The final season of Jane the Virgin premieres tonight, which can only mean one thing: grilled cheese for dinner. If you’re as obsessed with this American telenovela as I am, you already know that protagonist Jane Villanueva’s all-time favorite food is a grilled cheese sandwich. She swears by one-third white cheddar, one-third yellow cheddar, and one-third grated American cheese. But if you ask me: There’s no wrong way to grilled cheese.
Below are 11 of our favorite recipes on the site. Even if you aren’t watching the premiere, all make an extra-quick, extra-good dinner—bonus points for tomato soup on the side. Oh, and if you’ve never even seen the show? The first four seasons are available on Netflix. You can thank me later.
Iconic food writer Ruth Reichl isn’t messing around: Her grilled cheese is not only chock-full of alliums (shallot, leek, scallion, and/or onion), but it also puts cheese on the inside and outside, where it forms a frico-like crust.
If you can grate cheese, then you can make pimento cheese. (And you should!) Parker & Otis in North Carolina turns theirs into a grilled cheese with sourdough bread, bacon, and tomato.
My go-to. Instead of butter on the outside of the bread, use mayonnaise. It’s slower to burn in the pan (giving that cheese lots of time to get melty) and adds awesome flavor.
Inspired by Sadelle’s in New York City, this grilled cheese uses an inside-out bagel instead of sliced bread. Plain would work, sure, but I’m reaching for an everything or pumpernickel.
I love serving grilled cheese sandwiches with a mustard-dressed salad, so this feeds two birds with one scone. Mustard greens and stone-ground mustard balance out all that cheesy richness.
Often called a “yogurt cheese,” labneh is ultra-strained yogurt, which gives this cheddar-Parm sandwich a tangy, gooey edge above the rest. You can swap in whole-milk Greek yogurt in a pinch.
Two of my favorite foods are grilled cheese and egg in a hole, so this recipe mashup is a literal dream come true. You, too? Make sure to cut the heat when the yolk is still runny.
Can you waffle grilled cheese? Of course you can! This recipe opts for Saint André, a triple-cream, cow’s milk variety—but any melt-friendly cheese works.
Emma is the food editor at Food52. Before this, she worked a lot of odd jobs, all at the same time. Think: stir-frying noodles "on the fly," baking dozens of pastries at 3 a.m., reviewing restaurants, and writing articles about everything from how to use leftover mashed potatoes to the history of pies in North Carolina. Now she lives in New Jersey with her husband and their cat, Butter. Stay tuned every Tuesday for Emma's cooking column, Big Little Recipes, all about big flavor and little ingredient lists. And see what she's up to on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.
I’m loco for Jane. I Have seen every single episode. No one else I know watches it so it’s frustrating not having anyone to discuss it with. Should she be with or end up with Michael or Raphael? I know who my choice would be. It remains to be seen. All the characters are magnificent. If I had to choose one favorite, it would have to be Petra. Her character, played brilliantly, is such a grande mess.
Recently dug out my old Betty Crocker sandwich press and have been having fun with that; I like TJ's "unexpected" cheddar for this; also sometimes add something like leftover taco filling or salsa.
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