Panini Makers

It’s good to compare panini makers, especially because different products will let you do different things. You can make multiple sandwiches with one press, or you can use it to make lots of different types of food, if you make buy the right press for that. Another thing to look at when considering different products is how easy they are to clean, and whether you need a unit with different heat settings. All of these factors depend on your needs and what you plan to do with the press.

A panini maker is also known as a sandwich maker or panini press. While people think of paninis as Italian, in Italy a panini is just a sandwich–sometimes they grill them, but often they don’t. In the USA and Canada the term has come to mean hot sandwiches that have been pressed in a grill for a few minutes with the bread buttered or oiled before grilling for a delicious crunchy sandwich.

The press itself works like a waffle maker. The heat on both sides of the press provides a continuous cooking process for each side of the sandwich, giving a nice even grilling to the sandwich.

You can use your press for more than just sandwiches, however. You’re only limited by your creative cooking skills at this point, but anything you can press, you can make on one, including hamburger, eggplant, tofu, zucchini, peppers, and more.

Basic panini makers will grill one sandwich at a time with only one heat setting. However, if you want to make multiple sandwiches at one time, or you want to have multiple heat settings so you can grill things other than sandwiches or have more control over the heat on your sandwiches, then there are options out there for you. As with all appliances these days, there are a lot of options out there. There are ones of all sizes and with a variety of settings. You’ll want to consider all of this when buying one.

You’ll also want to look at cleaning. Luckily, on a regular basis, all you’ll need to do to clean panini makers is wipe it down with a cloth when it’s cooled down after using it. However, you will occasionally want to do a deeper cleaning of the unit, so you’ll want to look for one without a lot of nooks and crannies to make this easier.

The thing about paninis is that you can take a simple sandwich and make it great just by putting it in your press. If you’re looking to really make it exceptional though, check out these tips for the best paninis, which is full of simple things you can do to make eating your next meal an exciting event.

What you need to keep in mind is that to get out of your routine, the easiest way to make your sandwiches fresh and new, is to add new ingredients. This is going to expand your diet, too, which is great for you nutritionally. The more color you can get on your plate, the more vitamins you’re going to get.

You can make comforting, simple, familiar sandwiches–tuna, or honey dijon turkey–or the predictable Italian favorite prosciutto and mozzarella more exciting and new by adding a new ingredient or two. Some things that are great grilled on a panini maker include eggplant, roasted peppers, grilled asparagus, onions, tomatoes (try sun dried ones!), apples, eggs, olives, avocado, basil, spinach, mushrooms,

You can also go for some unique international flavors by trying a little harder. Make yourself a mango mansala, Moroccan chicken, or Thai peanut chicken.

Sandwiches aren’t only meant to be savory, you can make sweet ones, too! Try mixing up things like honey, agave, peanut butter, banana, apples, blueberries, syrups, and chopped nuts.

Every sandwich needs something creamy and smooth to make it great. Traditionally with paninis people use cheese. This is a great way to go about things, and you can use different types of cheese to get some variety, but you can venture outside of this, too. There are a lot of spreads out there for you to choose from. A great option that goes with lots of things, for instance, is pesto. Try pesto, with eggplant and mozzarella, or pesto, turkey, and olives. Other ingredients that go great with pesto that you can mix up as you will are tomatoes, roasted peppers, asparagus, tofu, chicken, or ham.

If you’re still looking for more ideas to make your sandwiches exception, check out the book 200 Best Panini Recipes for a lot more ideas for what you can do with your panini maker.

To get started with your new panini maker and get away from the basic ideas of meat and cheese, consider some of these panini recipes and use them as a jumping off point for all of the delicious things you can do here. This is really just a sandwich. When you expand the way you think about how you make a sandwich, you can make some amazing and impressive things happen. You can make low calorie paninis, ones that are based all around the idea of packing in as many nutrients as possible, you can make them around the ingredients in your fridge—and you can do all of this while keeping the basic idea of a great bit of comfort food that is easy to make and fun to eat.

With that said, let’s get to the food!

Starting off with something simple and a little bit unusual, an asparagus and cheese panini. Packing a lot of cheese in this one is great, and so I suggest putting multiple slices on each side of the asparagus, which goes in the middle. Cooking the asparagus before hand is a great idea. You can fry the asparagus up in a pan, grill it on your panini maker, or steam it. Each of these are going to get you some very different experiences—with the steamed asparagus you will get a more springy consistency, and with grilling or frying it the aspraagus will likely be softer and a bit mushier. I prefer the springy experience from steaming here because it’s mixed with the cheese, but it’s a personal preference. While this is great on it’s own, mixing in a few black olives and artichoke hearts can add a lot here, too.

For something very different, consider a pizza style panini! Tomato sauce, black olives, onions, mushrooms, mozarella, and whatever else you like to have in your panini! Again, putting the cheese right up against the bread is a great way to ensure it gets good and melted. Brushing an oil with garlic or herbs in it on the outside of the bread before you grill it adds a lot of flavor here!

In the middle of summer there are squash everywhere! But it is hard to come up with new and fun things to do with them. Try slicing up some of your zucchini and yellow squash. Grill up the slices and layer them with some cheese like mozarella, and a fresh slice of tomato in the center for a delicious summer treat that uses up things from your farmers market.

For something pretty different, and a much messier panini than any of the other recipes here,  try grilling up some large portobello mushrooms and then putting them into a panini! Try putting the mushrooms on with a delicious thick gravy for a comfort food you won’t forget. This can easily be mixed with some onions for an extra kick.

There are a lot of things to consider when you go to buy any appliance, but when you’ve never even owned that appliance before, it’s really just more of a guess about what one will work best for you. Unless, that is, you get advice from someone about the things to consider when making your choice, so that you can make an informed decision. There are a few key areas to consider when you’re looking at how to choose a panini maker that will be best for you, and will make your decision an easy and quick one to make.

The first thing that gets overlooked, but really applies to any kitchen appliance purchase, is how easy is this unit going to be to clean? This particularly applies to kitchen appliances because crumbs and fluids get everywhere, and you want it to be really clean because you are going to be eating off it. Whether you are looking at the appliance online or in a store, take a look at it from different angles (either do a google image search so you can try and get some different angles, or flip the appliance over in store). Are there are places that are going to be hard to wipe down where food will definitely pool? This is a definite downside to that model, and you should look at your other options before making a choice.

Another thing to consider is what it is you want to do with this appliance exactly. I mean, obviously you want to make paninis. But do you plan on making one at a time, or as many as you can at once for a party? There are models will only fit one sandwich on them at a time, and there are those that you can cram many on at once. Paninis are a great food to make for entertaining because they’re so easy to make (it’s really just a sandwich that you’re then grilling), you can easily make them to cater to different peoples tastes for anyone on a specific diet because they’re so versatile, and they’re impressive and fun because they’re out of many people’s normal foods. So, if you plan on making these for parties, you’re going to want to try and find one that can grill up multiple sandwiches at a time.

In this same area of what you plan to do with the appliance, there are panini makers that are simple grills that hold a sandwich, and there are ones that are rise up a bit higher and could be easily used to grill other things, too. See, what these appliances are basically is a grill that heats from both sides. This is great for grilling up these sandwiches, but you can also use them to heat up other things quickly, too. Maybe you’d like some asparagus or zucchini quickly grilled up to eat on the side? Or maybe you want to grill some tomatoes BEFORE putting them in the sandwich. Or maybe you just want to grill up something different for dinner, quickly? If you’re going to be using this appliance for more than just making paninis, consider what style of appliance you’re really looking for.

With these simple areas of preference in mind choosing your appliance should be a simple and easy task.

“But paninis are supposed to be meat and cheese? That’s exactly what being vegan is—not eating those things—so how can you make one that still fits within those rules?” This is probably what you’d think when you would see this article title, and you would be correct. However, over time, these pressed sandwiches have evolved to include all sorts of great flavors and so there are still a lot of fun, easy, and delicious vegan ideas for your panini maker.

The first thing to know is that before you put your sandwich into the press you want to butter, or oil, the outsides of the bread on each side of the sandwich. Because we’re not using any dairy products you want to brush on olive oil, or use a butter substitute, like Earth Balance.

The essentials for your panini are some main ingredients, and something like a spread or something of a cheese consistency. When you’re looking at the pairings in this article, remember that these are vegan ideas for your panini maker, and that you can switch these things up all that you want as long as you remember the tips above. On to the sandwiches!

The first suggestion is to go a little fancy. Use a white bean spread, sage (either fresh leaves laid in, or use a bit of dried seasoning and whip it into the white bean spread), artichoke hearts, and tomato. If you were to serve this at a party people would be very impressed by your skills in the kitchen, and it’s still just making a sandwich!

For something a bit more simple, try grilling up some mushroom and onion and put it on a sandwich with tomato and either veganaise, or a vegan pesto (make sure to check for egg and such).

Go Italian with some thinly sliced zucchini, eggplant, black olives, and tomato sauce. If you need something a little more, try mixing in some minced garlic (it’s easiest to mix it into the tomato sauce), or throw on some grilled onions. You can pregrill these on the panini maker itself.

For more of an Italian touch, get some vegan cheese that melts (Daiya brand is a very popular choice) and use some pizza sauce and pepperonis, and whatever else you love on your pizza.

Speaking of a cheese substitute, you can always make a nice easy grilled cheese! For something a bit fancier, mix in some avocado slices, or some crumbled vegan bacon.

Hopefully all of these vegan ideas for what to do with your panini maker have you inspired to make yourself some great easy food and convinced that vegan cooking doesn’t have to be hard, confusing, or a big ordeal. If you have to make things for a group event making sandwiches is definitely the easiest way to go, and grilling them adds that extra touch that makes it still a fun way to eat.