This Caramelized Onion & Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a delicious fall take on a classic grilled cheese recipe. With the addition of sweet caramelized onions, crisp apples, and sage butter, it is so good and sure to be a favorite easy fall recipe.
INGREDIENT NOTES:
- Sourdough bread: I love the taste of sourdough bread and it's firmness is perfect for this grilled cheese.
- Fresh sage: This gets chopped up and mixed with the butter then spread on the outside of the grilled cheese so it gets all toasty and smells amazing.
- Unsalted butter: You could use salted butter, but I prefer to control the levels of salt.
- Honeycrisp apple: This apple is the perfect amount of sweetness and is so nice and crisp. Others you could use: Gala or Fuji.
- Yellow onions: You'll want two LARGE yellow onions for this recipe. They'll reduce in size drastically during the caramelization process.
- Cheddar cheese: Can't go wrong with cheddar cheese. Make sure that you get it by the block and shred it yourself for ultimate melty-ness. Pre-shredded has stabilizers that often prevent it from melting easily.
- Brie cheese: The creamiest of the creamiest. Melts so beautifully.
KITCHEN TOOLS YOU'LL NEED:
- Coarse grater
- Wood spoon
- Spatula
- Chef's knife
- Non-stick skillet
- Cutting board
HOW TO MAKE THIS GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH:
There are only a few steps to making this delicious Caramelized Onion & Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Let's begin!
Start with caramelizing the onions, as this will take the longest. So you'll want to cut the onions into ½ inch half moons. Heat a skillet on medium heat, melt 2tbsp butter + 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add in the onions and stir to coat. Cook them stirring every few minutes. At the 10 minute mark, add 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Continue stirring for an additional 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Add 1 tablespoon water if it looks dry as you cook. Set aside.
While the onions are cooking, prep the other ingredients.
- Sage butter: Combine 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage with 4 tablespoon butter and a three-finger pinch of kosher salt.
- Cheddar cheese: Using the coarse grater, grate the cheddar cheese.
- Brie cheese: Cut off the rind of the cheese and slice into ½ inch thick slices.
- Apples: Cut around the core in four slices, then thinly slice (about ¼ inch thick if you can).
Steps to assemble:
- Lay down a non-buttered piece of bread.
- Place a flat layer of brie cheese on top, followed by ¼ of the cheddar cheese.
- Then add the apple slices, slightly overlapping.
- Followed by ¼ cup of caramelized onions.
- Add ¼ cup cheddar cheese on top.
- To finish, add the top slice of bread and spread with 1 tablespoon of the sage butter.
- Repeat for a second sandwich.
In your skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium heat. Once sizzling carefully place the grilled cheeses in buttered side down. Spread the sides facing upward evenly with the remaining sage butter. Cook for about 6 minutes per side, until golden. Serve warm & enjoy!!
Other fall lunch & dinner recipes:
- Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce with Sage Breadcrumbs
- Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna
- Zucchini Corn Fritters with Homemade Chipotle Mayo
📖 Recipe
Caramelized Onion and Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage chopped
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided room temp
- 1 honeycrisp apple thinly sliced
- 2 large yellow onions sliced ½ inch thick
- 8 oz cheddar cheese grated
- 2 oz brie cheese sliced into ½" slivers
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Caramelize your onions first. Heat 2 tablespoon unsalted butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add the onions, stir every few minutes. At 10 minutes, add 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Continue to cook, stirring every few minutes for an additional 30-40 minutes until golden. Add 1 tablespoon water if the skillet starts to look dry.
- Combine chopped sage with 4tbsp butter and 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- To assemble, lay down a non-buttered piece of bread. Top with brie cheese, then cheddar cheese, then apples in a single layer slightly overlapping, then ¼ cup caramelized onions, then additional cheddar cheese, ending with the top piece of bread. Spread 1 tablespoon sage butter on the top piece of bread.
- Heat a skillet on medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place the sandwiches in buttered side down. Spread the remaining butter evenly on the tops of the exposed bread. Cook on each side for about 6 minutes until golden. Serve warm & enjoy!
Goria B says
Is the 1380 Kcal for the entire recipe or for 1 serving?
Haley says
Hi Goria - the nutrition info is per serving (which is one sandwich in this case). I updated my recipe template to reflect that!
Claire says
Wow. So good!
Haley says
thank you!!
Alex says
As for the taste, this is AMAZING!
A few things to note though, especially for a cook like myself who is disabled, is that more thorough instructions would be great. If not this then a video. For instance you never say how thin to do the apples, and various small details like that. Some things may seem obvious to you but for others it is hard to just know automatically! 🙂
Also, I cooked it for only 3 minutes on each side on medium to low heat and it almost burnt 🙁 in fact the first one that I cooked for 4 minutes DID burn on one side. I guess the cooking time is just different depending on oven? Idk what else it would be as I followed every step to the tee! So less cooking time on the grilled cheese next time I make this 😄 thanks for the fun recipe!!
Haley says
Hi! Thank you so much for that feedback, I really do appreciate it! I'll take another look at how the recipe is written and aim to shoot a video ASAP. Glad you liked the flavor though 🙂
Scout says
Absolutely wonderful. I said so on Pinterest but I thought I'd come and contribute to the ratings here. I made a few tweaks to my taste (adding a thin layer of Dijon and swapping to Granny Smith) but I think making it verbatim would also be lovely! The keys are the sourdough bread and that heavenly sage butter.
Haley says
Thank you so much! Appreciate you leaving a review here too!