The Holiday Side Dish You Should Be Adding To Grilled Cheese

Two slices of bread, a pat of butter, and some decent cheese are all you need for a good grilled cheese sandwich, but our palates often lean towards something a little extra. We love adding caramelized onions, a slice or two of tomato, or strips of bacon to spruce up the classic sandwich. With the holidays coming up, though, we're excited to elevate our grilled cheeses with cranberry sauce.

The sweet tang of cranberry sauce is mostly experienced post-Thanksgiving, eaten along with leftover pies and candied yams. Though the traditional extent of experimenting with the side is putting it on sliders made from turkey and dinner rolls, it's great at enhancing other sandwiches, too. Cranberry sauce's bold taste works wonders as a delicious addition to elevate your grilled cheese. The fruity sauce embraces the savory aspects of cheese while lifting the sandwich with a bright, acidic pop.

You can add the cranberry sauce on top of the sandwich after cooking it, or use it as a spread before making the grilled cheese. After adding butter to both sides of the bread slices, smear a small amount of cranberry sauce onto a slice, ensuring that it won't ooze out when pressed against the other slice. Add the cheese on afterwards then heat the sandwich in an oiled skillet until the bread is golden brown. You can also air fry it at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes or until the sandwich is browned.

To complement the fruity taste of cranberry sauce, go for cheeses that have a mild, slightly sweet taste. The Thanksgiving side has a very prominent taste, so it's best to spring for something that won't attempt to compete with it. Our blackberry grilled cheese with prosciutto and sage features gouda and brie, two cheeses that pair perfectly with the berry. Blackberries are also pretty tart, so the cheeses they complement can be eaten with cranberry sauce, as well.

While gouda is creamy and sweet with a touch of caramel, brie is a little more mild, with a nutty flavor that gives it some depth. The earthiness of both cheeses helps to reign in some of the cranberry sauce's acidity without completely taking away its flavor. Cranberry sauce is a unique topping for a salty-sweet grilled cheese, so you can also pair it with something that has a striking umami taste.

Blue cheese is sharp and pungent, its funky flavor enhancing cranberry's own tartness. A sprinkle of blue cheese definitely takes a cranberry grilled cheese sandwich up a notch, but don't forget to add in a milder cheese so things don't taste too tangy. A sprinkle of mozzarella or swipe of cream cheese adds a more mellow note to the sandwich while still allowing the other flavors to shine.