Stop What You Are Doing and Make This Grilled Cheese Sandwich Inside Out
Grilled cheese is already one of the best snacks out there, but believe it or not, there is a way to make it even better: add cheese (and other toppings) on the outside, not just inside the sandwich. Cancel appointments for the day and make grilled cheese instead.
When I saw Popsugar’s suggestion to add even more cheese to the sandwich, I was skeptical. Sure, more cheese is almost always a good idea, but will this really make the sandwich that much better? (Spoiler alert: yes.) But they also sprinkled their grilled cheese with sliced mushrooms that seemed to melt right in the bread, making me even more curious and willing to try this method with different toppings.
To properly melt the cheese in the bread, Popsugar used an electric grill on the countertop , and luckily I had one too. If you don’t, you can use a panini press or just a non-stick pan on the stovetop.
Start by butter two slices of bread, just like you would with a regular sandwich. Add a drop of butter and cheese to the grill itself and let it melt. Shredded cheese works best because a regular old slice can just stick to the wire rack (although I haven’t tried it). Then place a slice of buttered bread on top of the melted cheese. This will allow the cheese to melt into the outside of the sandwich. Add cheese on top of the bread slice, then place the second bread slice on top, creamy side up. Finally, sprinkle more cheese on the top layer of the bread, then close the grill and let it cook. The cheese melts right in the bread and you get a crispy, slightly burnt cheese on the outside with the typical gooey grilled cheese flavor on the inside.
The mushrooms looked like a great addition for this, but I didn’t have them on hand, so I used thin tomato slices instead (not very photogenic, but still very tasty). There are many other options: garlic, pepperoni, bacon bits. Just place them on the sandwich before adding the cheese and then grill them. Best of all, it’s relatively easy to do. If you are good with grilled cheese, you can probably use Grilled Cheese 2.0.