Grilled Cheese With Tomato Soup, the Pairing That Fixes a Bad Day
Jump to recipe ↓
It is 5:50 on a rainy Wednesday, the day went sideways around two, and you want a dinner that asks nothing of you but a spoon. This grilled cheese with tomato soup is 31 minutes, one pot and one skillet, and it is comfort food that has been together longer than most of your relationships. Neither one has asked for a break.
Deep golden bread, a stretch of melted cheese, and soup you blend yourself.
The soup starts with a diced onion and garlic softened in olive oil, then crushed tomatoes, a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper, simmered for fifteen minutes and blended smooth with a splash of cream. While it bubbles, you butter the bread, layer cheddar and gruyere between the slices, and cook the sandwiches three to four minutes a side. Cut them on the diagonal, because it is not a real grilled cheese otherwise, and scatter fresh basil over the soup.
What you need
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 32 oz canned tomato soup
- 8 slices bread
- 8 slices sandwich bread
- 8 oz cheddar cheese
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 onion
- 4 oz gruyere cheese
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
How to make it
- Dice the 1 onion and mince the 3 garlic cloves, about 5 minutes.
- Heat the 2 tbsp olive oil in a pot, saute the onion and garlic 3 minutes, then add the 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, the 1 tsp sugar, salt, and black pepper and simmer 15 minutes.
- Blend the soup smooth with an immersion blender and stir in the 2 tbsp heavy cream.
- Butter one side of each of the 8 slices bread with the 3 tbsp butter total.
- Layer the 8 oz cheddar and the 4 oz gruyere between two slices with buttered sides out.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook the sandwiches 3 to 4 minutes per side until deeply golden and the cheese is melted.
- Cut each sandwich diagonally and serve alongside bowls of the warm tomato soup garnished with the 0.25 cups fresh basil.
Notes
Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. The soup is the part that keeps well, and it tastes rounder on day two. Reheat it gently on the stove, and stir in a little water if it has thickened in the fridge.
The sandwiches are best made fresh, since the crisp crust softens as it sits. If you have extras, wrap them and reheat them in a dry skillet over medium heat to bring the crunch back.
The soup freezes well on its own, but cream can separate when it thaws, so you may want to stir in the cream after you reheat. Leave the sandwiches out of the freezer.
Grilled cheese with tomato soup for four means eight slices of bread, which makes four sandwiches. The soup here starts from crushed tomatoes, and a can of tomato soup makes a fine shortcut base if the night calls for one.
A tomato soup and a grilled cheese together are a classic pairing for a reason: the rich, salty sandwich needs something acidic, and the soup needs something to dunk. Think of it as two very different people who balance each other out. We will not tell if you dunk without making eye contact.
Swaps that actually work
The cheese is the point of grilled cheese with tomato soup, and so is the butter on the outside of the bread. Cheddar brings the sharp edge and gruyere brings the melt and nutty depth. Leave both, and keep the butter on the outside so the crust turns deeply golden. Gruyere is the one item you probably do not already own, which is exactly the kind of thing the agent picks up while you stay on the couch, swiping right on dinner.
If you do not have gruyere, any good melting cheese can fill in. Swiss or fontina work, and a bit more cheddar is fine, but you will lose some of the nutty note.
The bread should be sturdy sandwich bread, sliced medium. Very thin slices tear and burn before the cheese has melted, and very thick slices need more time than the method allows.
If you want a shortcut, use canned tomato soup. Warm it, stir in the cream and basil, and skip the simmering. You will lose the fresh onion and garlic, but you will gain fifteen minutes.
An immersion blender is what the method uses. If you do not own one, carefully blend the soup in batches in a regular blender, with the lid vented so steam does not push it off. Or leave it rustic, which is also a good soup.
The swap that costs you the dish is skipping the sugar. A teaspoon is not there to make it sweet, but it rounds off the acidity of the tomatoes.
If it goes wrong
The bread is burned and the cheese is solid. The heat was too high. Lower the skillet to medium, and give each side the full three to four minutes. If the outside is already dark, put a lid on the pan for a minute so the cheese can melt.
The soup is too acidic. The tomatoes were sharp. Add a tiny pinch more sugar or a splash more cream, and taste again. Let it simmer for another couple of minutes.
The soup is thin. It did not simmer long enough, or the tomatoes were very wet. Keep it simmering with the lid off until it coats the back of a spoon, then blend again.
It tastes flat. If it tastes flat, it is probably salt. Season the soup in small amounts and taste after each one, since the cheese on the side will add its own salt.
What to serve with it
The default for grilled cheese with tomato soup is the sandwich and the soup together, which is exactly the point.
The better version of the default is a crisp green salad on the side. The sandwiches are rich, and a few leaves with a sharp dressing cut through the butter.
The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a few extra basil leaves, a spoon of cream swirled on top, or a few crumbles of cooked bacon. Any of them is a plain, optional extra.
The leftover soup works as lunch the next day. Make a fresh sandwich to go with it, and it will taste almost like the first night.
Why this one earns its place
It is the dinner you make when you do not want to think, and it works because you do not have to. The steps are short, the smells are good, and the result is exactly what you hoped for.
When you swipe it into your week, the agent shops the cheese, the bread and the tomatoes so you can focus on the skillet. For the nights when that decision feels like too much, decision fatigue and what to eat explains why a short list helps. For another soup that goes with a sandwich, try creamy tomato basil soup, and for a cheesy bowl, panera style broccoli cheddar soup.
More like this: all American recipes in Crave Corner.