I try not to Google every.single.thing.in.life. That's what happens to so many of us. We are constantly Googling everything. EveryTHING. If you want to try something fun, look at your search history. I will do this occasionally and find silly things like "does Neil end up with Sara on White Collar?" And I'm like, "Stacey, just finish watching it!!" I try to refrain from looking up recipes when I think of something new. That's what I did with this incredible taco grilled cheese. Did I think this might already exist? YES. Did I Google taco grilled cheese before making this? NO.
My Very First Taco Grilled Cheese
What you are watching in the video above is me making taco grilled cheese for the very first time. I've had it on my brain for about a year now. If you're a regular reader of my website, you'll remember that I made a White Queso Dip w/Crispy Crumbled Beef for the Super Bowl a while back. I'm using the very same crispy crumbled beef as the taco base for this sandwich and it's insanely delicious. Here's the other recipe if you want to check it out.
Instead of Googling taco grilled cheese, I asked a friend: "What do you think of when you hear taco grilled cheese?" He thought of jalapeno jack cheese, but hadn't thought of beef taco filling which I found interesting. Also - bonus - I LOVED the idea of using jalapeno jack cheese (aka pepper jack) to give the sandwich an extra kick. You can stick with a milder colby jack or go for the jalapeno jack - I used both.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Taco Grilled Cheese
- Get a good loaf of thick-sliced brioche bread. Brands can vary and you want something sturdy. Plain white bread will not hold together well. Texas toast would be a good alternative, but not too thick or the sandwich flavors won't shine.
- It's important to put cheese on BOTH the top and bottom slice of bread. We're adding crumbled beef to the sandwich. The melted cheese will hold it together. Otherwise, you risk the beef falling out when you try to eat it.
- Canned green chilies. These are an absolute must for this sandwich and I feel like it pushed the flavor profile over the top.
- Use a flat-top counter griddle if you have one. If you don't two large pans will be fine.
- I spread a very thin layer of butter on the bread, but I also used a little bit of olive oil on the griddle as well. I like the combo rather than only butter or only olive oil.
Simple Ingredients with Lots of Add-on Potential
This recipe is super easy and doesn't have a ton of ingredients. The best part is if you want more you can have more. This is a highly customizable sandwich with lots of options for extras. If you don't use anything but the taco filling, green chilies and cheese it will be awesome. If you want to step it up a bit, any taco toppings will work as an add-on. The reason I recommend add-ons is because if you try to load up the sandwich with these ingredients before cooking it ends up soggy and will fall apart. I served the top three on the side for dipping or spreading on each bite.
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- Sour cream
- Salsa
- Guacamole
- Chopped tomatoes (you could add while you're cooking)
- Tortilla chips as a side
- Rice & black beans as a side
Easy Steps to Making Taco Grilled Cheese
Taco Grilled Cheese w/Green Chilies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 31 minutes
- Yield: 4 sandwiches 1x
Description
Let’s smash tacos and grilled cheese together and make this awesome taco grilled cheese sandwich with green chilies. It’s crazy delicious.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup diced onion (approx. ½ of one medium onion)
- 2 cups colby jack cheese
- 2 cups pepper jack cheese
- 4-5 tablespoon softened butter
- 2 tablespoons Tomato paste
- 2 pounds of ground beef (85/15 blend)
- 2 ½ teaspoons taco seasoning
- 1 4-ounce can green chilies (I used Old El Paso brand)
- 8 slices of thick brioche bread
- Salt, if needed
- Olive oil to brush on griddle or pan
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Instructions
- Make sure to take your butter out of the fridge and let it soften so that it will spread easily on the bread. I took mine out the night before I made the sandwiches. I kept it covered.
- Cut a medium onion in half (you only need about half). Slice it into thin strips then dice down into smaller bits from there. Smaller dice works best here.
- Shred four cups of cheese. You can use all regular colby or all pepper jack or both. I used both. Made two sandwiches with regular Colby and two with pepper jack. Yes, obviously you can use already-shredded cheese from the store, but if you’re trying to save a little money – shredding it yourself is the way to go.
- Butter ONE SIDE of each of your 8 slices of bread and set aside on a plate or sheet pan.
- Mix the tomato paste in a small bowl with a splash of water.
- Add ground beef to a pan (do not add oil) on medium heat. Break down the beef with a spatula or wooden spoon or both. You will need to break it down continually throughout the cooking process. It needs to be crumbly for the taco filling. Total cook time should be 10-12 minutes. If too much fat accumulates, carefully spoon it out of the pan, but leave a little there. My video shows this well.
- At the end of cooking process, push beef aside and add diced onions to the empty half of pan. There should still be a little fat and you can cook the onions in that for a couple of minutes until they start to soften. Then mix the onions with the beef, turn the heat on high and let the beef get crispy. Don’t touch it for a minute or so. I like to do this until the beef gets a little crispy crust on the outside.
- Once the beef is crispy and crumbly, add the tomato paste and taco seasoning and mix until well combined. Give it a taste. It may or may not need salt depending on the taco seasoning you used. I added a light sprinkling, gave it one final mix. Set aside in a bowl.
- I heated up a counter-top griddle to medium heat. If you don’t have a counter griddle just use two pans. I brushed the griddle with a little olive oil and placed the bread BUTTERED SIDE DOWN on the griddle. Total cook time on these should be about 5 minutes. The goal is golden brown bread and melty cheese.
- Place the shredded cheese on both the top and bottom slices of bread. This is necessary so that the crumbled beef can stick to the cheese and doesn’t fall out when you eat it.
- Spoon the taco filling onto the cheese and press gently with your spoon. Spoon on as much as you can fit.
- Spoon the canned green chilies on top of the taco filling, as much or as little as you want. I didn’t use all the chilies. You can serve extra on side.
- Check the bottoms of the slices to make sure they are golden brown and make sure the cheese is mostly melted.
- Using a spatula add the tops to the sandwiches. Transfer to a cutting board and cut the sandwiches in half.
- Serve as is or serve all your favorite taco toppings on the side. I used salsa, sour cream and guacamole. You can watch my live tasting at the end of the video if you’d like.
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