Our 11 Best Grilled Cheeses Because ‘Jane the Virgin’ Is Back

Dinner tonight is as easy and cheesy as can be.

ByEmma Laperruque

Published On

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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.


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Photo by James Ransom

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.

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Photo by James Ransom

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.

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Photo by James Ransom

Not today, fussy phyllo. Spinach, feta, dill, and garlic make this sandwich part-spanakopita, part–grilled cheese, and I’m all here for it.

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Photo by Julia Gartland

Feeding a crowd? (Say, a Jane the Virgin watch party?) This large-format grilled cheese swaps out sliced bread and turns to a sheet pan of focaccia.

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Photo by Mark Weinberg

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.

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Photo by Bobbi Lin

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.

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Photo by James Ransom

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.

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Photo by Molly Yeh

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.

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Photo by James Ransom

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.

Another eggy number—this time, with soft-scrambled eggs (cream cheese makes them extra, well, creamy) and melty-as-it-gets American cheese.

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Photo by Mark Weinberg

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.

What’s your favorite way to make grilled cheese? Share your method in the comments!

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