Not Just Any Grilled Cheese: Copycat Panera 'Grown-Up' Grilled Cheese Recipe

A grilled cheese sandwich made with sliced white bread and American cheese has long been a kids' lunchtime staple, but adults can get in on the fun too, dressing up their old favorite sandwich by giving it a gourmet glow-up with fancy cheeses and fillings. Panera Bread, too, got in on the act — while it currently offers just one type of grilled cheese sandwich, the classic American on white bread combo, in the past, it has featured a more elaborate "grown-up" version with cheddar, fontina, and Gruyere cheeses as well as tomatoes and bacon.

"This copycat Panera grown-up grilled cheese recipe takes your regular grilled cheese up several notches with three types of cheese, crispy smoked applewood bacon, and thick slices of Roma tomato," recipe developer Julianne De Witt tells us. "It's cooked until toasty and melty and is comfort food at its finest." You can certainly pair it with that classic grilled cheese accompaniment, tomato soup, but a different kind of soup would also work. Fries, potato chips, or a green salad are also great sides for this simple yet sophisticated (and ultra-savory) sandwich.

The filling for this sandwich consists of bacon, Roma tomato, and three kinds of cheese: Gruyere, fontina, and cheddar. You'll also need a few slices of white bread for the outside, plus a little butter for pan-frying the sandwich.

Place the bacon slices in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until crispy, about 5 minutes.

Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate.

Butter each slice of bread on one side.

Place a pan over medium heat. Place 2 slices of bread butter side-down into the pan.

Top each bread slice with one slice each of Gruyere, fontina, and cheddar.

Add 2 slices of bacon to each sandwich, followed by 3 slices of tomato.

Top each sandwich with the remaining bread slices, butter-side up. Cook the sandwiches until the bottom is golden brown, for about 2-3 minutes.

Carefully flip and cook the other side until golden and the cheese is melted, another 2-3 minutes.

Slice the sandwiches in half and serve immediately.

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For best results, you should use a thick-sliced bread so the sandwich is sturdy enough to hold all of the fillings. Panera uses its own Country White bread, but Texas toast or something similar will work well. On the other hand, you'll want your cheese slices to be thin — pre-sliced cheese is fine, since it will melt more quickly and evenly than hand-cut chunks.

Before you start making the sandwich, let the butter soften to the point where it's nice and spreadable, as this will prevent the bread from tearing when you apply it. Cook the sandwich over medium to medium-low heat so the bread can toast and the cheese melt on the same timetable. If the latter doesn't cooperate by the time the bread is brown, you can always cover the pan for a minute to speed up the process.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are best when you eat them as soon as they're made, but you can assemble them in advance if need be. If you do so, though, hold off on adding the tomato until right before you start cooking, otherwise your sandwiches will become soggy.

This sandwich recipe is a fairly faithful recreation of the one Panera used to sell, but you can always make a few changes so it's more to your liking. The bread doesn't need to be white, since you could go with wheat, sourdough, rye, or even a ciabatta roll if you prefer. You also don't need to stick with applewood-smoked bacon, since hickory-smoked, maple-flavored, or any other kind is fine, and you can even go with turkey or Canadian bacon for a lower-fat option. Try playing around with different cheeses, too — Brie, havarti, mozzarella, pepper Jack, and Swiss are all sufficiently melty to make for the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. You can even incorporate Parmesan by adding it to the butter to make a crispy outer crust.

A few well-chosen condiments or other add-ins can also enhance your sandwich. One secret ingredient you may want to try on your grilled cheese sandwich is mayonnaise — not on the inside, but on the outside. It can take the place of butter, and some swear it adds extra flavor. Something a bit more unexpected, like raspberry jam or garlicky aioli, could boost the flavor of your sandwich in a unique way, while kimchi or roasted poblanos would certainly punch things up.

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