Gordon Ramsay's Secret To A Next-Level Grilled Cheese Is One Simple Vegetable

Grilled cheese is a late night staple and perfect comfort food that you can throw together in just a few minutes. It may strike some as purely basic, yet with a little extra time and some slightly more high-end ingredients, you can make the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich or play around with some cheese combinations chefs swear by to up the ante and dial in your flavors. But it might seem unnecessary to ask a multi Michelin-starred chef for advice on the simple grilled cheese sandwich.

Then again, Chef Gordon Ramsay is not one to keep his opinions to himself. When it comes to his go-to single vegetable addition for an amazing grilled cheese, Ramsay recommends you bring on the onions.

His constant flow of advice and acerbic personality, alongside undoubted skill, have made Ramsay a polarizing figure among his fellow chefs. But in an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, Ramsay was strictly on his best behavior as he shared, among other things, his advice for melted sandwich perfection. Caramelized onions and grilled cheese, he said, would make an excellent and simple pairing. Sure, it may take a little bit of chef's knowledge and kitchen skill to make these onions really sing, but when you know what you're doing, they can be whipped up in minutes. And the sweet, savory, slightly pungent flavor of the onions can go great with dozens of melted cheeses, though Ramsay recommends an aged cheddar.

To make his ideal grilled cheese, Ramsay tells Tasting Table, "First of all, I'd get some beautiful onions ... caramelize them [and] deglaze them in a touch of sherry vinegar." If you're not experienced in the kitchen, deglazing may sound a little daunting, but it's really pretty easy.

Begin by sautéing onions over medium-high heat in the fat of your choice, vegetable or olive oil work great, but butter will give it some extra flavor from the milk fat. The onions will start to brown, forming a fond on the bottom — a slightly crispy caramelized coating. Keep scraping the fond with a wooden spoon until all onions are browned. When the fond starts to really stick, it's time for deglazing. Simply pour a tablespoon or two of liquid over them to liquify the fond and stir it back into the onions. Ramsay's choice of sherry vinegar will add nice nutty elements and some tangy flavor.

Ramsay says, "[I'd] spread that on my white bread, and I'd get the most amazing mature cheddar, finely grate it, sandwich that ... I'd put that in a panini press ... with the grilled onions and a melt-y cheese inside." No panini press? There's a secret to making a panini without the press. You just need two cast iron pans, one slightly smaller than the other. You heat them both up, then press the smaller on top of the sandwich grilling inside the other. The result is a salty, sweet, savory, perfectly gooey, toasted grilled cheese masterpiece. If you don't want to attempt the double cast iron trick, pressing your sandwich with a spatula and flipping it as it cooks is eminently presentable.

Mashed and Tasting Table are both owned by Static Media.