20 Things to Make in a Sandwich Maker That Aren’t Sandwiches

Cooking for one or two? You can have a meal in minutes and save electricity with these 20 things to make in a sandwich maker/panini press.

Just like a rice cooker can cook more than rice, a sandwich press can cook more than just sandwiches. 

Or paninis, if you prefer, depending on where you live.

If you’re looking for a kitchen hack that can save time and energy, dust off the sandwich press and try pressing some of the following foods to make cheap and easy meals.

Why Cook in a Sandwich Press – Situations It’s Best Suited For

Cooking in a sandwich press isn’t ideal for all culinary situations, but it is perfect for the following: 

• When you’re cooking for one
• Small space/tiny home cooking 
• Caravan cooking
• Student/dorm cooking
• Cooking lunch for one or two
• Cooking breakfast fast
• Easy cooking for kids.

Having said that, I do regularly cook a meal for four people using the sandwich press. I cook 3 lamb steaks on the sandwich press and then finely slice them. We then add them to a souvlaki wrap with salad and tzatziki for a five-minute easy gyros. So quick and easy on busy nights!

Because you’re cooking from both the top and bottom at once and because it’s a small appliance that takes less time to pre-heat, food cooks faster, and you use less electricity.

According to this calculator, if we use our sandwich maker for two hours a week, it would cost us around $1.50 per month in electricity. 

Using the stovetop for two hours would cost around $4.30 a month.

3 Sandwich Press Hacks to Get More From Your Press

We have a very basic and cheap sandwich press (similar to this one but a different brand), no George Foreman grill or adjustable-height panini press. But we can still get great results using the hacks below.

1. Keeping your press ajar if it’s not adjustable

When is a door, not a door?

When it’s ajar. 

Or in this case, when a jar, tin, mug, or glass keeps the lid from fully closing.

You can heat from the top and bottom, even if you don’t have an adjustable press, by using something to prop open the lid.

Just make sure what you use is tall enough so the lid comes close to the food without touching it (as in the case of an egg. It’s hard to see, but it’s not quite touching the yolk) or without pressing down too hard (for example, if you don’t want to completely squash a tuna rissole). 

The great thing about DIYing the height of the sandwich press is you can get it exactly right.

2. Reduce cleaning time with a liner

If you’re cooking something messy, like bacon, steak, chicken, or greasy hash browns, you can cut cleaning time by placing your food between two sheets of baking paper.

(I’ve folded it in half above; same result).

3. Cleaning Your sandwich press

To clean your press, wipe it down with a damp cloth rinsed in soapy water once it is cool enough to touch. 

For stubborn cooked-on food (like fruit; see below), use a brush or very gentle scourer and dishwashing detergent to clean before wiping with a damp cloth and plain water. 

Be sure not to submerge your press in water or get it too wet.

4. Use a thermometer

Using a digital thermometer is a mini-hack because it’s not essential, but it’s something I find helpful and use all the time.

A thermometer is especially useful if you’re cooking burger patties or things straight from the freezer to make sure they are thoroughly cooked through. 

(The internal temperature, by the way, should be 75°C for mince and frozen goods.)

20 Things to Cook in Your Sandwich Press

Do you want bacon for breakfast in a matter of seconds? 

Or a fish burger for dinner in under five minutes?

You can create delicious meals for one or two people in a fraction of the time it takes on the stovetop or oven and without the appliance taking up lots of bench space (air fryer, I’m looking at you!).

Here are some of the things we’ve cooked in our sandwich press.

1. Bacon and Eggs

To cook bacon and eggs for one, press the bacon in the sandwich press until cooked, then move the bacon over, and crack an egg into the bacon grease.

You can remove the bacon or leave it in the press to keep warm while the egg cooks. Lower the lid until it’s close to the egg but not quite touching (see hack above), and cook to your liking.

Flip the egg, if desired.

2. French Toast

Enjoy French toast in seconds by cooking it in the sandwich press.

You may want to add a little butter to the bottom part of your press to get the best results.

If you don’t like your French toast completely flattened, adjust the lid height so it’s just touching the toast without squashing it down.

3. Pancakes

While this isn’t the best way to feed pancakes to a crowd, you can cook pancakes for one or two quickly in the press.

You will want to grease the bottom of the sandwich press with a little butter for best results.

I cooked these with the lid open until I flipped the pancake, and then I cooked with the lid down. That way, you don’t get a mess on the top of the press. If you want the fancy grill marks on both sides of the pancake, flip once more.

For a quick after-school snack, keep some pancake or pikelet mix in the fridge, and the kids will be able to whip up some quick and easy mini-pancakes.

4. Burger Patties

Whip up a burger in minutes with all the trimmings like bacon, egg, and grilled pineapple (don’t knock it until you’ve had an Aussie burger), all cooked in the press.

We had leftover gyoza filling in the freezer, frozen into a pattie shape. I cooked this up from frozen and served it with some steamed veggies – a flavour-packed meal for one in minutes.

5. Tuna Patties

The tuna patties pictured above are a bit flattened – you can prevent this by propping up the lid slightly. These ones are made with sweet potato, which gives them that golden colour.

Great for lunches when you want to quickly use leftover patties from the night before.

6. Chicken Tenders/Nuggets etc.

Need a quick and easy meal for the kids?

Chicken nuggets cook in a fraction of the time in the sandwich press than they do in the oven.

One of our favourite quick and easy meals is a chicken tender wrap. I can cook enough tenders for four people in the sandwich press. Then we serve them on a tortilla with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and mayo.

7. Frozen Fish Fillets

Frozen fish fillets are great for fish burgers, fish wraps, or served with a salad for a quick fish meal.

8. Fresh Fish

You can also cook fresh fish fillets super fast on the sandwich press. 

Fish tends to be delicate, and can stick, so oil your press (or fish fillet) or use baking paper.

9. Fresh Chicken Breast

Prefer not to eat frozen chicken tenders?

You can cook fresh chicken tenders or chicken breast instead.

In the picture above, the chicken has been tossed with herb and garlic season mixed with a bit of oil. You can also marinate your chicken for a flavourful meal. 

The marinade will stick to the press, making it harder to clean – baking paper will help avoid that.

10. Steak

I’ve only cooked minute steak in the sandwich press because that’s as far as our budget stretches. 

When your steak is this thin, it literally takes 30 seconds to cook – leave it any longer, and it will get tough! I removed the steak to finish cooking the mushrooms and onion.

I served this with some leftover mash, but you could also cook a hashbrown to serve alongside.

11. Meat/Vegetable Skewers

When skewers go on sale at half-price, they can be cost-effective as well as delicious. 

You can cook skewers quickly by laying them lengthways on the sandwich press as pictured. 

If they are marinated, the marinade might be hard to clean off – a bit of baking paper can help with that.

These are nice served with some grilled vegetables, a salad, or some vegetables and rice (like this one done in the rice cooker).

12. Grilled Vegetables

I’ve covered a lot of meat so far, but you can cook vegetarian foods in the sandwich press too.

These grilled vegetables are to die for and are great in a grilled vegetable wrap with a bit of Danish Feta cheese.

13. Tofu

I made these amazing crumbed tofu batons I saw on Instagram and served them with some leftover satay sauce and coleslaw. 

Absolutely delicious and super quick in the sandwich press.

To cook firm tofu, remove it from the packet and pat dry, then place it on a clean tea towel or paper towel with a weight on it to press out any excess moisture. Leave like this for about 30 minutes before cooking. 

Best cooked plain or crumbed, then added to sauce if desired.

14. Hash Browns

A bit of a guilty pleasure! But a frozen hash brown with some mushrooms and an egg hits the spot when you want something special for breakfast but without too much fuss.

And when cooked in the sandwich press, this breakfast can be on the table in around five minutes.

15. Halloumi

Halloumi isn’t the most frugal ingredient, but if you’re looking for a vegetarian substitute for that meaty texture, halloumi is pretty good.

I love halloumi for lunch served with a leftover roast vegetable salad from dinner the night before.

5. Veggie Patties

Whether you make your own vegetable patties or eat store-bought (I like the Coles home-brand variety), they can be cooked quickly and easily in the sandwich press. 

And no washing pans or oven trays!

17. Vegetable Fritters

Veggie fritters are tasty and versatile – you can use just about any vegetables you have on hand. 

And when you cook them in a sandwich press, you can have a vegetable-packed meal on the table in minutes.

Fritter mix will keep in the fridge for up to three days, so you can make up a batch and cook a few fritters for lunch each day.

Serve as they are, or top with an egg, some chicken, a dollop of sour cream, avocado, diced tomatoes, onion chutney, sauce, or maybe even some grilled (‘pressed’) halloumi.

18. Quesadillas and Tortilla Pizzas

I guess this is technically a sandwich, so I’m cheating a little bit, but quesadillas are so delicious and easy to make they are worth mentioning.

As with a sandwich, you can put just about anything in a quesadilla. Pictured is a veggie pattie and cheese. A grilled (in the press) vegetable quesadilla with some aioli or feta is nice.

The kids like to make avocado and cheese quesadillas. Traditional quesadillas include beans.

As this was a cheat, I will also mention you can cook tortilla pizzas in the sandwich press!

19. Grilled Fruit

Just like vegetables, you can also grill fruit in the sandwich press. 

Not gonna lie, the sandwich press was not fun to clean after grilling fruit. I tried putting some paper over it to keep the press clean, but the fruit steamed and turned to mush.

So just know, if you cook fruit in the press, it’s going to be messy, and you’ll need to use a scourer (gently) a bit afterwards.

But it did turn out yummy-as and I at this fruit on a pancake, also cooked in the press.

You can serve grilled fruit on pancakes, French toast, porridge, or as a dessert with some whipped cream.

The tinned apricots I used were the most sour things I’ve ever eaten (!!!), so I sprinkled them with some sugar before grilling.

20. Cookies

Last but not least, if you feel like a sweet hit and have some cookie dough ready in the freezer (either homemade dough or storebought), you can make a couple of cookies without turning the oven on.

While they may not be the best-looking cookies in the world, they taste just as good as their oven counterparts.

I propped the lid open so it was almost closed but not touching. The cookies took 10 minutes to cook (about the same amount of time as the oven), but barely any preheating time and a much smaller space to heat.

The cookies were still soft when cooked but crisped up once they were left to cool a bit. Using baking paper would have made it easier to remove the cookies, but an egg flip did the trick.

You can cook many things in a sandwich (panini) press besides sandwiches. And if you’re cooking for one or two, using a sandwich press will save you time and electricity. 

What have you cooked in your sandwich maker/panini press?