19 ways to make grilled cheese sandwiches even better using things you have in your kitchen

Adding out-of-the-box kitchen staples like peanut butter, pickles, and tomatoes can take grilled cheese sandwiches to the next level.locrifa/Shutterstock

• Grilled cheese sandwiches only require a few ingredients and are the perfect comfort food.
• However, adding out-of-the-box kitchen staples like peanut butter can elevate your grilled cheese sandwiches into a gourmet dish.
• Avocado, pickles, and bacon also make delicious additions.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are easy-to-make and delicious, no matter what ingredients you have laying around.

However, if you really want to take your grilled cheeses to the next level, you shouldn't be afraid to experiment by adding interesting ingredients like pickles, tomatoes, and even peanut butter.

"With grilled cheese sandwiches, the world is your oyster," Laura Werlin, the author of "Grilled Cheese, Please" and "Great Grilled Cheese" told Insider. "You can put almost anything you like in between two slices of bread with cheese and grill it. However, it's called a grilled cheese for a reason - you still want the cheese to be the star."

"With grilled cheese sandwiches, it's a canvas," Heidi Gibson, the co-owner of American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco, co-author of "Grilled Cheese Kitchen: Bread + Cheese + Everything in Between," and winner of multiple grilled cheese competitions, told Insider. "There's a lot of flexibility there. For me, that's part of the fun. How can I make a grilled cheese sandwich into something extraordinary with these humble beginnings?"

Here are 19 ways to make grilled cheese sandwiches even better using things you have in your kitchen.