Give Grilled Cheese A Texas-Sized Upgrade With This Frozen Find

Comfort food doesn't get any easier than a tried-and-true grilled cheese. Pair it with a warm bowl of tomato soup, and your taste buds are in home-cooked heaven (although plenty of soups other than tomato work just as well for a grilled cheese). You can always enhance it with add-ons, but an even easier way to level it up is by swapping out your normal choice of bread for thick slices of Texas toast.

Texas likes to go big, even when it comes to bread. Typically, Texas toast is double the thickness of your standard sliced bread, and therein lies the primary appeal of using it to make a satisfying grilled cheese. A couple of slices of white bread will generally toast all the way through when making one, whereas Texas toast will attain a crunchy, golden-brown outside while remaining soft and chewy in the middle.

Although Texas Toast is commonly found in the frozen aisle at the grocery store, you don't have to wait for the bread to thaw before making a grilled cheese. Just give each slice a couple of minutes on a heated skillet before flipping and topping them with creamy cheese, and they're ready to go. Texas toast is also frequently pre-seasoned with butter and occasionally garlic or parmesan, which makes for a more flavorful grilled cheese without any additional work. Of course, if you do want to go the extra mile, Texas toast offers more support than regular sliced bread, allowing you to get creative with what you put in it.

You'll have an easier time making a grilled cheese on Texas toast, or any bread, for that matter, when using a softer cheese, because it won't take long to melt (if you do have trouble softening it, you can steam the cheese a bit as a shortcut that will get you a smooth melt every time). Aside from that, the world's your oyster. Cheddar is always a popular option and keeps the profile simple. But you could also spice things up by using pepperjack, or give the cheese subtle nutty and smoky notes with a smoked gouda. If you're looking for a more complex flavor, combine cheeses, such as pairing a buffalo mozzarella and asiago for a salty, creamy, spicy balance that will make your grilled cheese unique.

Because Texas toast has more stability than thinner breads, you can also upgrade a grilled cheese like Martha Stewart with "grown-up" fillings. Think cured meats, veggies, and herbs, like prosciutto, arugula, and/or basil. While you're choosing which ingredients would work well together in the grilled cheese, consider also giving it even more depth of flavor with a tasty condiment, like Dijon mustard (which you can put on separately or slather on the bread before grilling) or an aioli. The one thing to keep in mind is that, as previously mentioned, Texas toast sometimes comes out of the freezer pre-seasoned with garlic or parmesan. Work in other ingredients that will benefit from that pungent umami and saltiness, and you'll come away with an ooey, gooey, chewy grilled cheese with out-of-this-world flavor and texture.