Best Grilled Cheese Recipe To Satisfy Your Munchies

Emily Abrams

There’s nothing a grilled cheese can’t fix. Whether you’re into vegan cheese or you’re a dairy enthusiast, the comfort food can do no wrong. You can get as creative as you want with your grilled cheese, too, making it as healthy or as indulgent as your cravings desire. And one ingredient that’ll always give your grilled cheese a complex flavor is caramelized onions.

Caramelized onions can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but we like them sweet and rich, and we like to go for a kitchen sink-style approach. Look inside of your fridge for inspiration. Our go-to ingredient trio for cooking the most indulgent caramelized onions includes BBQ sauce, beer and honey. You’re better off with a white cheese here like gruyere, white cheddar, Swiss, Havarti or provolone.

Grilled Cheese With Caramelized Onions

Emily Abrams

Ingredients

Onions

3-4 large yellow onions
2 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup of beer (works best with Guinness or a stout, but it can be any dark beer)
1 teaspoon of BBQ sauce

Grilled Cheese

Two slices of your favorite sandwich bread
1/2 tablespoon of butter
3-4 slices of cheese (we suggest gruyere, white cheddar, Swiss, Havarti or provolone)

Instructions

The ultimate caramelized onions take time and patience. If you’re in a rush or looking for a quick ingredient for your morning omelet, just give them a quick saute in the pan. If you want your onions sweet, golden brown and tender, you’ll need to give them time.

Set aside about 45 minutes for these babies to caramelize. In a large sauté pan, heat the butter until it’s shimmering and completely melted. Add in the onions and cook until translucent on a medium heat. Once the onions become translucent, turn the heat down low.

After 10 to 15 minutes, add in the honey and red pepper flakes. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the onions start to turn a golden brown color. When the onions are tender and golden brown, add in the beer and cook down until the liquid evaporates. The trick is cooking them slowly on low heat. You could probably watch a short episode of something while these onions are doing their thing.

Add in the BBQ sauce and toss everything around until it’s all fully coated. Sauté the onions until they reach your desired level of tenderness. By the time they’re fully caramelized and ready for your grilled cheese, the volume will look like one-third of the onions you started with. That means all of the flavors are concentrated, which makes for the ultimate sandwich-topping ingredient.

For the assembly of the grilled cheese, place a dab of butter in a saute pan and let it melt. Toss both slices of bread into the pan and let them get a slight golden brown color. Place the cheese on one half of the bread, the caramelized onions on the other and close the sandwich. Cover the grilled cheese for a couple of minutes with a small lid so the cheese can melt.

Remove the sandwich from the pan, slice it diagonally and you’re in cheesy business. This grilled cheese knocks it out of the park — we promise.

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