Tomato, Mozz & Creamy Pesto Panini
with Arugula Salad & Dijon Vinaigrette
- Milk
- Soy
- Wheat
These grilled sandos’ secret ingredient is herbaceous pesto cream cheese. It’s slathered over sourdough slices and topped with fresh mozzarella and juicy sliced tomato for a creamy caprese experience you have to taste to believe. Serve alongside arugula salad tossed with Dijon vinaigrette for a top-notch meal that comes together in 20 minutes.
Ingredients
2 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Tomato
4 ounce
Fresh Mozzarella
(Contains: Milk)
4 tablespoon
Pesto
(Contains: Milk)
4 slice
Sourdough Bread
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
5 teaspoon
Red Wine Vinegar
2 teaspoon
Dijon Mustard
2 ounce
Arugula
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoon
Olive Oil
¼ teaspoon
Sugar
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Drop cream cheese packets in a glass of warm water to soften. Wash and dry produce. • Thinly slice tomato into rounds. Thinly slice mozzarella into rounds.
• In a small bowl, whisk together cream cheese and pesto.
• Arrange half the sourdough slices on a clean work surface. Spread with creamy pesto. Layer with tomato and mozzarella; season with pepper. Close sandwiches.
• Melt 1 TBSP butter in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium heat. (For 4 servings, work in batches or use a second large pan, using 1 TBSP butter for each batch.) Add sandwiches and push around in pan until butter has absorbed. Cook until bread is golden brown and cheese slightly melts, 4-6 minutes. • Add another 1 TBSP butter to pan, then flip sandwiches and push around again until butter has absorbed. Cook until bread is golden brown and cheese fully melts, 4-6 minutes more. TIP: If you have a heavy-bottomed pan, place on top of the sandwiches as they cook for a real panini experience!
• While sandwiches toast, in a second small bowl, combine half the vinegar, half the mustard, 2 TBSP olive oil, ¼ tsp sugar, a pinch of salt, and pepper. (For 4 servings, use all the vinegar, all the mustard, 4 TBSP olive oil, and ½ tsp sugar.) Whisk to combine. • In a large bowl, toss arugula with as much vinaigrette as you like.
• Halve panini on a diagonal. Divide between plates and serve with salad on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the creamy pesto and mozzarella combo, calling it delicious and flavorful 🍲. Some found it bland or overpowering.
- Ease of prep: Customers praised how quick, easy, and simple this meal was to make, perfect for a fast weeknight dinner.
- Suggestions: Consider adding chicken or bacon for extra protein. Some recommended putting the arugula inside the sandwich for more flavor.
- Portions: Several noted not enough tomato and mozzarella for two full sandwiches; a few wanted larger portions overall.
- Salad: Many found the arugula salad too plain or bitter; some suggested adding nuts, cheese, or other vegetables.
Reviews from our home cooks
The sandwich was delicious, loved the pesto and cream cheese spread. However, the meal was lacking and I was still hungry. I ended up putting the arugula in the sandwich and not eating it as a salad, because I would hardly call it a salad since it was just arugula and dressing. This meal would be way better if we had a different side, like potato wedges. But it was delicious with the arugula inside it!
Soooo good. Love pesto and mozzarella. Add all these together and make it right, it tastes amazing. The balsamic dressing on the arugula was perfect too. Tastes like store-bought, but better since I made it myself and at home.
I enjoyed this panini. I was especially pleased with the pesto provided. In the past the pesto provided with dishes that included it as an ingredient was not of a high quality. That was not the case with this pesto. It was fresh and tasted like a quality pesto should.
This meal was quick and easy indeed. The ingredients were fresh. The pesto paste was very tasty and there was plenty of it.
Used our panini maker, turned out perfect. That pesto spread - so good and not as strong as a store bought pesto aoli.
Arugula isn't my favorite, needs a bit more variety in the salad but the sandwiches were delicious and super easy to make.
Sandwich was good. Maybe a bit over stuffed. But tasty. The arugula salad was a bit too bitter. The dressing wasn't sweet enough to cut the bitterness.
Good recipe and tasted good; however, the portions are really not enough to make 2 full sandwiches. The bread is large and needs 6 slices of a small tomato and mozzarella to cover nicely so really comes up short. Needs about one and half of the ingredients as one isn't enough.
My personal opinion...the arugula needs to be IN the sandwich. The flavor elevated it. Otherwise, it needs something to give it a little more umpf.
Some of the best sandwiches I have made to date. The pesto was so good! It's really hard to find good pesto that isn't homemade.
