The Pasta Sauce That Makes The Perfect Spread For Your Grilled Cheese

If you thought pesto was nothing more than a delicious pasta sauce, you should be excited to discover you thought wrong. This delightful blend of olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, and basil (or garlic scapes to give pesto a bright, delicious makeover) is the topping you never knew you needed on grilled cheese sandwiches. This beautiful fusion of sophisticated sauce and childhood favorite makes a ton of sense when you consider how hard pesto garlic bread hits. A pesto grilled cheese is basically the same thing, but with the bread folded over to make a handheld sandwich.

This tasty hack is also pretty easy, especially if you already know how to make a diner-style grilled cheese, or have your own technique for getting the bread crisp and the cheese melty and stretchy. All you have to do is schmear the pesto on the inside of both pieces of bread before assembling your sandwich. As it grills, the aromatic basil and garlic sink into the cheese, the parmesan and pine nuts add a savory nuttiness, and the olive oil deepens the richness and flavor of all the ingredients.

Since pesto can upgrade even the simplest grilled cheese, usually made with white bread and individually wrapped cheese slices, the only real pain point is stopping yourself from using too much pesto (overusing it results in an oily sandwich). Stick to about a quarter-sized dollop for each side of the bread for bold, balanced flavor and richness.

Pesto is a deliciously sophisticated blend of simple ingredients that create a complex flavor experience, and you can use those same principles to showcase it inside your grilled cheese. As mentioned, there's nothing wrong whatsoever with using it on the most basic sandwich, but one "fancy" ingredient often serves as the inspiration to elevate other parts of the recipe. In this case, opt for slices of spongy, tart sourdough, herby focaccia, or hearty seeded wheat bread. Something that feels artisanal and rustic that matches the vibe of the pesto.

Then there's the question of whether the best grilled cheeses use multiple cheeses or just one. While there's no real need for more than one cheese, adding pesto automatically takes the count up to two since it contains parmesan. It's also delicious to replace the usual American or cheddar with slices of part-skim mozzarella (fresh is moist enough to make your bread soggy) or nutty, delicious fontina. You can also combine them, using one slice of each for an Italian-inspired cheese delight. Finally, try adding paper-thin slices of tomato or zesty turkey pepperoni (it's less greasy than pork) for a stuffed grilled cheese, and dip the whole thing in some warm marinara as a stand-in for tomato soup.