Bacon, Egg & Hash Brown Grilled Cheese Sandwich
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Grilled cheese sandwiches have to be in the top five list of best comfort foods in the entire world. Just one bite and I feel like a kid again! Whether it was dipping a grilled cheese into a bowl of tomato soup or nibbling on one while laying on the couch suffering through a cold, there’s not much that could make you feel better than a hot grilled cheese sandwich. Â Back in the glory days of Nintendo, grilled cheese sandwiches were quite simply two pieces of white bread with a piece of American cheese slapped in the middle. Sometimes I would get crazy and add pepperoni, but otherwise, that was your basic grilled cheese. Today’s grilled cheese sandwiches most definitely take things a step or two farther. We are living in the age of the gourmet grilled cheese, folks. They’re the next macaron. From guacamole to pesto and French onion soup, the limit is truly your own imagination. Well, I imaged a big plate of my favorite breakfast foods, and then piled it high on a grilled cheese sandwich. Fried eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast are pretty much breakfast nirvana for me; throw in some sharp cheddar cheese and you have one heck of an epic sandwich.
A couple of quick tips for making the most amazing grilled cheese sandwiches which I’ve picked up through trial and error, as well as from Closet Cooking:
- Make sure your butter is really, really soft. If it’s not, it won’t spread easily and might tear your bread. I’ve found that giving the bread a healthy slather of butter all over gets you a wonderful golden brown all over the bread instead of melting the butter in the skillet, which tends to create overdone and underdone spots.
- The shredded cheese may sound a little odd, but doing so helps it to melt evenly and quickly. I’m probably not the only one who has bitten into a grilled cheese sandwich only to have gooey, melty cheese around the edges but some still-firm cheese in the middle. We want ooey, gooey the whole way through!
- Keep the heat on medium-low until the cheese has melted, and then if you need to brown the bread a little more, kick up the heat a notch or two.
One year ago:Â Top 10 List: Favorite Side Dishes[/donotprint]
Bacon, Egg & Hash Brown Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 russet potato, peeled
- 4 slices bacon, thick-sliced works the best
- 2 eggs
- 4 slices white bread
- 2 tablespoons butter, very soft
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Place peeled potato in a small saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a large (12-inch) cast iron skillet (use stainless steel if you don't have cast iron) until crisp. Remove from the skillet to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Pour the bacon drippings from the pan into a small bowl and set aside.
- Return the pan to the burner (do not wipe out the pan) over medium heat and fry the eggs to your desired degree of doneness (you can cook them the whole way through, leave the yolk runny, whatever your preference). Remove the eggs to a small plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Once the potato is cool enough to handle, grate with the large holes of a box grater. Heat your skillet over high heat and then measure the reserved bacon drippings. Add 2 tablespoons to the hot skillet (if you don't have quite 2 tablespoons, use vegetable or canola oil to make up the difference). Spread the shredded potatoes in a thin, even layer over the bottom of the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Don't try to turn them or move them until the 5 minutes is up! Once brown, use a wide spatula to flip the potatoes over and cook on the other side for 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown as well. Once finished, remove the hash browns to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Butter all of the slices of bread, making sure to spread the butter over the entire surface of the bread to the edges. Place two pieces butter-side down in the skillet, and then top each slice of bread with a quarter of the cheese, half of the potatoes, one egg, two slices of bacon and the remaining cheese. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side-up. Cook until the bottom is golden brown, then carefully flip the sandwich and continue to cook until golden brown on the other side, about 5 to 7 minutes total. Slice in half and serve!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Perfect breakfast/lunch sandwich. Very delicious!
I made these last night. Lazy is a word that describes me where peeling potatoes are concerned. Grating them is a whole other issue entirely. But your recipe looked so yummy that I decided to be a big girl and try it, especially since only one potato was involved. My boyfriend LOVED them – as did I! I also served the unused portion of hash browns on the side of his sandwiches. Perfect complement! Thank you for posting this!! I will definitely be making it again.
oooooooooooh that was a-ma-zing!! My husband and I thank you. My husband went so far as to request me to make this next time ‘the guys’ come over! Usually I make them beefy nachoes or tater skins and stuff like that. But not next time. I wish I could eat this every day. My hubby isn’t usually real vocal with his emotions but his groan after biting into this said it all!!
Thank you for all the trial and error you did so I could enjoy this perfection. I would not change a thing the next time I make this! (which will be soon)
Now that is one nice looking grilled cheese sandwich! I just tried a grilled cheese with a fried egg in for the first time and it was amazing with the runny egg yolk!
Now that is an awesome looking sandwich. Thanks for posting the recipe. Love to put slices of hardboiled eggs on mine.
I’m seriously considering going into my kitchen and making this right now….Brinner perhaps? (breakfast for dinner)
I LOVE brinner!
I think this will be my new favorite breakfast sandwich. I can’t wait to try it. The old favorite is a warm biscuit with an egg, cheese and bacon inside, and a little spiced up basil mayo too.
Yumm!~total comfort food :D
This isn’t a grilled cheese sandwich… it is a grilled breakfast sandwich… grilled cheese sandwich only has bread and cheese…. While this looks amazing, I stand behind my claim that it is not a grilled cheese sandwich, but a grilled sandwich…
This could be breakfast, lunch , or dinner! Love grilled cheese!
I’m a purist, so I don’t often put anything in my grilled cheese. In fact, my favorite is made with um…velveeta…and…white bread. >insert embarrassed awkward smiley here< Will I get in trouble for saying that here? I do have a recipe though for one with mayo, avocado, and bacon that I have been meaning to try when I need a splurge.
Love a simple breakfast! I will definitely have to try this sandwich out! My boyfriend is a breakfast sandwich l-o-v-e-r!
http://radmagiclove.com/2012/07/20/perfect-breakfast/
geeeenius!! it sounds and looks divine!
Grilled cheese is among my top three comfort foods but is usually the easiest of the three to come by. We have a local bakery chain that carries an English muffin bread that makes the most delicious grilled cheese ever. Butter on the bread, two slices of whichever cheese strikes your fancy, low heat in my cast iron pan … yum. Lately my favorite grilled cheese has been the English muffin bread with smoked gouda, honey smoked turkey, and bacon. So delicious.
If things are really bad and I can’t even rally myself to make a grilled cheese sandwich for myself, Frisch’s Big Boy has the grilled cheese sandwich that reminds me of my childhood and it’s the next best thing to having my mom make one for me on the comfort scale.
My dream grilled cheese would be with pesto – yum! This one looks yummy too.
I need to make this! It take my egg sandwich to a new height!!
The way I make sure everything is melted in a grilled Cheese is to put the sandwich in the pan on a med hi light to make sure the pan gets hot…just for a minute/. Then I turn it all the way down and cover. This gets the bread, cheese, and whatever else is in there, hot. after however long that takes, I uncover and turn up the light to brown that side, flip and brown the other side. Once you turn up the heat, you can’t leave the sandwich. Turns out great every time!!! YUM!!
Yum, looks like the perfect breakfast (or any meal, really) sandwich
I love the addition of hash browns!
There’s a gourmet grilled cheese food truck here in Sacramento that serves a mac & cheese + pulled pork sandwich! It is incredible! You’re right that the grilled cheese is getting fancy!
Ooooh, I could totally go for a sandwich like this right now! Yum!
I can have this sandwich every morning for the rest of my life!
Seriously?! This is on Heck of a good grilled cheese!
This is a perfect grilled cheese!
Oh my, yum! That would be an awesome sandwich. The one I made for my kids growing up is similar, without the hash browns, and the yolks had to be runny. We call them ‘egg-squeeze’ sandwiches. They still ask for them. :) I think my favorite grilled cheese of all time is one I got (and went back for daily during the rest of our vacation) in Victoria, BC, was grilled aged cheddar, shredded granny smith apple and a swoosh of homemade apple butter on thickly sliced homemade sourdough bread! y.u.m.m.y!
Oooh your vacation sandwich reminded me of a panini I had last summer – bacon, apples and cheddar. It was delicious; I need to make that at home!
What a fun grilled cheese!
Oh, my gosh, yes please! Looks delicious!
I wish I had this for breakfast! How delicious!!
Mmmmmm I need to make this!
This sandwich puts my breakfast to shame. Suddenly, two hard boiled eggs just aren’t appetizing.
Now if you’ve got a recipe for a Monte Cristo, I would thank you foreevveerrrr.
I keep forgetting about Monte Cristo… I neeeeeeed to make one!
Yum, what a creative and yummy grilled cheese sandwich!
Great post! And you are dead-on about grilled cheese being the next big thing… I did a series on my blog at the beginning of 2012 about food trends for this year and grilled cheese was one of them! …along with macarons, lol. I had a few grilled cheese recipes and this was my favorite of the bunch: http://yinmomyangmom.com/2012/02/13/grilled-cheese-for-dessert/ Hope you enjoy as much as I enjoyed your breakfast version! :o)
This looks amazing! And only 6 ingredients! Making this over the weekend :)
yum
Sell this to Primanti Bros!
If you don’t have soft butter, mayonnaise makes a lovely pre-fry spread. It’s mostly oil, so it browns just as well as butter, and adds a hint of its own flavor.
I’ve seen this a few times but have never tried it. I’m intrigued! I’ll have to give it a try next time.
Sounds great Michelle!!
Scrumptious! I love that filling.
Cheers,
Rosa
I am so in love right now! Fabulous blog and this might be my favorite post! <3
I love every variation of grilled cheese ever made…..ever :)