French Onion Grilled Cheese

 

Okay first things first I love grilled cheese sandwiches. They are among my favorite sandwiches especially when they have extra stuff in them. I also love caramelized onions so putting them into a grilled cheese was the logical step to take here.

 

One of the things I don't like about grilled cheese sandwiches is when the cheese and other fillings don't get hot/melted through in the time it takes the bread to get perfectly grilled. I found this oven method of cooking a grilled cheese a while back and it is a game changer, the sandwiches come out perfectly browned and melty all the way through. I don't think I'll ever go back to cooking them in a pan this just so much easier and better.

The process is simple (and by the way on the occasions when you have to cook a bunch of sandwiches at one time this is a lifesaver) The most important step is to preheat your baking sheet in the oven while the oven is preheating. I neglected to do this step the first time I tried this and the first side of the sandwich just didn't get brown and crispy.

Most of the time I do like to line my baking sheet with aluminum foil mainly because clean up is even easier that way.

You can find a downloadable/printable version of this recipe here.

French Onion Grilled Cheese

1 medium onion, sliced

butter

4 slices of bread of your choice

4 slices Swiss cheese

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. 

 

 -note I am only making one sandwich in the pictures but the directions are for two-

Preheat your oven to 450° F and place your prepared baking sheet in the oven to preheat with the oven. It needs to be really hot for this sandwich to really work.

Meanwhile melt about 1 Tablespoon butter in a small skillet over med heat. Add the sliced onion and cook slowly until the onions are caramelized, if they start to look crispy turn the heat down. This needs to be a very slow process, it usually takes at least 20 minutes to get my onion the way I like it.

When the onions are cooked butter one side of each slice of bread. 

 

 

 

 

The add a slice of cheese to the un-buttered sides of the slices.

Divide the onions between two to these slices then top with the other two slices. (just like a normal grilled cheese)

Remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and quickly add the sandwiches to the pan and return to the oven.

Cook 5 minutes.

Remove from oven just long enough to flip both sandwiches over. Return to the oven and cook 5 more minutes.

Remove from oven and allow the sandwiches to sit on a cutting board for a couple of minutes before cutting in half. 

Makes 2 wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches.