Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese
Make your next sandwich epic with this Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese!
This post may contain paid links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.
Back at the end of last summer, my wife and I went down to Philly for a long weekend. She had a business meeting on a Tuesday, so we just made it a longer trip and stayed with some of our best friends who happen to live just outside of Philadelphia. Business trip that leads to hanging out with friends? Score! Neither of us had ever seen downtown Philly, so we took the train in one day to do a little sightseeing. After a morning of wandering the streets, we decided to grab lunch at Reading Terminal Market. I assumed this was a little cafe-style place for lunch. I assumed wrong.
Reading Terminal Market (which is related to Reading Railroad for all of you Monopoly fans) is a collection of semi-permanent shops and restaurants. Imagine dozens of food trucks and specialty food vendors all under the same roof. There are communal picnic tables, so you basically wander off and find whatever kind of food you want and then meet back up to eat together.
Our wives went straight for Thai food, while my buddy and I took their baby and wandered off looking for something tasty. It didn’t take long before we stumbled across a grilled cheese restaurant. Yup, a whole restaurant devoted to grilled cheese sammiches. It was pretty much my heaven!
We both ordered the Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese sandwich. One bite, and I wanted to go back and order another one. I was good, though, and I stuck to the one sandwich. (After all, I had also spied a place with some of the most amazing doughnuts I’d ever seen…so we had to save room for dessert!)
Of course, it didn’t take long after we got back home for me to pull some smoked brisket out and remake a delicious Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese here at home. I piled some smoked brisket on top of thick Texas-style pieces of bread. Top that with a mixture of 3 different shredded cheeses. Toast it up in a skillet, and you’ve got one heck of an awesome grilled cheese sandwich! While this version was different than the one we ordered in Philly, it was equally as delicious.
We always keep smoked brisket in the freezer, so this sandwich is pretty easy to pull together. I basically smoke a bunch of brisket each Fall and then freeze it in smaller bags. We then pull it out occasionally throughout the winter. While it may be bitterly cold outside in the dead of winter, the smoked brisket helps remind us of warm summer days. If you don’t happen to have smoked brisket on hand, then just grab some from the store or your favorite BBQ joint. Then turn that brisket into a Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese. Enjoy!
What’s the craziest topping you’ve ever had on a grilled cheese sandwich?
Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 slices thick-cut bread
- salted butter room temperature
- ½ tsp Italian seasonings
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 4 oz. Gruyere cheese grated
- 4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese grated (I used Cabot's Seriously Sharp Cheddar)
- 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese grated (I used Cabot's Monterey Jack)
- 12 oz. smoked beef brisket, chopped (see note) ~2 cups
- 4 Tbsp barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Preheat large griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
- Butter one side of each of the slices of bread. Sprinkle Italian seasonings and garlic powder on top. Place one slice of bread buttered-side down. Layer grated cheeses, beef brisket and barbecue sauce on top of bread. Top with another slice of bread buttered-side out.
- Place sandwiches onto griddle. Cook on medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, or until bottom slice of bread is golden brown.
- Flip and continue cooking until other side is golden brown and cheese has completely melted.
Notes
Happy April Fools Day!
Dude – there’s a grilled cheese restaurant just down the street from me called Tom + Chee and they have a donut grilled cheese! No lie! And I’m not sure a donut could be considered a topping – but by far the most unique grilled cheese I’ve ever had!
BTW – I’m not a huge brisket connoisseur – but you are making me question my ways with this fantabulous grilled cheese one! Hope y’all have a wonderful weekend!
A donut grilled cheese, eh? Hmmm…not gonna lie. That sounds rather, uh, unique. Was it any good?? I hope you guys had an awesome (and warm) weekend down there in the A. 🙂
Hi David! We are of similar minds again! After St. Patty’s day when corned beef was still on sale I bought one specifically for Reuben sandwiches and guess what’s for supper? It’s brisket, just transformed. Your brisket sandwich is talking to me! It reminds me of a sandwich I had at a sub shop in Knoxville (Not Subway!!) not long ago that was really good. But I bet yours is better!! Happy weekend!
I love picking up holiday ingredients after the holiday is over! Easter ham after Easter? Sure, it’s still a ham…and it’ll still make for some delicious ham sandwiches! Thanksgiving turkey after Thanksgiving? Sure thing…if I’m not already turkey’d out. This brisket sandwich was legit, Dorothy. Hope you guys had an awesome weekend! 🙂
Grilled cheese sammiches, heck yeah!
Your one day of smokin’ and freezing sounds smart. Why haven’t I thought of that? This looks amazing and I just had lunch. 🙂 #WolfPackSmokers
Thanks, Kevin! I kinda stumbled into the freezing by accident because I get a bit, uh, overzealous when it comes to smoking. But then that first winter in our house we realized that the smoked meats sorta reminded us of warmer days. So now smoked brisket and pulled pork are staples in our freezer! 🙂
Wow! That is one heck of a grilled cheese! My husband would have been right there in line with you for these sandwiches. He would love this one!
Thank you so much, Kathy! We were good and only got one sammich at the market…but I’ve made this one here at home way more than just one time now. 🙂
I love this sandwich. Love the smoked brisket combined with the grilled cheese. It looks amazing. I like making grilled cheese with other things on it, one of my favorite that I have made was one with caramelized onions and mushrooms.
Oh man, caramelized onions + mushrooms would be an excellent grilled cheese, Dawn! It’s like the classic steakhouse steak toppings…but rolled up inside of a grilled cheese instead. I could definitely go for that for lunch today! 🙂
Drooling.. Very interesting recipe. I love sandwiches and have never tried something like this before. Just amazing!
Thank you so much, Kushi! This one came about after we tried something similar at a restaurant. And I’m a huge fan of recreating meals at home!
Dave I am drooling, mate- Drooling!!!!!!!!
While I haen’t had brisket with cheese in a sandwich before, I had brisket with scalloped potatoes in a baguette…no cheese so it failed (not really, but it today’s context, yes!).
Most bizarre topping…Hmm, I had a mac n cheese grilled cheese, but it was kind of heavy!
Arman, please go clean up the drool on your keyboard. 🙂 Brisket with scalloped potatoes? I like the sound of this one. And I love a good baguette! Add a bit of cheese, and I’d be all over that one!
That is an epic grilled cheese!
So many people think that grilled cheese is a kids meal, but look how you can make it suitable for adults. Just load it up with all the good stuff.
I totally agree, Dannii! Sure, a couple slices of American cheese (do you guys have American cheese over there?) on white bread is totally a kids’ meal. But there are so many awesome ways to create an adult-ified grilled cheese! 🙂
I need this sandwich in my life and then I will have to eat water and carrots for a month. LOL! The craziest grilled cheese sandwich I had was a collard green grilled cheese sandwich from a local food truck here in Atlanta a few years ago. It was epic!
Collard green grilled cheese, eh? That sounds like my kind of soul food right there! I might be willing to drive all the way down to Atlanta just to get my hands on that bad boy. 🙂
Those sandwiches are calling me ! As I don’t eat beef, I’m gonna surely substitute it with chicken / lamb .. yumm yumm ! 😊
You could totally adapt this sandwich for chicken or lamb, Arpita! I’ve never tried smoking lamb, but I’m thinking it might work? No matter how you cook it, I bet this sandwich would be quite tasty still! Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting! 🙂
Some smoked chicken would be great with pepper jack cheese!
Smoked chicken and pepper jack are both favorites in our house, Mary! I’ll have to try combining them sometime! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Whoa, whoa, whoa!! Pass that plate!! David, you really made me crave some grilled cheese. And that smoked brisket sounds amazing! I was planning to roast a chicken today, but now I don’t know… Haha
Haha! One smoked brisket grilled cheese coming right up, Shinee! Hey, I bet you could use roasted chicken and turn it into an epic grilled cheese, too. Just sayin’! 🙂
A grilled cheese restaurant? Don’t they just call that heaven? Seriously, this sandwich has me drooling everywhere. It looks absolutely incredible!
I know, right, Karly?? An entire restaurant devoted to melty, gooey cheese. The only downside is that it’s not located next door to me. Oh wait, that might be an upside. Hah! Thank you so much! 🙂
its looks very good
Thanks so much, Christine! This is one tasty sandwich indeed.