14 Grilled Cheese Recipes That Will Make Any Day Better

Crisp and golden-brown on the outside, with lots of oozy cheese inside.

Updated June 14, 2024

Two halfs of a grilled cheese stacked on top of each other with cheese dripping down the front. — Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

A grilled cheese sandwich is a classic comfort food that can be made in a couple minutes with a few staple ingredients. Great bread, butter, and cheese are really all you need. But if you want to elevate this cozy standard, it's easy to do with some creative components like kimchi, chiles, or even more cheese! Below, find fourteen grilled cheese recipes to get those creative juices flowing.

Grilled Cheese with Kimchi
Serious Earts / Vicky Wasik
The acidity, heat, and savory funk of kimchi make it the perfect addition to a classic grilled cheese.
Grilled Cheese With Kimchi
The Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
This recipe is our preferred method for making the very best grilled cheese sandwich. The secret? Toast the bread on both sides.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Crisp Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Up your standard grilled cheese game by adding parmesan cheese on the exterior before cooking. Whether this outer layer of fried parmesan makes the sandwich a so-called meta-grilled cheese is an open question, but we do know that it's very cheesy and has a delightfully crisp crust.
Crisp Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
This recipe recreates the flavors of the classic party app by adding roasted jalapeño, crispy slices of bacon, and a healthy slathering of cream cheese to our standard, double-toasted grilled cheese sandwich. The outside gets toasted in a mixture of butter and rendered bacon fat.
Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese
Continue to 5 of 14 below
Brie and Nutella Grilled Cheese
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Chocolatey Nutella and rich, gooey brie ooze through the open crumb of butter-toasted French bread to create this sweet-savory extravaganza. Definitely a keeper for those who prefer a lunch with dessert vibes!
Brie and Nutella Grilled Cheese
Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Blue cheese, shredded chicken, and Frank's RedHot are straddled by two melted layers of Monterey Jack—all the spicy, meaty, funky, cheesy flavors of a bar food classic, translated into the ultimate comfort food.
Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese
Cemita Grilled Cheese
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
This grilled cheese is inspired by cemitas, the Pueblan sandwich specialty. Stringy Oaxacan cheese surrounds a spicy, creamy mash of avocado and chipotles in adobo, while a layer of whole papalo leaves add an herbal pop.
Cemita Grilled Cheese
Mozzarella, Pesto, and Mortadella Grilled Cheese
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Start by spreading minced anchovy fillets over half of the toasts, then layer on mozzarella, pesto, thinly sliced marinated artichoke hearts, and mortadella before closing the sandwiches and grilling them to golden perfection.
Mozzarella, Pesto, and Mortadella Grilled Cheese
Continue to 9 of 14 below
Grilled Cheese With Guacamole
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
The warm, gooey, crisp, buttery comfort of a grilled cheese paired with the creamy tang of guacamole could just be the best thing ever.
Grilled Cheese With Guacamole
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sautéed Mushrooms
Serious Eats / María del Mar Sacasa
Adding a few bells and whistles to a classic never hurt. This grilled cheese is slathered in butter, while the inside is generously layered with soft, mildly pungent taleggio cheese. Tucked in the middle are mixed mushrooms sautéed with herbs and sweet shallots.
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches With Sautéed Mushrooms
Grilled Pimento Cheese, Ham, and Homemade Pickles Sandwich
Serious Eats
Crisp and buttery bread, gushing cheese, ham, and homemade pickles make this a sandwich to remember. If you're not acquainted with pimento cheese, you'll experience love at first bite.
Grilled Pimento Cheese, Ham, and Homemade Pickles
Thanksgiving Leftovers Grilled Cheese
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
This is the Thanksgiving leftover sandwich that you make late, late Thanksgiving night when the apple pie has settled, but the red wine is still kicked in at full force. Bread. Butter. Cheese slices. Fistfuls of leftovers jammed into the middle. All grilled until golden, buttery brown. And don't you dare forget the gravy!
Thanksgiving Leftovers Grilled Cheese
Continue to 13 of 14 below
Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
This cheesy melt is everything you love about spinach and artichoke dip, in crispy, crunchy, cheesy sandwich form. It's a hearty lunch or, paired with a bowl of tomato soup, a full dinner on its own.
Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Recipe
Grilled Cheese Sandwich With Charred Chili and Corn
Serious Eats
This sandwich is a nod to queso fundido—a traditional Mexican appetizer with Oaxaca cheese, and sometimes chiles—served melted alongside warm, soft tortillas.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich With Charred Chili and Corn

14 Grilled Cheese Recipes That Will Make Any Day Better

Thanksgiving Leftovers Grilled Cheese

More Serious Eats Recipes