Those Pasta Night Leftovers Are The Secret To The Best Grilled Cheese

We're big believers in repurposing leftovers. With food prices soaring at grocery stores, we can't afford to waste perfectly good food, even if we weren't already opposed to the concept on an ethical level. The best uses of leftovers actually upcycle the surplus food into something new and delightful, and that's exactly what the good folks of Reddit are teaching us to do with the crusty, delicious Texas toast garlic bread left after a spaghetti dinner. Basically, you use slices of old garlic bread and make an amazing grilled cheese that you didn't realize you needed. Once you try it, we think you'll never want to make these sandwiches any other way.

When we discussed the best breads for grilled cheese, garlic bread would have been considered a bit of a dark horse, but just think about the possibilities. The toast is lofty, crispy on the edges, and kissed by butter and garlic ... maybe even cheese, depending on what variety you get. A croissant makes a very decent offbeat grilled cheese, but our horizons were expanded in the best way when Redditors got drooling over Texas toast garlic bread sandwiches. "OMG that looks SO good! Garlic bread grilled cheese is a genius idea," one commenter gushed in response to a poster's sandwich. "This must be AI because it is too fantastic to be real. Must have," another Reddit user added on a different thread. With a few special considerations for the uniqueness of the medium, garlic bread grilled cheese is a gotta-have-it treat that will change the way you look at "boring" handhelds and pasta night leftovers.

If there's one thing to keep in mind when making grilled cheese sandwiches from leftover Texas garlic toast, consider that the thickness of the bread might prevent you from griddling the sammie in a skillet the same way you would a "normal" grilled cheese. Basically, it's hard to get the cheese to melt on the inside without burning the bread's exterior — to say nothing of the fact that the leftover bread is cooked already and probably has some degree of crust to start with. The secret to overcoming this challenge is one that we discussed when making perfect lunch lady-style grilled cheese: baking your sandwiches in the oven. Give the bread a nice slather of extra fat and line your slices up with cheese layered on each. After a few minutes, the cheese will be gooey and melted, and you can place the two halves together.

The garlicky, possibly cheesy exterior of the garlic bread is just begging for you to give your grilled cheese the Italian treatment. Cheeses like mozzarella, fontina, or a young asiago are all fair game, especially if you throw in a generous sprinkle of Italian seasoning. Tomatoes are going to be absolutely amazing with this preparation, and how about some fresh, green basil leaves as well? Of course, nothing's stopping you from throwing down with some plain American cheese or a nice cheddar. When you've got garlic toast, know that the sandwich-making world is your oyster, and just about every possibility is bound to be delicious.