The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Even though everyone and their dog probably knows how to make a simple grilled cheese, there is one ingredient that I had never tried before and it is AMAZING on this sandwich.

Guess what it is?

Thousand Island dressing. Who knew? Even if you're not a fan of it, you'll LOVE it on this classic sandwich.

There was a "recipe" in one of last year's Food Network magazines for a grilled cheese with thousand island dressing and bacon, which we tried, but decided to eliminate the bacon for the next time. It didn't add much to the sandwich other than unnecessary calories surprisingly.

However, not only was the dressing amazing, but the bread we used and the amount of butter we cooked the sandwich in made it perfect. Yum!

So in conclusion, my husband and I both agreed that this was the best grilled cheese we've ever had and from now on we'll always have Thousand Island dressing in our fridge for a quick grilled cheese fix. (My dad would be so proud.)

So here's the "recipe."

Best Grilled Cheese
2 Tbsp. butter, plus more as needed
8 slices bread, (the key is to use an Artisan bread such as this Three-Cheese Semolina pictured above)
12 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (or as much as you prefer, more is better in this case)
4 Tbsp. Thousand Island dressing

1. Heat the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add 2 bread slices into the pan. Top each with one-quarter of the cheese.
2. Spread 2 bread slices with some of the dressing and press them on top of the sandwiches, dressing-side down.
3. Cook until the cheese melts and the bread is golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side.* Repeat to make 2 more sandwiches, adding more butter as needed.

*Set a timer, 3 to 4 minutes is a lot longer than you think and more time makes all the difference.