I was the girl at the grocery store at 7:30am the day after Thanksgiving. It was me and the dude replenishing the fresh cranberry produce display. We made eye contact, and I hustled away before I could register confusion and judgement in his eyes. To be fair… I was in the grocery (with a bit of a turkey-induced hangover) for two very specific items: fresh bread and brie cheese. I just felt like these were the best two items with which to make my Thanksgiving leftovers shine. I’ll tackle the stuffing and mashed potatoes later. First things first: cranberry sauce, bread, cheese, spicy mustard and go!
I could totally just eat cranberry sauce with a spoon, but bread, cheese, and mustard make most everything better.
If this sandwich looks devastatingly close to the Jalapeno Jack Grilled Cheese I made a few months ago… well, it is very similar. I have a deep love for edible things that melt and drip.
Gosh.
When you start with good ingredients, it feels like nothing can go wrong. Here we have a whole grain sourdough (still warm from my awkwardly early morning grocery run), creamy Brie cheese, whole grain mustard, unsalted butter, and the crown jewel… leftover cranberry sauce!
It’s a sort of smash-and-smear situation.
Oh… and I’m a person that enthusiastically eats Brie cheese rind and all. Get in there!
I love the way the spicy, sharp mustard plays with the sweet, tart cranberry sauce.
Now… if you don’t have cranberry sauce, there’s a recipe here. Don’t fret though… a chunky cherry or fig jam would also be most lovely.
Melty dreams come true.
This sandwich is exactly as supreme as it looks. The bread is buttery crisp and the insides are sweet and robust and utterly creamy-divine. It’s one part fancy, one part expensive, and one part leftovers. So much good in just one sandwich.
xo, joy
Cranberry Brie Grilled Cheese
makes one sandwich, but you should make as many as necessary
2 slices sourdough bread
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cranberry sauce
1 heaping tablespoon whole grain mustard
a good hunk of Brie cheese
It feels silly to give written directions for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, but let’s just work through this ritual.
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Place bread butter side down on a cutting board and slather one side of the bread with mustard and the other side of bread with cranberry sauce.
Generously smear Brie cheese (rind and all) atop the mustard side of the bread (it’s less messing than smearing cheese on cranberry). Join the two slices together, but don’t smash them together.
Head a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Place sandwich in heated pan butter side down. Flip when bottom has turned a golden brown. Brown on each side. Remove from pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Slice in two. Serve immediately.
Teresa
Holy moly this sounds perfect together.
financefitness
This looks incredible!
stacyknows
I am so glad I made extra cranberry sauce.
Nora konetzny
Cannot wait to try it,just made some fresh cranberry sauce , looks so good!
Marianne
I grilled mine in homemade honey butter……Amazing!
Kristen
This was suuuuch a great idea! I <3 you right now! My belly is full of gooey, melty, cheesy, deliciousness! Such simple ingredients mix together to make an explosive combination, this kind of recipe makes me happy.
ec
Yummmm this looks delicious!!!
Taylor
made this.. on cranberry injected breads. Super great.. but thinking sourdough would help balance the sweetness.. so that’s for next time. thanks joy.
Laura
Holy moly! This looks outrageous!
Laura x
Julie
I made these this weekend with my leftover cranberries. This was amazing. (I left out the mustard.) I will be making these after every holiday meal from now on!
this is lemonade
Melting Brie… who could resist! What a delightful holiday snack :) The photos are beautiful and so tempting!
Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe
oh, the cheese drips. the saucy cranberries. the soft sourdough. all the things! cheers for grown-up grilled cheese sandwiches! this totally makes me love being a grown up.
Tina
My goodness Joy these look ridiculous. I haven’t had a grilled cheese in a while and I think that this might just be the one that I need to have!
Bobbie
Hi, there,
Your joy is contagious and inspiring. Thank you!
Rhianna
I’m not one for sweet on any type of sandwich, but this has enough tang that I want to make it now. Thanks, for sharing a beautiful sandwich.
amy holowaty
Dear God, thank you for making Joy the Baker. She uses the gifts you gave her to make good things out of other good things, and spread happiness to everyone with eyeballs and a kitchen. She is witty and courageous, clever and cute. I am so grateful. Amen.
emi
joy these are the kinds of recipes i love you for! MMM.
Natay
I made this for my roommates last night and they are still singing my praises. This recipe was genius!
Beth
Dear Joy,
Thank you for sharing your genius with the world!
Sarah Jayne
I cannot wait to make this.
Dani
it’s not silly to give directions for cooking a grilled cheese sandwich. when i met my husband he didn’t know where to put the butter. i had to teach him right away, because grilled cheeses are a very important part of my diet – i estimate that i’ve eaten one thousand of them in my life based on all the summers when my mom made them daily for lunch.
Amy
This looks like the yummiest sandwich I have ever seen! Thanks for sharing!
Sara
Thank you thank you thank you for mentioning to use medium low heat for making grilled cheese sandwiches. In my family, grilled cheese sandwiches were made on scorching heat and golden brown butter was traded for blackish edges without any hint of a proper toast. A shame! And now that I taught myself the error of those ways, I get picked on because it takes “so long” for me to make a buttery, golden, properly toasted grilled cheese/Reuben/french toast (though everyone likes mine better). It is worth the wait, many times over, to be gentle with the heat for this type of application.
Katie @ Blonde Ambition
nailed it!!!!
WolfSong
Never been a huge fan of cranberry sauce, but I can see doing this with sour cherry jelly…or a habenero jelly. Or, in an odd moment I can even see myself doing this with a home made grape jelly. Yeah, I know, it’s be weird, but I think it would be good too! :)
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings
my eyes just popped out of their sockets– delish!
Sophie
Hi Joy, can you settle something for me? My American friend says that cranberry sauce is a food unto itself and isn’t a condiment, i.e. the only way to eat it is by spoon, not smeared on other foods. But I’m arguing the fact that it’s a “sauce” means it goes on things. I understand the random: “I want to taste this now” spoonful, but as a standard way of eating it? Not on Turkey? Whaaa?
But I’m happy to report we did have a very successful turkey dinner in Sydney in honour of thanksgiving.. I think it’s an awesome holiday, and I could totally adopt it and spread it around Australia.
Maria
I just made this for dinner. Delicious! I’ll be making this sandwich throughout the year. It’s too good to save just for Thanksgiving.
Victoria
This sounds absolutely fantastic! When I studied abroad, one of my favorite meals (at this random little diner, when our bus pulled over with issues) was a grilled goat cheese and cranberry sandwich! This totally reminded me of it! Have to try this out asap!
AnnaG
ok — so the day after Thanksgiving has always been my favorite day to go grocery shopping! So quiet — so well-stocked — forget Black Friday … :)
Katie
Made it for dinner tonight. It will now be a mandatory post-Thanksgiving meal. And an excuse to make cranberry sauce more than once a year. And to buy brie. Not that I need an excuse to buy brie. Thanks for the great recipe!
Sarah Kyle
Oh my gosh I need to try this. Lunch tomorrow eeeeeee!
Jackie
this looks SO good! (Btw, I too went to grocery store morning after Thanksgiving and sensed stocking clerk’s confusion… :)
Sara @ The Cozy Herbivore
Oooooh, girl. This is one SEXY sandwich. I’ve been eating some variation of grilled cheese sandwich with jam/chutney every night this week (hey, when I find a winner I tend to stick to it…) and this looks like just the thing to add to my rotation. I love, love, LOVE the gooey cheese shot. So darn messy and purdy.
anna
you are the queen of the grilled cheese!
Live a Sweet Life
Such a good idea for leftovers. Amazing idea!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Joy this looks so unreal!! Yum!
Reesa
Wow, Joy, that looks major. Totally worth the (peaceful! line-free!) trip to the grocery store.
Anna K.
I somehow forgot to nab some of the cranberry sauce leftovers so instead I made a riff on this using leftover sweet potato rolls, brie, and lingonberry jam from Ikea, which is pleasantly tart, like cranberry sauce. Sooo good!!
kendra
Yes!!!!! I just opened a jar of whole grain mustard from trader Joe’s and a have a ton of cranberry sauce left over because I made a triple batch! No brie in the house but I do have havarti :) gonna make this for dinner with sweet potato fries.
Erin Whitney
Did this last night but with goat Brie. you are a goddess miss Joy!
Lauren (PB&G)
I have some Teese “cheese” in the fridge with some leftover homemade cranberry sauce.. I think this just became my breakfast for the next week..
Mandie @ Oh So Decadent
You are right, these look supreme! What a fantastic idea for using your leftovers! Oh and don’t even worry about the embarrassing grocery store run you took yesterday, if I lived in walking distance to a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, I’d be doing the exact same thing!
Lori @ RecipeGirl
Good LORD girl. This is my kinda sandwich.
Chris
i (sob) can’t eat (sob sob) brie (waaaaaaaaaaaa………….)
Carina
woa! it’s like the queen of cheese sandwhiches!
Vickie
oooh, yes please!
Jayne
Brie.. The meltiest most gorgeous sandwich glue in the world. We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here but for new years eve, we’ll be doing turkey legs. I scored a pack of fresh cranberries today so i am going to make cranberries, anjou pear, orange sauce. I imagine that would be the world’s best sandwich paint, alongside with the world’s best sandwich glue. Mmm..
Sally - My Custard Pie
We are on the same cheese/cranberry wavelength – I make this all the time after Christmas when I have copious amounts of cranberries. Great with Stilton too. Happy Thanksgiving
Chineka (savorthebaking)
Great post. That cheese looks extra gooey and delicious, A strawberry jam would be devine on this sandwich.
Kathleen @ksugarandspice
You just nailed it.
Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom
I made baked brie with homemade cranberry sauce yesterday. This looks even better. I am SO making this with the leftovers!
Melissa
Yum! Reminds me that I need to eat cranberry sauce with cream cheese & crackers.
Ahu
I’ve never had Brie with mustard – looks delicious! And I love the rind!!
peachkins
WOW! this left me breathless….
caroleena
Yum! Do you deliver?
jaime @ sweet road
Mmm, this is the kind of Thanksgiving leftovers I’m looking for. Sweet and savory, it’s a good thing I’m starting to get hungry!
Ashley
The sandwich looks great, but after all the rich food and wine and pie yesterday, what looks really good to me is that bubbly pink beverage in the background!! Refreshing and thirst quenching! What is it?
Anne
oh yeah!
Margherita
Brie and cranberry, now that’s something I never tried.. Sounds like a really good combination though, can’t wait to try it!
Katie
Years ago, when I was in college, I visited Europe with my parents. We had one day in Paris and my mother stocked up on cheese for the overnight train ride to Austria. I’d never had Brie before and couldn’t get myself to try it then so, perhaps I can be forgiven for what happened. Through the night, that brie becamse so “odorous” that, after much complaining from us, my mother got rid of it. Now that I’ve matured a bit and enjoy Brie, I feel such deep shame in making her throw out what I know, now, is so delicious! Maybe I can make her a sandwich in atonement…
Bakerkat
WOW Now that’s a sandwich. You got me at melted brie
Sarah
This looks amazingly good…can’t wait to make it!!
Karine keldany
Joy, interesting choice of ingredients. But it all sounds delicious. I will try it.
Love the picture with the melted cheese. It speaks to me. Hehehe
addie | culicurious
I’m going to have to make some cranberry sauce just to make this sandwich :) :)
Katie @ OhShineOn
Totally delicious. Leftovers are pretty much the greatest thing ever.
Rocio
Yay! Now I know exactly what to do with all the cranberry sauce in my fridge! Thank you thank you thank you!
tracy {pale yellow}
best use of leftovers I’ve seen so far!
Tiffany @ Savor Home
Oh my gosh… My mouth is watering and I just ate a plate of leftovers. That looks tasty and beautiful. As a blogger who is currently learning tons about food photography, know that I think your photography is just amazing and inspiring. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Emily
What the what?! I need this like, yesterday.
MariePier G
The cranberry sauce Has Something to say :
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2012/11/the-cranberry-sauce-has-something-to-say.html
Really funny!
stephanie
This might be one of the most delicious things I have ever seen. Ever. I’m in looooove.
Melissa G
I am a newbie to your site and am so glad we met!!! I officially speak of this blog daily, thank you! all ingredients on hand, can’t wait to get home and make this.
Averie @ Averie Cooks
Spicy mustard grains, tart berries, smooth and rich brie and the treat of still-warm sourdough – now THIS is my idea of the PERFECT grilled cheese sandwich! Bravo on this one!
Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen
I am mesmerized by that melting Brie. This looks to die for!
Sophie
Joy, you kill me. this is the best sandwich i’ve ever seen.
What Kate Baked
Totally had this lunch. Exceot without the posh bread. And without the mustard. And with grapes instead, Yours totally rocks.
rachel
will be making this in the very near future…mm
Jessi
Cranberry sauce is one of fave parts of Thanksgiving dinner. And this recipe? By far, the BEST Thanksgiving leftovers recipe I’ve found. Pretty jazzed to try this. (I am awaiting, with bated breath, what you’re going to do with the stuffing… that’s another fave.)
Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
look at that brie – hello, cheese heaven!
Mawiyah
Yes, yes, yes :) You’re speaking to me