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Sara Haas
I believe in making a dish your own. Afterall, if you’re the one eating it, shouldn’t it be tailored to suit your preferences? Some people call these adjustments to traditional recipes “hacks”—but I like to think of them as culinary experiments with benefits. They’re ideas that either make the recipe taste better or easier to execute, and no dish is off-limits, including the beloved grilled cheese. Out of the recent hacks we’ve seen, there have been five that caused us to pause and wonder if the hype was real, so I decided to give them all a try. Here are the results, ranked by deliciousness.
Yes, There Actually Is a Best Type of Bread for Grilled Cheese
Last Place: The French Toast Version
Sara Haas
This was a big “nope” for me. Sure, there are plenty of people on TikTok (where the idea was originally shared) who claim it’s the best thing ever, but for me, it was a flop. In case you haven’t seen the recipe in action, it starts by combining tomato soup with an egg to create the dipping mixture for the grilled cheese. After building the sandwich, you dunk it in the tomato mixture and then cook it in a skillet, like you would French toast. If that all sounds messy, you’re right, it is. And even though I was careful during the process, all of that dipping and cooking made more of a mess than was worth it in my opinion. And the results didn’t wow me either. It took forever to get the bread toasty and even then, it was never really crispy like my usual grilled cheese. It was chewy and the tomato soup kind of got lost. This one was my least favorite of all.
4th Place: The One with Garlic Aioli
Sara Haas
If you ask me, garlic is always a good idea and adding it to my grilled cheese seems like an easy and fun upgrade, especially when it comes in the form of aioli. If you’re not familiar with aioli, then now is the time to get acquainted. It’s often compared to mayonnaise, but the two are quite different. Both are made with a base of oil, but aioli uses fragrant olive oil instead of canola as well as plenty of garlic for flavoring. You can make your own for this recipe, or choose a store-bought version, either will work.
To make a garlic aioli grilled cheese, it’s as simple as adding a swipe to the inside of each slice of bread before adding the cheese and toasting in butter. The result is as delicious as it sounds. I kept my swipe of aioli rather thin, but I felt like it was just enough for tasting the garlic, without overpowering the sandwich. I love that it’s a simple and easy upgrade that doesn’t involve extra mess or time. This is one I’ll definitely make again.
3rd Place: The One with Mustard
Sara Haas
Honestly, my favorite hacks are the easy ones like this. One simple ingredient is sometimes all you need to mix things up a bit. Mustard happens to be one of my favorite condiments and I’m honestly surprised I’ve never thought to try it on my grilled cheese. Just like the garlic aioli hack, this one is as simple as adding a swipe of Dijon (or your favorite mustard) to the inside of your bread slices before filling with cheese and toasting. I loved it! Mustard adds a fun bit of tang to an otherwise one-note sandwich. This is a fun and approachable hack that I enjoyed and will be experimenting with in the future.
2nd Place: The Inside-Out Grilled Cheese
Sara Haas
If you’re a big cheese fan, then you’ll love this version where cheese isn’t just between the two slices of bread, it’s on the outside too. It starts by adding the sandwich to a hot skillet and heating up some butter alongside. After adding a bit of cheese to the top, you flip it over so that the cheese can cook and crisp up in the butter. Once that side is toasty, you add some cheese to the top, flip it again, and then cook until that side is crispy. In the end you’ll have a cheese-covered grilled cheese. But is the extra cheese and time spent flipping worth it? It depends. If you’re after a grilled cheese that’s a little “extra,” then yes, it’s worth it. If you’re hungry and want your grilled cheese ASAP, then skip it. Overall, I loved the toasty cheese on the outside and I think it’s a fun trick that I’ll use once in a while to impress my family.
The Winner: The Garlic Salt Hero
When I was in culinary school they told us to never use garlic salt. So how funny is it that this hack turned out to be my favorite? Like the mustard and aioli, I love the simplicity of this hack. All it requires is a quick sprinkle to the outside of the buttered bread slices before toasting. How can something so basic be so delicious? I don’t know, and I don’t care! This grilled cheese brought me so much joy though. It was like a perfect mashup of Texas toast and grilled cheese. It was super crispy and buttery, like garlic bread grilled cheese. It’s delicious and in my opinion, the best hack on the list.
I Tried Our 5 Most Popular Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipes and This Is the One I’ll Make Forever
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