The Flavor-Packed Ingredient Ina Garten Adds To Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Sometimes it takes a celebrity chef, prolific author, and iconic erstwhile specialty store owner like Ina Garten to remind us of all the infinite ways we could be jazzing up a grilled cheese. As comforting as the classic combination of bread and dairy alone can be, the addition of items like tomatoes or bacon, and a mayo-butter swap can make the sandwich even better. But those upgrades have also become so typical that they're practically standard. And in a clip from her hit cooking show "Barefoot Contessa," Garten incorporates a less everyday ingredient, but one that many of us already have kicking around the refrigerator (via YouTube).

Garten dresses up her grilled cheese with mango chutney to add a touch of sweetness and spiciness. Of course, it comes as no surprise that the Barefoot Contessa herself, the perpetual font of cooking tips, gives the whole shebang a makeover, replacing the common plastic-wrapped singles for piles of shredded extra sharp Vermont cheddar, before snuggling it all together in a panini press for a restaurant-quality finish. The aspirations further abound as she serves it up with white wine to a devoted husband who declares it the best grilled cheese sandwich he's ever had.

In classic Ina Garten "store-bought is fine" fashion, she scoops pre-made chutney from a glass jar for this particular application. And, although you can make the preserves at home to your exact specifications, there are also enough commercially available options that you could have a different Ina-approved chutney grilled cheese every day of the month before ever making the same sandwich twice. But, as with most recipes, success demands balance.

Sweetness and heat always win together, so you could pair that same mango chutney with something like pepper jack cheese for a pleasant effect. Or, you can swap the elements, marrying a mild Swiss cheese with a jalapeño chutney. A Gruyère's relative nuttiness would also play nicely with a perky tamarind or cherry variety. And a tomato chutney, of course, will sing anywhere you'd have otherwise added the whole sliced fruit, saving you the effort of having to drag out the cutting board or remove any pesky seeds.