Grilled Cheese with Apples and Bacon

Who knew that a grilled cheese sandwich could be blog worthy? I have made grilled cheese before sure, I do as my mother did and serve a grilled cheese made with slices of american cheese aside a bowl of canned tomato soup, easy and quick. I’ve had many happy thoughts of someday serving this to our future children on a rainy day for lunch. Just like my mom did for us. Only after eating one of these babies the sandwich in this daydream has changed a bit. I never really put much thought behind a grilled cheese’s health factor until I recently began caring about what I was putting in my body but now I have seen firsthand that with a smaller amount of higher quality ingredients you can make a far superior sandwich, not only in taste but also in nutrition.

When I told Baby Cakes what I was making for dinner he was so excited and after eating it, well, let’s just say it will be made again and again.

Now I did deviate from the original recipe a bit, although I have no doubts that it would have worked just fine made the Cook This Not That way, I just wanted it to be heartier since I wasn’t serving it with anything else and I only needed 2 sandwiches, one for him and one for myself, so I changed the amount of ingredients per sandwich. Overall still a healthy dinner.


Grilled Cheese with Apples and Bacon
adapted from Cook This Not That, pg. 130

1 tablespoon butter
4 slices rye bread
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
1 apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
6 strips cooked bacon

Heat the butter in a large skillet or nonstick sauté pan over low heat. Slather 2 slices of bread with the mustard, and then divide the cheese, apples, and bacon among them. Top with the other bread slices and add to the hot pan. The key to a great grilled cheese (i.e., crispy crust, fully melted cheese) is patience, so cook these sandwiches slowly until each side is deep brown and crunchy, about 10 to 12 minutes total.


This really makes an amazingly delicious sandwich and it tops out at 440 calories. I’ll take it and even savor a few pretzel thins along with it.

Now to find the perfect tomato soup recipe to serve on that rainy day in the future.