If you’re a fan of delicious grilled cheese sandwiches that aren’t typical, try our Bacon & Jalapeño Pimento Grilled Cheese Sandwich next time.

Corned Beef Grilled Cheese Recipe

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Corned Beef Grilled Cheese Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Onions – White or yellow onions work in this recipe.
• Unsalted butter – The corned beef is already really salty, so you don’t need to add any more salt.
• Olive oil – Using both butter and olive oil with the onions helps to give it a rich flavor (from the butter) and allow you to heat it at a high temperature (because of the oil).
• Guinness beer – If you can’t find Guinness, any similar stout beer will work.
• Worcestershire sauce – This adds a richness to the onions.
• Stone ground mustard – If you can’t find stone ground, any grainy mustard will work. This adds a strong, tangy flavor to the onions.
• Corned beef deli slices – You can get these at the deli counter in your local grocery store.
• Rye bread – Rye is traditional for corned beef sandwiches. If you
• Cheddar cheese – Cheddar has such a strong flavor that it’s the only cheese that can stand out against the strong flavors of the beer-soaked onions, corned beef, and rye bread.

How To Make Corned Beef Grilled Cheese:

Cut the onions into thin slices.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet.

Add the sliced onions to the melted butter and cook for about five minutes over medium-high heat until the butter is completely melted and absorbed into the onions.

Add the olive oil to the pan and cook the onions for an additional five minutes until they really start to break down.

Pour in the beer and cook for 10 minutes until the onions are caramelized and the beer is completely absorbed into the onions.

Quick note: When the beer hits the pan, even though it’s not a lot of liquid, it sizzles a lot. This is fine, but just be ready for it because it is loud if you’re not expecting it.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir the Worcestershire sauce and stone ground mustard into the onion mixture until everything is combined.

Quick note: If you can’t find a jar labeled stone ground mustard, you can use any grainy mustard. We don’t recommend substituting yellow mustard. That has a different flavor that won’t mesh with this recipe.

Slice the corned beef slices lengthwise (like, from top to bottom) in 1-inch pieces. You can cut all the slices at once.

Add the corned beef, one piece at a time, to the pan. This is a little tedious feeling, but if you don’t do this, it won’t combine properly with the onions and you’ll end up with huge clumps of meat rather than a homogenous filling.

Stir until the corned beef and the onions are completely combined.

The corned beef will break up as you do this and that’s good.

In a small pan, heat 1/4 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.

Add a slice of the bread and swirl it around in the butter to make sure it’s coated.

Add one slice of the cheddar cheese on top.

Scoop about 1/3 of the corned beef mixture on top.

Add a second slice of cheese.

Add another slice of bread.

Cover the sandwich and let it cook for about five minutes.

Remove the lid, spread an additional 1/4 tablespoon of butter across the top piece of bread.

Flip the entire sandwich, replace the top, and cook for another five minutes until the cheese is melted, that melted cheese is oozing out of the sandwich, and there’s a golden brown color on both slices of bread.

Make the other two sandwiches and enjoy.

Quick note: Of course, If you have a large pan with a lid, you can make all the sandwiches at once. It’s just easier to make sure the cheese melts fully if you make them one at a time.

What To Serve With Corned Beef Grilled Cheese:

Since the sandwich is kind of heavy, we usually pair it with a simple cucumber salad. That’s the perfect way to get some green onto your plate if you’re serving this for St. Patrick’s Day.

If you want something a little more filling, French fries are always the perfect side dish for a sandwich. Potato chips work too.

Corned Beef Grilled Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions

More About La Brea Bakery:

La Brea Bakery is one of the largest artisan bread sellers in the United States. You can find the bread, in its red, branded packages, in the bakery section of your grocery store (not the bread section). The majority of its bread, like this rye loaf, are fully baked, although the brand does have some take and bake loaves, which you buy in store and finish at home. And that’s amazing because who doesn’t love the smell of fresh bread?

The New York Rye Loaf that we used in this recipe is made with wheat and rye flour, plus classic caraway seeds. It’s a hearty, dense loaf that tastes incredible with a smear of butter and holds up really well when used as bread slices for a sandwich.

Honestly, we were so impressed with it. It’s such good bread (and if you know us, you know we don’t say that often). If you can find it in store, definitely grab a loaf or two.

We also used La Brea Bakery bread in our Overnight French Toast Casserole recipe.