My friends and family will all tell you that I’m not big on sandwiches; however, I do like grilled sandwiches. So in honor of National Grilled Cheese month, I’m sharing a Green Chile Grilled Cheese or more appropriately called Green Chile Turkey Enchiladas Grilled Cheese Sandwich, but that name is just a little too long. There’s also a similar sandwich called Albuquerque Turkey – so lots of inspiration for this sandwich!
If you like green chile chicken or turkey enchiladas, then you’ll love this sandwich! It’s made with New Mexico roasted and chopped green chile, avocado, turkey, and of course – cheese. How can you not love that?
Green Chile Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe
Yields: 1 sandwich
Ingredients
2 slices whole wheat bread
Slices of sharp white cheddar
Slices of mild cheddar
1 Tbsp. onion, finely chopped
Roasted, peeled, chopped green chile pepper (as much as you want)
Cooked turkey or chicken, chopped
Cilantro, minced
1/2 avocado, sliced
butter
Instructions
- Prep all of your ingredients for assembly.
- Heat up a cast iron griddle or skillet over medium heat.
- Place a touch of butter on the hot griddle. It should sizzle and melt. Place one slice of bread on the griddle to soak up the butter. Repeat with the other slice of bread.
- On top of one slice of bread place the sharp cheddar, onion, green chile, cilantro, avocado, turkey and then the mild cheddar. Top with the second slice of bread, buttered side out.
- Grill the sandwich on both sides until the bread is toasted and cheese is melted.
Enjoy!
Kitchen Notes
I know some of you might be thinking that my method of buttering the bread is a little weird. However, because I use real butter and fresh bread, I don’t want to tear up the bread by spreading the cold butter directly onto it. So I melt a little bit of butter directly on the griddle, spread it around with a spatula, and soak it up with the bread. It actually uses less butter doing it this way. I guess I could switch to a canola oil based soft spread, but…I like butter, and according to research done over at the Benefits of Eating – it actually has many health benefits!
Vegetarian Option – I’ve made the vegetarian option of this sandwich by leaving off the turkey and it is just as delicious!
The turkey – This is a great use of holiday leftover turkey! If you don’t have any leftovers, then Deli turkey or chicken can easily be used.
Green chile - If you don’t have green chile, then shame on you! 
You can always use roasted poblano, fresh or pickled jalapeno, fresh cherry bomb, or if you don’t want the heat, roasted bell pepper.
Cheeses – I love the combination of sharp and mild cheddar so that’s what I recommend. However, if you have other cheese such as Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, or provolone, you can use them. You can always add more cheese than I do. I love cheese but it doesn’t always love me, so I have to use it sparingly.
For more recipes with green chile, check out the recipes below.
This turkey grilled cheese sandwich has been link to the following blog hops. Be sure to click on the links for more fabulous recipes! Full Plate Thursday, What’s Cooking Love?, It’s a Keeper Thursday, Real Food Freaky Friday, Weekend Potluck, Feed Your Soul @ AMFT, Mix It Up Monday, Mom’s Test Meal Mondays, Katherine Martinelli’s Thanksgiving Leftovers, Made With Love Mondays
Ha ha , loved the ‘shame on you’ part
My husband would absolutely love this sandwich, since he comes up with very creative sandwich filling ideas pretty often!And this one with avocado, cheese and turkey sounds like an awesome combination!Will be showing this to him for sure 
I love your tip about buttering as well, good idea!Thanks so much for a great sandwich recipe, my friend 
Its going to show-up on our plates very soon!
I love that idea for buttering the bread, I never thought of doing it that way. I haven’t lived in NM for quite a while, but this recipe reminds me of a sandwich called an Albuquerque Turkey – Yum!
Jessica – You are absolutely right! It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve had an Albuquerque Turkey because I don’t usually order sandwiches, but I’m sure that’s what inspired me to start making this one at home so many years ago! Thanks for the reminder!
You’re right – an enchilada sandwich! I’m hungry now!
This wholesome combo looks fantastic! Will add more chili for extra kick!
Love this sandwich!! Talk about taking a regular old grill cheese and giving it a wonderful and spicy twist!! Well done.
Have a great weekend!! ~ Ramona
PS… I agree to your method of melting the butter first… It’s such a pain when cold hard butter tears up the bread.
MMmmm, looks great. Love it in restaurants, never thought of making it myself. What was I thinking? A new home treat.
Looks wonderful! The green chile pepper was the hook for me!
I wasn’t a sandwich person until my preschooler (then) wanted to eat sandwiches. And not only he wanted to eat sandwiches he wanted HOT sandwiches… so I bought panini maker back then, and guess what I’m using it almost everyday during the week! I love all kinds of sandwich recipes. This looks good!
This sounds so good! I am definitely going to try this .. I have some green chili “sauce” in the fridge that would work fabulously! I forgot it was grilled cheese month .. doh! I must admit, I love cheese!
oo la la – melted cheese and avocado! This looks and sounds rich and yummy. To me, avocado raises a sandwich up a notch. I gar-roon-tee we will be having this before long. Oh, and by the way, I now keep a container of sliced roasted poblanos in the freezer at all times.
Oh MJ, you know I am loving this with those green chilies and avocado. Your photos are delicious. Happy weekend, my friend.
This is quite the combo – I’ve never added avocado to a grilled cheese but I’d be up for it. And I almost always have soft butter sitting out – probably only encourages me to use more of it, but otherwise I run in to the same predicament of hard butter tearing my bread
I do like the combo of monterey and cheddar, but recently been enjoying cheddar and swiss…
If there was a national grilled cheese contest, you’d totally win. This is by far the most innovative grilled cheese sandwich ever!
Fun idea! I love the combo of green chili with cheese. Perfect for a sandwich.
I love sandwiches, but only open ones (also grilled ones with cheese). I eat too much bread so whenever I can I reduce its amount. I grill them and then put some cucumbers on top instead of another bread slice
Your sandwiches look excellent and will be easy to make into open versions, so I will definitely test them.
I never ever even have any margarine or other butter substitute at home and am very proud of it. I love butter, but use it sparingly and I have also read hundreds of times that it’s healthy.
I’m also not a huge sandwich person, but I am a huge grilled cheese fan – and these look amazing!!
What a great way to kick up a grilled cheese. I’m a huge fan of green chiles and this seems like the perfect way to get a gourmet sandwich!
I want mine hot! Lots of peppers would be good for me
Yes I do like green chile chicken (and turkey!) enchiladas, thank you very much. So I think I’ll like this! Really nice recipe. And I hear you on tearing the bread when buttering it – your method looks pretty good to me. When I plan ahead (rarely) I’ll take the butter out of the refrigerator for a couple of hours so it’ll soften. Then I’ll use a spatula to butter the bread – when the butter is soft, the spatula works better than a knife, and you have less risk of tearing the bread. But it’s rather easy to use too much butter this way, and then you’re left with a stick of butter that looks kind of mangled. Your way is better. Good post – thanks.
I had no idea it was National Grilled Cheese Month
. I’m with you, grilled sandwiches are in a separate category all together and I love the inclusion of delightful green chile here…”If you don’t have green chile, then shame on you!” – haha! I have no doubt I would love this recipe… (do you roast the green chile peppers until blackened and remove skin or slightly less chard and retain skin?).
Yes Kelly – you do roasted the green chile until blackened first then peel. NM green chiles are Anaheims that have relatively tough skins, so they are better roasted and peeled. Have a great week my friend!
Wow, I am a fan of sandwich and your Green Chile Grilled Cheese Sandwich looks so so yummy
I will make this recipe for sure!
Guess what we had for dinner tonight? If you guess this sandwich you would be right. I had half of a baguette, so instead of putting it in the freezer to save for holiday dressing, I made this sandwich. After the first bite Jim said “This is a wine meal,” so we opened a bottle of Beaujolais-Village as the perfect accompaniment to this decadent sandwich. It was rich and yummy! This sandwich is a meal. And I was able to use leftover chicken, as well as, leftover bread to make a new meal. Thanks MJ for all your great ideas!
Thanks Darlin!!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and yes, I’m sure the Beaujolais went quite well with it! It’s definitely a meal. Thanks for your wonderful comments!
MJ…first of all….BEAUTIFUL photography! And I am all for celebrating the grilled cheese! Love spicing it up with the green chiles! And what a great tip for buttering the bread in the pan. I hate it when the bread tears up too! This grilled cheese looks fantastic! : )
Oh..I am a bread person and can live on it for all my three meals in a day. Like the roasting part of green Chile here…
Yum, this has been on my list of to-make grilled chesse!
I adore grilled cheese sandwiches….from the plain to the exotic! Yours sounds amazing!!!
Oh I know I would love this sandwich since I love green chiles. Your pictures are wonderful
I agree, grilled sandwiches are the best–plus I need to use the panini pan more since I bought it over my husband’s objection. This sandwich looks awesome!
This is the best sandwich. I like stuffing my sandwich with avocado and chicken or boiled egg.
My 19 year old, aka Boy #3, is the Grilled Cheese Master! I’ve got to show this to him!
Looks delicious, I did a similar grilled cheese, a Jalapeno Popper Grilled cheese that you should check out! Following your blog now, looking forward to sharing with you
http://happyvalleychow.blogspot.com/2012/04/jalapeno-popper-grilled-cheese.html
I’ve been a sandwich person since I was young, and I tell you, this is my kind of sandwich! So good!
What a terrific sounding sandwich, especially for Cinco de Mayo. So happy to have stopped by.
Ohhhh, I’d love this sandwich!
Oh I have to make this for my husband, he’s going to LOVE it. Thanks for sharing MJ.
This sandwich looks good! Thanks for the tip on the butter, I will have to remember that for the next time I make a grilled sandwich. Thanks for sharing on Showcase Your Talent Thursday!
Hi Mj – I’d love to have this for lunch! All the goodness sandwiched in warm toasted bread…yum!
I love green chile’s and this looks scrumptious! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday
Yum! I think I might have to make a green chile grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today.
Oh wow, what a fantastic idea for a grilled cheese! I don’t eat meat but my kids would love these with the turkey…me veggie style
Thanks for your visit, MJ!
This sandwich looks really appetizing: chicken, fruit and cheese, I wouldn’t say no! ;-D
Your cold asparagus soup is fantastic, perfect for summer days.
See you!
What a great grilled cheese! I never would have thought to turn an enchilada into a sandwich! Thanks so much for linking up to Mom’s Test Meal Mondays!
I love this option for using up holiday turkey leftovers, MJ – I’ve never combined chiles with turkey for a grilled cheese sandwich, but love the idea. And the avocado is a nice touch, especially for those who want to make this a veggie option. Thanks so much for sharing and this should be a hit