it was so easy to make. You could even eat it cold! Definitely going to follow your blog regularly from now on.
Thank you so mush, Aashvi, and welcome!!
is there anything I can sub for the walnuts?
Instead of walnuts, you can use other nuts, like pine nuts, almonds or pecans, to make the pesto.
Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich was excellent. Will definitely make it again.
Thank you so much! That’s great to hear!
We added pre cooked chicken , we cooked it open faced in toaster oven. Then added the top toast with some Chipotle mayo… so yummy 😋
I love that! Yum!!
Wow! This was so amazing! I love simple foods with big flavors!
Thank you so much!!
Excellent
Thank you!
This was delicious!!
Yay! Glad you made it and enjoyed it!! 🙂
I’m a little unsure about the instructions – do you close the penini maker at any point?
Never mind! i see you explained really well in the pictured steps!
Good question! You can actually lay all the bread slices flat on the panini maker with two of them having only pesto and the other two having the pesto, cheese and veggies. That would be less messy and then you can assemble. Or you can close the sandwich and close the panini maker which is what I show in the video. I updated the instructions to make this more clear. Thank you!
Wonderful recipe!
So happy to hear that! Thank you!
The best sandwich ever !!! Thanks so much for sharing !!!
Yay! So happy to hear that!! Thank you 🙂
Delicious sandwich!
All of the flavors melt together perfectly. I used an extra clove of garlic in the pesto, because I love garlic. I served the sandwich with coleslaw. The creaminess of the coleslaw helped balance out the tanginess of the sandwich. I’m definitely making this again! I may try making the pesto with pignoli nuts next time.
So glad you enjoyed it! Love that you served it with coleslaw…yum!
I want to make this for someone that is a vegetarian, but is allergic to all nuts. Is there something I could substitute the walnuts for to get a similar taste?
I just read the comment below mine about using pine nuts instead of walnuts! Thanks 🙂
Ohhh you had a typo so instead of walnuts, it showed up as all nuts LOL! Ok, yes, pine nuts would be perfect!!
If you’re looking to make it nut-free, there’s no good substitute but nut-free pesto is still very delicious especially if you can still use cheese. I recommend just skipping the nuts.
Love the pesto recipe! We used pine nuts instead of walnuts due to a food allergy. We’ve used it on a variety of sandwiches this week.
So glad to hear it! Thanks so much for sharing!
Delicious sandwich! I’ve never made pesto before. I love that it’s made with walnuts instead of pine nuts. My daughter is very picky and even she loved it! Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad to hear that you and your daughter enjoyed it. Thank you!!
The flavors in this sandwich are absolutely amazing!!!!! I will be making this for years to come!!!!
Yay!! That’s awesome!
These were SO yummy. We just used a frying pan and let the cheese melt for a minute or so before adding the tomatoes and peppers. SO DELICIOUS
Yummmm that sounds perfect!!
Super easy and tasty! We used jar pesto bc it’s what we had in the house and added some balsamic at the end ! Would def make again. Delicious
Awesome!! So glad to hear it. Thank you!!
Super tasty. I used jar pesto and put everything together and pressed the panini maker down on max. We also added a touch of balsamic after !
Love this! I used regular bread as well because I couldn’t get to the store, but it was still amazing. Super easy and quick to make. I’m currently on my second one lol. Thank you so much for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
This recipe rocks. It tasted even better than what i thought it would. We will do it again.
Yay! So glad to hear it! Thanks so much for the feedback! 🙂
looks delicious. when i got home i am gonna show this to my mom then we make it together. thanks for the recipe
Awesome! I hope you make it together and enjoy it!
This was really good, I don’t have a panini maker so I made it like a grilled cheese sandwich but pressed it down some. Definitely will make it again!
Awesome! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it…it’s great this time of the year when there’s so much basil and tomatoes in season!
This was really great! I love anything tomato, basil, and mozzarella. I used mozzarella slices and it was perfect! Can’t wait to make again!
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Easy to make and delicious
Thank you! So glad you like it!
I love the way this tasted! Perfect recipe
Loving the walnut pesto with the cheese, makes for a great twist on this classic sandwich. It’s hearty and filling.
This sandwich is so easy to make and delicious. The home made pesto give it a fresh taste.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing!
Great Recipe! Would love to see more vegetarian recipes on your page.
Thank you so much! I will add more vegetarian recipes for sure!