Forget Tomato Soup: The French Twist That Makes Grilled Cheese Bistro-Worthy

In the mood to elevate your go-to grilled cheese with a little Parisian flair? Try serving your grilled cheese with French onion soup. The toasty bread, Gruyère cheese, and caramelized, salty onion soup all come together to create an uber-savory experience. The concept makes sense: your grilled cheese will be loaded with Gruyère, serving as the toasty crouton that normally comes on top of your French onion soup, creating an experience that's a nice change-up from the standard combination of grilled cheese and tomato soup.

To start, you'll need to load up your sandwich with Gruyère, as we mentioned. You can either use Gruyère on its own, or you can use multiple types of cheese to create your ideal grilled cheese. If you do decide to use other types of cheese, be sure that Gruyère takes a starring role so you can still recreate the taste you'd normally get from the melty layer on top of your French onion soup. It doesn't really matter whether you make French onion soup from scratch or you snag a can of the good stuff from the grocery store and follow Julia Child's tip for making store-bought French onion soup seem homemade — your Gruyère grilled cheese is the star of the show, and your French onion soup is there to make every bite even more delicious. Let's take a look at everything you need to know to create a fantastic Gruyère grilled cheese sandwich and a flavorful cup of French onion soup to go with it.

To bring some French flair to your lunch, it's important to create a super-crispy grilled cheese to emulate the flavor and texture of the toasted crouton you'd normally get on top of your French onion soup. To elevate your sandwich even further, you can melt a bit of extra Gruyère on top of your sandwich — perhaps even throw it under the broiler in the oven or toaster oven for a moment. This can create that slightly browned layer of cheese that makes French onion soup so delicious. It certainly makes for a slightly more messy eating experience, but it's totally worth it. If you have them on hand, you can also add some caramelized onions to the inside of your grilled cheese to amp up the French onion flavor.

As we mentioned, when it comes to the French onion soup, both store-bought and homemade versions can work. You don't need to worry about adding the crouton and cheese layer (unless you really feel like going the extra mile), as you have your grilled cheese at the ready for dipping. Simply dip your Gruyère-loaded grilled cheese into the French onion soup, just as you normally would with your tomato soup, and enjoy every French-inspired bite.