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The warm, gooey, crisp, buttery comfort of a grilled cheese paired with the creamy tang of guacamole could just be the best thing ever.
By
J. Kenji López-Alt
Updated August 19, 2023
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Why It Works
- Layering in guacamole adds even more buttery richness to the sandwich.
- The acid in the guacamole balances out the creaminess of the cheese and avocado.
I admit it: I was a hot avocado snob. Look around you, I'm sure you know one. I'm talking about people who scoff at the idea of serving avocado at any temperature other than cool. People who hear of tempura-fried avocado and sneer in disgust. Those who would mini-puke at the very thought of putting guacamole into the center of a grilled cheese sandwich.
Perhaps there are some for whom warm avocado really does have the bitter flavor that some folks claim it does, but I think for most warm avocado-haters (my former self included), the symptoms are largely psychosomatic.
I started down my long journey from rejecting to embracing warm avocados in Colombia, where my wife's aunt served us ajiaco, a Colombian soup made with potatoes and chicken and served with chunks of avocado stirred into the hot broth (recipe here). Avocado-in-hot-soup is a common feature all over Colombia. You'll see it stirred into frijoles, or into mondongo, a tripe stew from Medellín.
I've since had it deep-fried tempura style (delicious), grilled (phenomenal), and split in half, stuffed with meat and cheese, breaded and fried (meh). Point is, I got over my warm avocado aversion, and perhaps so can you.
I can think of no better way to do it than with this sandwich, which combines the warm, gooey, crisp, buttery comfort of a grilled cheese with the creamy tang of guacamole.
I've always wondered what it'd be like to make a grilled cheese sandwich in which not only were all four sides of the bread slices buttered (you do toast all four surfaces of your bread when making grilled cheese, right?), but the cheese slices were buttered too.
My hedonism knows few bounds, but buttering cheese might be one of them. As we all know, avocados are the butter of the plant kingdom, so this sandwich is the next best thing. And it's easy for us to fool ourselves into even believing it's healthy, what with its greenness and good fats and all. Right?
Serve some extra guacamole on the side to make the whole thing extra healthy.
I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I'd place good odds on this being one of the best things ever.
April 2013
Recipe Details
Grilled Cheese With Guacamole Recipe
Prep5 mins
Cook15 mins
Active12 mins
Total20 mins
Serves1 sandwich
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 even pieces
2 sliceshearty white bread, such as Pepperidge Farm or Arnold
2 slicesAmerican, cheddar, or Jack cheese
1/2 cup guacamole(preferablyhomemade)
Kosher salt
Directions
Melt 1/3 of butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until foaming subsides. Add both bread slices and cook, swirling occasionally, until pale golden brown on bottom side, about 2 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board toasted-side-up. Place one cheese slice on top of one slice of bread. Top with guacamole and second cheese slice. Close sandwich, with both toasted sides facing inwards.
Melt one more piece of butter in the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Add sandwich and cook, swirling occasionally, until deep, even golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove sandwich using a flexible metal spatula. Add the remaining butter. Return sandwich to skillet cooked-side up. Season with salt. Cook, swirling occasionally, until second side is deep, even golden brown and cheese is thoroughly melted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Special Equipment
Skillet
Notes
I like to add tomato to my basic guacamole recipe for this application. Grilled cheese and tomato is just classic. If you want to go one step further, add some crispy bacon to the sandwich.
Read More
- Crispy Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich
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- Vegetarian Mains
- Cheddar Cheese
- Quick Dinners
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
668 | Calories |
57g | Fat |
25g | Carbs |
19g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 1 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 668 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 57g | 73% |
Saturated Fat 28g | 139% |
Cholesterol 111mg | 37% |
Sodium 1235mg | 54% |
Total Carbohydrate 25g | 9% |
Dietary Fiber 8g | 28% |
Total Sugars 3g | |
Protein 19g | |
Vitamin C 13mg | 63% |
Calcium 488mg | 38% |
Iron 2mg | 12% |
Potassium 632mg | 13% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)