This pan fried halloumi sandwich with olive relish is both crispy and creamy. The halloumi is seared until perfectly caramelized on the outside. The olive relish — made with chopped olives, pepperoncini, herbs, and a splash of vinegar — adds a punchy, Mediterranean-inspired contrast. Tucked into crusty bread or a soft roll, it’s a simple yet elevated vegetarian sandwich that delivers big flavor in every bite. This sandwich is inspired by one I loved at a local restaurant.
One note on this sandwich, it is quite salty. I love really salty food, but I think it may be too salty for most reasonable people’s preference. One suggestion to modify it, if you are not an absolutely salty food lover, is to use Indian paneer instead of the halloumi. Paneer browns up in a very similar way to halloumi and also has a similar hearty texture. It also has way less salt than brined halloumi. If you can find any that isn’t brined, that helps too. Another idea would be to use brined halloumi, but then use Castelvetrano olives in the olive relish. They are not brined and are not salty like traditional olives. I really love the brined olive flavor of this relish though, so if I make these again, I will use paneer as the cheese. Check out some of my other sandwich options here.
I served these on this nice crusty bread, you can also use a sandwich roll. Side note – the knife pictured here that I used to make these was made by my son. 🙂 He learned how to blacksmith in middle school and while he is home from college for the summer, has resumed blacksmithing making knives. I think it came out great and is lovely, so I used as a prop for my picture.
Pan Fried Halloumi Sandwich with Olive Relish
Ingredients
- 4 slices crusty bread
- dijon mustard
- 1 package halloumi or paneer cut into 1/4 inch slices – package sizes vary, you just need enough slices to fill the number of sandwiches you are making
- 2 cups olive mix I used a spicy olive mix from my grocery store that has mixed brined olives and pickled peppers – use a mix of green, kalamata and pepperoncini if you can't get a mix
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- splash of red wine vinegar if not using premarinated olive mix
Instructions
- Toast the bread lightly with a little olive oil brushed on. I did this in a skillet, you could also use a toaster or the oven.
- Make the olive relish – roughly chop your olives and pepperoncini. If you are using a premarinated olive mix, you don't need to add anything except the minced garlic. If you are making your own olive mix, chop the green and kalamata olives along with some pepperoncini and add a splash of red wine vinegar and the garlic. Mix and let sit.
- Heat a skillet with a little olive oil over medium heat. Add the slices of halloumi or paneer and allow to cook without moving for a minute or to, checking the bottom side to see if they are browning. Once browned, flip and cook the other side until nicely golden brown as well.
- Spread some mustard on your toasted bread. Add a layer of cheese and top with olive relish. Close the top, cut in half and serve.