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Savory vs Sweet Grilled Cheese

March 14, 2022

5 min. read

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been diving into the many sides and elements of a grilled cheese. For such a simple sandwich, there is so much to learn about toppings, types of cheese, cooking methods, and more! In case you missed it, here’s a brief recap:

DIY Grilled Cheese Bar – In this blog, we gave tips for creating your very own grilled cheese buffet and kicked off our Instagram grilled cheese campaign, Melt with Martin’s! We also listed lots of simple recipes to try making on your grilled cheese bar, like Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese.
Grilled Cheese to Cure the Winter Blues – This week, we whipped up two featured recipes with creative ingredients to help cure your winter blues, like pepper jelly, peanut butter, and crab dip. Plus, six more combinations to try!
Ultimate Guide to Cheese – And, lastly, this blog post explains many common cheeses used in grilled cheese and the benefits of each one. Plus, we included a “Deluxe Grilled Cheese” that demonstrated how these cheeses can work together!

This week, we’re challenging your senses with a slightly unconventional sector of grilled cheese recipes: sweet grilled cheese. Both sweet and savory variations have their benefits, but we think too many people never try a sweet grilled cheese because they don’t know just how delicious it can be!

Below, we’re going to recap how to choose the right sweet grilled cheese ingredients (it’s not as difficult as you think!) and why the flavor combinations work. If you haven’t tried berries, honey, or other sweet ingredients in a grilled cheese yet, we hope the next few paragraphs convince you to give one a chance. Then, tell us which flavor profile you like best!

Savory Grilled Cheese

We’ll start easy with the type of grilled cheese you know and love—savory grilled cheese! With virtually endless salty and tangy cheese options to choose from, making a tasty creation in this category can be as simple as bread, cheese, and butter. Or, you can get creative and add meat, veggies, sauces, spices, and more.

Savory grilled cheese combinations are often inspired by other dishes—cheesesteak subs, pepperoni pizza, tacos, cheeseburgers, etc. Those dishes are a great example of why savory foods taste so great. Typically, a good, savory grilled cheese is a combination of flavors that is already familiar (think: beef and horseradish, deli meat and cheese, etc.).

Still, there is a technique to choosing the right ingredients to layer together or choosing the right cheese to make the melt factor just right. Check out our recent grilled cheese blog posts for tips on flavor and topping combinations and to make sure you’re choosing the best cheeses!

Featured Recipe: Prime Rib and Jalapeño Grilled Cheese

This Prime Rib and Jalapeño Grilled Cheese is a mixture of several creative savory toppings: sliced prime rib, roasted jalapeños, cheddar cheese, and horseradish sauce. It’s a hearty base topped with slightly-spicy, very-flavorful ingredients, all on Martin’s 100% Whole Wheat Potato Bread.

Ingredients:

4 Slices Martin’s 100% Whole Wheat Potato Bread
4-5 oz Medium-Rare Prime Rib, sliced thinly
4 Slices Colby Cheddar Cheese
2 Jalapeño Peppers, roasted and sliced
Horseradish Cream Sauce
- 1/8 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Prepared Horseradish
- 1 Teaspoon Spicy Mustard
- 1/2 Teaspoon White Wine Vinegar
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Directions

Spread butter on one side of each slice of 100% Whole Wheat Bread. On unbuttered side of two slices, layer cheese, prime rib, horseradish cream sauce, jalapeño pepper slices, and more cheese. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side up. Cook sandwiches over medium heat until bread is golden brown and cheese has melted. Serve warm.

Full recipe: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/prime-rib-and-jalapeno-grilled-cheese/

Check out a video demonstration of this recipe on our YouTube page here!

Recipe Archive: Savory Grilled Cheese

Chili Cheese Dog Grilled Cheese

Kimchi Grilled Cheese

Inside Out Grilled Cheese

Taco Grilled Cheese

Sweet Grilled Cheese

Does sweet grilled cheese even taste good? If you’re a little wary of a grilled cheese with a sweet flavor profile, we totally get it. That’s why we’re breaking it down for you. It’s not as complicated as you think! For the same reason we love kettle corn or chocolate-covered pretzels, you’ll also start to see why sweet grilled cheese just works.

Sweet and salty food combinations are not a new invention. In fact, it’s why some of our favorite snack foods taste so good. Sweet grilled cheese uses some of the same principles in between two slices of bread. Cheeses with a bold-and-salty quality or a mild, buttery flavor help bring out the best in sweet ingredients like fruit, honey, jam, and more.

It is somewhat of an art to pair the right ingredients together in a sweet grilled cheese—but that’s half the fun! Once you learn your favorite combinations, you may be surprised to find how delicious it can be. Check out these recommendations if you’re just starting out.

White Cheddar + Berries – for a salty and bold flavor that offsets and balances sweetness
Brie + Stone Fruit – for a creaminess and buttery flavor that melds with sliced stone fruits like peaches and plums
Havarti + Fig Jam – for a mild and slightly buttery flavor that compliments sweet fig or other jams

Or, try experimenting with these other great cheese options:

Ricotta Cheese – for a soft, creamy texture that doesn’t compete with sweet ingredients
Cream Cheese – for a slightly tangy flavor and melty quality that will compliment fruit and more
Provolone – can be found in a variety of flavor profiles, so it pairs well with basic sweets or unique toppings like our pumpkin butter recipe below

Featured Recipe: Honey & Peach Grilled Cheese

Made with sharp white cheddar cheese, this brightly-flavored grilled cheese is a great example of sweet fruit and toppings paired with a salty cheese to balance and highlight every element. Honey, peaches, and cheese all mingle together between two slices of Martin’s Old-Fashioned Real Butter Bread.

Ingredients:

4 Slices Martin’s Old-Fashioned Real Butter Bread
2 Peaches, peeled and sliced
3 Tablespoons Ricotta Cheese
1 Tablespoon Honey
4 Slices White Cheddar Cheese
2 Tablespoons Butter

Directions

Spread butter on one side of each slice of Old Fashioned Real Butter Bread. On unbuttered side of two slices, layer ricotta cheese, peach slices, honey, and cheddar cheese. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side up. Cook sandwiches over medium heat until bread is golden brown and cheese has melted. Serve warm.

Full recipe: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/honey-peach-grilled-cheese/