Swiss Cheese Grilled Cheese

Cold mornings and sweater weather bring the desire for warm eats and comfort foods. A childhood favorite of many is grilled cheese.

You truly cannot go wrong with grilled cheese especially when paired with soup. It’s the ultimate snowed-in meal.

Grilled cheese can sometimes get a bad rep, but, but it serves as a great cheap, easy and can be a very nutritious meal. I like to amp up the nutrients in my grilled cheese by using different brands, but this is not necessary if the resources are not available.

The first key to a good grilled cheese is in the cheese used. Fresh Mozzarella is my favorite type of cheese, but it actually doesn’t make for the best grilled cheeses as it tends to come in thicker slices. I’ve learned that using a thinner cheese helps the cheese melt better onto the bread during the cooking process.

Therefore, my go-to cheese has become the ultra thin swiss cheese slices from Sargento. They also have thin sliced provolone and cheddar as options as well if you aren’t a Swiss cheese fan. I recommend using between 3 to 4 of the thin slices depending on how much cheese you like in your sandwich.

Budget hack: Sargento goes on sale quite often, so I recommend stocking-up during a sale period. This is another brand/food I almost never pay the full price for similarly to my Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burger that I mentioned in a prior recipe. The expiration is also longer on the cheese until opened which is perfect for grabbing extras and spending less time grocery shopping.

In terms of bread used, I like to use Ezekial Sprouted grain bread (found in the freezer section of most stores except for Trader Joe’s.) I purchase the bread and freeze it because I don't go through a loaf by myself that quickly. This allows me to splurge on the breads I prefer for enhanced nutrition quality. The sprouted grains provide a great serving of whole grains, are easy to digest, and help stabilize blood sugars. However, you can use whatever bread you prefer. Sourdough is another one of my favorite options. Since I freeze my bread I always lightly toast it before cooking it to defrost it.

The next key to a delicious grilled cheese is butter. My favorite butter is the Kerrygold Irish Butter. I use approximately one tbsp between the bread and the pan/sandwich maker. I usually put the majority on both sides of each slice of bread. You can also add a dab to the sandwich maker/pan you are using to avoid any sticking from occurring. This also helps the browning process.

I always like to add a variety of vegetables to my meals for added color. Squeezing as many veggies as you can onto the grilled cheese is not going to give you the meltiness you are likely looking for in a grilled cheese. I’ve learned to add a bit of spinach into my sandwich and leave the veggies for the side. I tend to cut bell peppers in strips, add grilled asparagus, and cut-up cucumbers.

My grilled cheese cooking journey started off by using a griddle pan with help from my Dad (A grilled cheese master.) But, when I moved to Florida for the Disney College Program I purchased a mini Sandwich maker from Dash. This has been a game changer for grilled cheeses.

(Note that if you use sourdough or a larger slice of bread, a griddle pan will be your best option as it likely won’t fit in the machine. The Ezekial bread fits perfectly in my sandwich maker.)

The dash maker doesn’t always completely shut when I make this recipe, but it still works like a charm for me. The machine lights up when the sandwich is done. It doesn’t necessarily need a flip like you need with a griddle or other pan, but I usually flip mine anyway.

The beauty of this is that it almost cuts your sandwich in diagonals for you and all you are left with is finishing it up with a knife. (Team Diagonal for sandwiches always >>>)

Cozy up on the couch, watch some sports and make this easy, healthy, enjoyable for the whole family comfort meal.