Take your grilled cheese game to the next level.
Here’s another one to add to the ever-growing jalapeno popper-inspired foodie collection. The jalapeno popper grilled cheese features spicy jalapeno cream cheese, gooey mozzarella, oven-roasted jalapeno slices for that extra fiery flavor, all between two perfectly toasted slices of bread.
When formulating this recipe, one thought that really perplexed me was this…”What is the best bread for a grilled cheese?“
And so I went down a rabbit hole of research and came to no certain conclusion – but did find some great recommendations. Really, it’s all going to depend on the sandwich itself, but with these breads, you really can’t go wrong – the Pullman slice is a great-go to (basically a fancy version of classic white wonder bread), ciabatta and sourdough both add an extra crispiness factor, while sourdough also adds that extra tangy bite. Finally, because I had no luck finding a good loaf of any of these breads, I settled on English Muffin Toasting Bread – which as the name implies, does honestly make a great toasting bread.
To get the extra crispy crust on the grilled cheese, you can always aim for the old buttering of both sides trick. But I like to get a little extra flavor by lightly brushing both sides with olive oil and then sprinkling with garlic powder. But both methods work well for toasting!
Finally, the highlight of the sandwich is the roasted jalapeno peppers. For those, if you never roasted a pepper before, it’s super simple. To start, preheat the broiler to high – or around 450. Then give each pepper a good wash and pat them dry. Next, you’ll want to remove the stems and halve each pepper, then remove and dispose of the seeds. Next, toss them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Before throwing them in, I like to give the peppers a good rub of olive oil and sea salt. Then once the oven is up to heat, let them broil for about 10 minutes until the skins begin to blacken and blister. Once that happens, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a covered bowl or a Ziplock bag. Then you’ll want to let them steam themselves for about 10 more minutes, or until they are cool to the touch.
From there, the skins should peel off easily, and you can slice the fire-roasted peppers up and have them ready to go for this amazing grilled cheese.
Time You Need
- Prep: ~10-15 minutes
- Cooking: ~10 minutes
- Yields: 2 Sandwiches
What You Need
- 4 slices of ciabatta, pullman, sourdough, or other bread of choice
- `1/2 cup of jalapeno cream cheese
- 4-6 fresh green jalapenos, seeded, sliced, and oven roasted
- 4 slices of mozzarella
- Optional: Butter, olive oil, and garlic powder
What You Do
- Start by laying a nice thick layer of cream cheese on each slice of bread. Then add a mozzarella slice to each slice of bread. Finally, top with slices of roasted jalapeno.
- Take one slice of bread and place on top another to form the sandwich. Repeat for the other two slices.
- Gently butter or brush with oil each side of the sandwich.
- Cook on a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook about 3-4 minutes on each side (or until each side achieves the desired golden brown crust), flipping once.
- Remove from heat and cut diagonally. Repeat cooking steps for second sandwich.