Open your cheese drawer right now. Take out whatever’s left, and match it to some add-ins, and you’ve got an amazing dinner—the makings of a world-class grilled cheese.
Add a bowl of soup to the side–especially soups you make and freeze ahead–and you’ve got a full-on gourmet meal on the table for pennies. Bonus points if you make your own bread.
The Greatest Grilled Cheese
Servings: flexible
Time: 10 mins
Difficulty: easy
INGREDIENTS
cheese—go wild, don’t stick with the same old American cheese.
add-ins
bread
butter or olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Butter a cast-iron pan.
Layer the bottom of your bread on the bottom. Add on cheese and mix ins.
Layer on your add ins
Top with the second piece of bread.
Melt cheese completely, and brown the bread.
OPTIONS:
Mix up the breads: Pumpernickel, rye, white, potato, sourdough.
Make a dessert grilled cheese with cream cheese and jam.
Recreate your favorite flavors… in a grilled cheese!
UP YOUR GAME: SOME FAVORITES TO TRY:
Bleu cheese, sautéd mushrooms, caramelized onions
Tomato & mozzarella
Tomato & basil with garlic and mozzarella
onions, cilantro, cheddar, tomato
brie & tomato
good old American cheese on white bread
pastrami, swiss, sauerkraut
PRO TIP: Low and slow’s the key to this. Make a panini by putting a weight on top and squashing it. I use another cast iron pan. If you make a panini and are a chef, you can charge double. It’s not “just a grilled cheese” anymore.
COST: $–$$ This depends entirely on the cheeses, breads, and add-ins you use. I can make a grilled cheese for twenty cents or a really hard-core version for a million.
GLUTEN FREE: You can do this by sourcing gluten-free bread.
VEGETARIAN: Yes, with veggie ingredients.
VEGAN: Use olive oil to grease the pan and brown the sandwich and use vegan cheese.
KETO: Surprisingly, yes. Do this two ways. I have done this by making banting bread and using keto-friendly add ins. Or, if you’re super hard core: bread and fry slices of zucchini or eggplant in almond flour. Then, put the cheese and other ingredients in there. Melt it up. Enjoy.
Photo by Pixzolo Photography on Unsplash