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Apple Bacon and Cheddar Grilled Cheese is a sweet and savory sandwich that combines all of your favorite flavors. Sweet fuji apples sliced thinly and paired with smoky bacon on top of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses on sourdough bread. You can’t go wrong with this one!
Is there anything more nostalgic than a grilled cheese? Something about a grilled cheese sandwich reminds me of my childhood. We used to eat grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles and that briney and salty combo was so freaking delicious! While this Apple Bacon and Cheddar Grilled Cheese might not be a traditional recipe, it certainly is delicious.
For this Apple Bacon and Cheddar Grilled Cheese, I made a dijon mustard sauce that is made with kewpie (you can use mayo), everything but the bagel seasoning, dijon mustard, freshly chopped sage leaves, and honey. Slater that mix on sourdough bread and top with apples, bacon and cheese.
apple bacon cheddar grilled cheese
I used fuji apples, cherrywood smoked bacon, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Once all of these ingredients are on the sourdough bread, I added a little bit of fresh thyme. One additional step. Usually when you think of grilled cheese, you think of a sandwich that’s made solely on the stove. However, because I love a good melty cheese pull, I put this Apple Bacon and Cheddar grilled cheese on my Calphalon Premier Nonstick Pan and baked this sandwich in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. This pan can take heat up to 450 °F so there was no issue there! Then took the pan out of the oven and finished on the stovetop with some butter and olive oil and fresh sage leaves.
When I tell you it’s amazing, I mean it. Not to mention, the Calphalon nonstick pan made is super easy to make because you can use it both in the oven and on the stove top. The non-stick coating also prevented the sandwich from burning and made flipping this apple bacon and cheddar grilled cheese so much fun to make. Easy, simply, and so good.
what kind of cheese is best for grilled cheese?
This is such a subjective question! My personal favorite for this apple bacon cheddar grilled cheese is an extra sharp cheddar cheese. However, a lot of people use American cheese – which I find to be pretty gross. In fact, for years, I thought that I didn’t even like cheese because I had American cheese and thought all cheese tasted like that. Granted, I was only 6 or 7 years old. But still.
Anyway, my favorite cheeses for a grilled cheese are extra sharp cheddar cheese and mozzarella because they melt well together. Mozzarella especially gives a good cheese pull while cheddar cheese packs all of the flavor. I’ve also used Monterey Jack cheese and Brie as well.
There’s no rules. Use whatever you like!
is mayo or butter better for grilled cheese?
So, this apple bacon and cheddar grilled cheese recipe uses both. Mayo in the dijon sauce and butter on the bread to give it that rich and delicious taste we all know and love. Because I used my Calphalon Premier Nonstick pan, I didn’t have to worry about the bread sticking to the pan and burning. Therefore, a little butter and oil on the pan for taste in combination with the non-stick coating made it so that I didn’t have to use mayo on both the inside and outside of the bread.
how many slices of cheese are in a grilled cheese?
I love this question. I don’t use sliced cheese in my grilled cheese. I use block cheese and then I shred it! It’s so important to note this because pre-shredded cheeses tend to be dryer and don’t melt as nicely. Now of course for the mozzarella cheese, I bought that shredded. But, for the cheddar, I bought block cheese and used a cheese grater and shredded it myself.
Store brought shredded cheese is typically tossed in starch which dries the cheese out making it harder to melt, so I highly recommend grating it yourself.
So, to answer this question – I don’t recommend using sliced cheese. Grated is where it’s at!
what do I need to make this apple bacon cheddar grilled cheesE?
A few simple yet wholesome ingredients are needed to make this grilled cheese. All of them come together to jazz up your traditional grilled cheese and make for an unforgettable sandwich!
- Fuji Apples – the sweet and crisp apples, they add a subtle sweetness to this sandwich
- Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese – for flavor and a beautiful cheese pull!
- Dijon Mustard, Mayo or Kewpie, fresh sage and thyme leaves, and everything but the bagel seasoning
- Honey
- Sourdough Bread
- Bacon
what type of equipment do I need to make apple bacon cheddar grilled cheese?
- A cutting board
- Calphalon Premier Nonstick frying pan (I may be biased, but it makes cooking this recipe so easy!)
- A bread knife
And that’s it for this apple bacon cheddar grilled cheese! Also, speaking of Calphalon, they’re currently giving 25% off all of their entire site! Hurry while supplies last. If you need to re-up on your cookware or bakeware, I highly suggest heading to Calphalon.com and using code ‘BRITNEY25’ (this excludes sale times)! Calphalon’s products are truly out of this world. Ive been using them for quite some time now and honestly, it’s the best cookware, bakeware, and knives I’ve ever had. Durable, sturdy, practical, easy to clean, versatile because you can use them in the oven and on the stove – I can’t say enough good things about them! Head to Calphalon.com and join my in cooking with their amazing products!
more recipes im loving right now!
- Bacon Cheddar and Thyme Biscuits
- Browned Butter Bacon and Jalapeno Cornbread
- French Onion Grilled Cheese with Thyme Butter
- Honey and Thyme Turkey Croissants
- Apple and Cheddar Grilled Cheese with Truffle Salami
- Asparagus and Prosciutto Puff Pastry Bundles
Apple Bacon and Cheddar Grilled Cheese
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp Mayo
- 2 tsp Everything But The Bagel seasoning
- 1 tsp honey
- 3 leaves Fresh Sage, chopped
- 6-8 slices Bacon
- 1 Fuji Apple, sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- 3-4 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 4 tbsps Salted Butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 ° F. Cook bacon on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Increase oven temperature to 400 °F.
- In a small bowl, mix together dijon mustard, mayo, everything but the bagel seasoning, honey and freshly chopped sage leaves. Add a pinch of salt and stir together.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of the dijon mixture to two slices of sourdough bread. Sprinkle cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top (add as much or as little as desired). Place 3-4 slices of bacon and 5-6 slices of apple on top of cheese. Sprinkle 1-2 thyme leaves on top. Push sandwich together and place on an oven safe skillet/frypan. Add 1 tbsp of butter on top of the bread and place 1 tbsp on butter in the pan.
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until cheese is visibly melted.
- Remove pan from the oven and bring to the stove top over medium high heat. Add additional butter and cook on both sides for 2-3 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe is so delicious! I love the apple with the bacon and cheese! I used manchego and gouda cheese! It was sooooo good!
I had all the ingredients on hand so decided to give this a try for lunch. The sweetnesses from the apple with melty cheese and toasty bread was just perfection. Thanks for the great recipe!
Amazing! The apples added an element of bright sweetness that balances the savory in the bacon and the cheeses to make the whole sandwich SO good!
It had never occurred to me to use shredded cheese for my grilled cheese sandwiches – it was a game changer.
You had me at apple and bacon and the cheese combo was a pleasant surprise! I put this on the menu for lunch and didn’t make it the day I wanted. But one morning, I woke up and was ready for it, so I made it for breakfast! I was slammin! I was making yum-yum noises on each bite!
The kids smelled it and wanted one, the secret is out and now they are hooked
These are great for a special occasion or just any day that ends in y!
This recipe was AMAZING! I used to have a sandwich very similar years ago from a deli in California and this recipe did not disappoint! The combination of the sweet and salty flavors are spot on. I can’t wait to make this again!
Let’s just say, PLEASE DON’T LET THIS RECIPE PASS YOU! It’s a must try – so delicious, the textures and flavours are everything you need your grill cheese sandwich to be AND MORE! Definitely will make again, and again!
Never thought about adding apples to a grilled cheese sandwich but it was perfect! It worked really well with the bacon too. This will be snack I’ll keep in rotation for those quick lunches or late night munchies!
I just happened to have some bacon thawed when I found your recipe. We hijacked one of the kids’ apples and got busy. Dinner was amazing and done in no time. Thank you!
Ummm all I had to do was read the title to know that this grilled cheese was gonna be bomb. I love the use of sharp cheddar in this recipe. I officially have a new favorite! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Crystal, I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe!!
I had some apples on him that I had to use up and didn’t wanna make anything sweet. These grilled cheese sandwiches were perfect! The apples added such a subtle but delicious sweetness to the sandwiches. Can’t wait to make them again
Thanks Tamara, I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe and were able to use up your apples!