Grilled Cheese with Sharp Cheddar and Caramelized Onions
Slow-caramelized onions and sharp cheddar melted between butter-crisped sourdough — the grilled cheese made worth the extra 20 minutes.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Written
Method
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Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, add the onion and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and deeply golden, 20-25 minutes, stirring in the brown sugar for the last few minutes and adding a splash of water if the pan looks dry.
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Scrape the onions into a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
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Butter one side of each bread slice. Lay four slices butter-side down, top with half the cheddar, then the caramelized onions, then the remaining cheddar, and close with the last four slices, butter-side up.
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Set the skillet back over medium-low heat and grill the sandwiches in batches, pressing lightly with a spatula, until the bottom is deep golden brown, 3-4 minutes.
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Flip and grill the second side until golden and the cheese has fully melted at the edges, another 3-4 minutes.
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Let rest for a minute before cutting.
Notes
The whole recipe is patience twice over: low heat on the onions so they turn jammy instead of just soft, and low heat on the sandwich so the bread has time to go deep gold before the outside cheese has even started to melt. Rush either one and you get pale bread around a lukewarm center.
Swap in gruyère or Gouda for a nuttier melt, and keep a bowl of tomato soup nearby — this is built for dunking.