Grilled cheese is an essential apartment meal. If you want a meal that’s quick, easy, and won’t cost you too much cheddar, grilled cheese is your best friend. Since moving out, I’ve been on a grilled cheese kick that just won’t go away. These recipes are my favorite variations so far!
- A Classic Base
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For a plain grilled cheese, the secret to success is to aim for three different kinds of cheese on the sandwich. My personal preference is Provolone, Muenster, and Colby-Jack, but any of your favorite sliced cheeses will work. I believe in the importance of a side of tomato soup as well — my favorite is Progresso’s Tomato Basil canned soup.
To cook the grilled cheese, you just need a pan, some butter, and a stove. I set my stovetop to medium heat and put some butter in the pan.
Then I put the bread for the grilled cheese on the melted butter until one side is toasted. Once one side is toasted, I flip the bread and add the cheese to the toasted side.
Once the bread slices on the other side are toasted and the cheese is melted, I sandwich the two parts together and cut them in half on a cutting board.
Put some tomato soup in the microwave for 45 seconds to one minute, and enjoy!
- Add Bacon & Avocado
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This grilled cheese is the one I’ve made the most.
For this grilled cheese, I use everything in the classic recipe plus fully cooked bacon and half an avocado.
After adding the cheese to the bread and letting it melt some, I add half a sliced avocado and my bacon slices to half of the sandwich. A way you can step this sandwich up is to add some chipotle mayo.
A pro tip is to move the heat to med-low to get the cheese melted all the way without burning the toasting bread. Different cheeses have different melting points, so for some, you may need to keep toasting for longer time periods.
- An Italian-Inspired Twist
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This grilled cheese is Italian-inspired. My favorite grilled cheese bread lately has been Italian bread loaves from the Publix Deli. I use Roma tomato slices, pesto, and white onion slices layered in between the cheeses. The pesto pairs really well with the tomato soup on the side.
If you really want to get fancy, you can also make your own tomato soup.
- Try Veggies
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The veggie grilled cheese is the grilled cheese for when you also want a salad. I make mine with raw spinach leaves, tomato slices, onion, and avocado. If you like peppers, I also recommend adding those! This grilled cheese is super good and refreshing after a long day outside in the sun.
It’s definitely going to be a summer lunch staple for me.
- Make It Garlic Parm
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I love garlic parm anything, so of course, a garlic parm grilled cheese is on the list! With the tomato soup, this grilled cheese closely resembles the taste of a mozzarella stick.
For this one, cook some chopped garlic in butter on your stove before adding the bread. Then put the garlic to the side, add your bread, and layer the cooked garlic in with the cheese on the sandwich.
This creates garlic butter in the pan, and also integrates the garlic into the body of the sandwich. Add some shredded Parmesan to the sandwich, and boom! You’ve got garlic parm grilled cheese.
A grilled cheese sandwich is a classic staple of college life cooking, but eating it the same way can get repetitive. These are just some of my favorite grilled cheese recipes to mix up a classic. There are so many more fun recipes out there, so feel free to experiment with our old friend, the grilled cheese.
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