Egg-In-A-Hole Grilled Cheese Is The Upgrade Your Sandwich Deserves

Grilled cheese riffs exist on a spectrum. On the lower lift end, you've got swaps like mayo for butter to maximize spreadability and crispiness. On the wilder side are super social media-friendly variations like the rainbow grilled cheese. This is, of course, not to mention the infinite filling options — tomato, bacon, and thinly sliced apples among the classics. Closer to the delightfully more complicated side, you have the egg-in-a-hole grilled cheese.

Egg-in-a-hole toast is called many things, like eggy in a basket, egg in a nest, or buckeye toast. To make this iconic breakfast, you make a hole in your bread, put it in a buttered pan, and plop an egg in there. Egg-in-a-hole grilled cheese makes your sandwich more like a croque madame, a toasty ham and cheese sandwich with egg on top. And although it's an easy enough modification, there are some steps that make it even simpler.

You already know how to make a grilled cheese, probably with your own proprietary upgrades. Bread, butter, cheese, skillet, done. Egg-in-a-hole grilled cheese just takes a bite out of the same basic preparation. Go ahead and build the sandwich how you normally would, with the external butter or mayo and all. Then, ideally using a cookie cutter, stamp out the center.  A cookie cutter lets you punch through and easily remove the extra bit. Other household items like a cup will perform decently too. Being that we abhor food waste, grill the "hole" for a little amuse-bouche, or a tasty soup topping.

Now you can get to grilling at just below medium heat, so the cheese has enough time to melt without singeing the bread. Let that dairy get decently gooey for a couple of minutes, flip, and add the egg. Pros can freestyle, but most folks should crack the egg into a little dish before introducing it to the sandwich for better precision. You'll likely want to flip once more for an even finish on the egg — make sure it's set a bit first to minimize splatter. Cook until the bread is golden and the egg has reached your desired doneness. Serve with a knife and fork; this is one sandwich that needs 'em. For more grilled cheese tips, check out 15 ways you're doing your grilled cheese wrong.