On a recent Instagram scroll session, I stumbled upon a 3-ingredient grilled cheese sandwich from Nicole Rufus for the kitchn and immediately hit the “save” flag. You might be thinking, "aren't most grilled cheese sandwiches three ingredients?" and "what makes this one so special anyway?" Well first, it's made with three products from one of our favorite grocery stores, Trader Joe's. Plus, it's made on a big loaf of focaccia bread—no need to flip individual sandwiches, just bake one giant grilled cheese, cut and serve your crowd!
How To Make the 3-Ingredient Trader Joe's Grilled Cheese
This grilled cheese brilliantly starts with a loaf of Trader Joe’s Focaccia. Rufus uses the Tomato and Parmesan loaf in her recipe, but you can use any flavor you want, I went with French Onion. After slicing the bread in half horizontally add about 1 1/2 cups grated Trader Joe’s Cheddar & Gruyere Melange Cheese over the bottom half. Then take a generous couple of spoonfuls of Trader Joe’s Zhoug sauce and spread that over the cut side of the top focaccia half before sandwiching both halves together and baking at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
Recipe Tips
After testing this out myself, I have a few tweaks that make the sandwich even better:
- Preheat your baking sheet: Put the baking sheet in the oven while it's preheating, then (carefully!) add your sandwich right to the hot pan, this will ensure an extra-crispy exterior.
- Bake the sandwich halves separately: Rather than sandwiching the halves together before baking, place them both on the baking sheet filling-side-up so they get nice and toasty and so they cook at the same rate. This also helps the cheese melt all the way through for perfect cheese pulls every time.
- Make it your own: This sandwich doesn't have to be just three ingredients—add whatever other fillings you like. I had a bag of spinach in my refrigerator that was about to go bad, so I added a handful right after the grilled cheese came out of the oven. It added a touch of freshness!
3-Ingredient Trader Joe's Grilled Cheese Review
![A focaccia grilled cheese sandwich on a baking sheet cut into slices with a hand reaching in to pull one out causing beautiful cheese pulls.](https://www.allrecipes.com/thmb/JYneYkk9aU7djID51ooeIoO2ZHM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/AR-Trader-Joes-Grilled-Cheese-4x3-af2a99c8ac9d4efeb21503f972765137.jpg)
Sara Haas
The result is exactly what you would expect: full-on delicious! Rufus smartly uses flavorful focaccia bread as a base then continues to build on the flavor by using Trader Joe’s Cheddar & Gruyere blend cheese. The combination of tangy cheddar with creamy, melty gruyere is perfect for those epic cheese pulls. She seals the deal with a couple of tablespoons of Zhoug Sauce, a delicious Middle Eastern condiment made with cilantro, oil, chiles and spices that really amps up the flavor, taking this grilled cheese to the next level.
If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, then I highly recommend you head there to pick up the ingredients for making this sandwich. It’s by far one of the most delicious versions of grilled cheese I’ve ever had. I love it as Rufus wrote it, but I also think it’s a fantastic base for experimenting, so have fun and get cooking!