Everyone likes grilled cheese sandwiches, and I’m no exception. They’re the best when the weather cools down and that need for comfort food hits. The furthest north I have ever lived is Central Florida, but I guess I still have that need to pack on some pounds for the winter LOL! I tried a Lasagna Grilled Cheese last year, and it was glorious. This year I have found this Garlic Mushroom Grilled Cheese, and it sounds like it will be a savory masterpiece. I’m a big fan of savory dishes, so let’s find out if this recipe is as good as it sounds.
Garlic butter fried mushrooms and aged cheddar cheese make this mushroom grilled cheese the ultimate easy lunch or dinner recipe.
The Ingredients
The major ingredients in this sandwich are grated cheese and sliced mushrooms. And sliced bread if you really want to get technical. you can grate and slice everything yourself, but I opted not to. I made sure to buy sliced mushrooms and bread alone with grated mozzarella and sharp cheddar cheeses. I’m not looking for extra work!
The rest of the ingredients were all simple things that I either had in my pantry or were easy to find. No special trips or online orders were required for this recipe, and I am very happy about that.
The Process
So this grilled cheese does have the extra step of sauteing the mushrooms, but I think it’s still a pretty simple recipe. Here’s how my time was spent:
- 13 minutes to prep and make the mushrooms
- 3 minutes for the first sandwich
- 5 minutes for the second sandwich
- 21 minutes total
The recipe is for four sandwiches, but that would have been too much for us. However, I estimate the total time at 33 minutes if I made all 4 sandwiches. That’s in line with the 30 minutes listed on the recipe.
I prepared the mushrooms & garlic in my largest skillet and also used it to toast the sandwiches. No need for a second pan and more dishes to wash. I was able to prep the rest of the ingredients as they fried.
Olive Oil?
My only moment of confusion was when I got started cooking. Although I had read over the recipe, I missed the fact that there is olive oil in the ingredients list but nowhere in the instructions.
The instructions do say to use 2 tablespoons of butter to saute the mushrooms, so I saved the oil for frying up the sandwiches. I figured the olive oil would add a little flavor, and it did.
The instructions also say to fry all the sandwiches at once, but even a 12″ pan wouldn’t fit them all. I decided to fry them up one at a time. The first grilled cheese was done at 5 1/2 (out of 10 on an electric stove) for 3 1/2 minutes total. The outside toasted nicely, but he inside could have melted a touch more.
I turned the heat down to 4 for the second grilled cheese and let it fry for 5 minutes, flipping it twice. I also added a lid (borrowed from my largest saute pan) while it cooked to trap the heat and help the cheese melt. The result was the perfect grilled cheese! The outside was crispy and the inside was nice and gooey.
A Few Tips
Salt and pepper are listed “to taste”. I like to start small and add if needed. I used 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper, and I was very happy with the amount of both.
Cold butter is hard and impossible to spread. I set mine out a few hours before I made this recipe, and it was very easy to spread.
As I just mentioned, cover the pan while your grilled cheese(s) cooks. It traps the heat and helps melt the cheese.
And lastly, I discarded the garlic cloves after the mushrooms were finished. I didn’t think anyone would want to bite down on a whole clove of garlic in their sandwich.
