#FoodieExtravaganza ~ Caramelized Onion BBQ Bacon Grilled Cheese

Today's Foodie Extravaganza post is all about the Grilled Cheese! This is a fantastic category to work with and I was super excited to get started. I had an idea before I started searching recipes that I wanted caramelized onions and bacon and I went from there. My first pinterest search took me to the recipe linked below and it was a perfect starting place. The addition of the BBQ sauce with the creamy, tender, sweet caramelized onions is perfection.

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I bought about 6 different types of cheese and two loaves of bread (Sourdough, and Italian) to do recipe testing and see what we decided we liked best. I used Sourdough with Sharp Cheddar and Smoked Provolone in one, and Italian with Aged Sharp White Cheddar and Colby Jack cheeses. Both sandwiches were absolutely delicious! I think I liked the Italian bread just a little bit more (it was a little firmer in texture then the sourdough), and the flavor of the provolone and sharp cheddar best of the cheese choices; however - feel free to mix and match cheeses and breads to your hearts content; if you have the BBQ onions and crisped thick cut bacon sandwiched in the middle you are probably going to be pretty happy with the results!

I knew when I took on this month's assignment this grilled cheese would have to be very hearty, tasty, and filling and they were! They were toasty, melty, creamy, saucy, tangy, and delicious.

Check out all the AMAZING Grilled Cheese recipes from the #FoodieExtravaganza bloggers today:

• Bacon Apple Mascarpone Grilled Cheese from Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Caramelized Onion Bacon Grilled Cheese from Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Chicken Bacon and Avocado Grilled Cheese from Jacklyn at Mrs. Penguin
• Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese from Marissa at Rae Gun Ramblings
• Crusty Griddle Baked Quesadillas with Poblano Rajas from Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• French Toast Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Berry Compote from Joy at The Joyful Foodie
• Grilled Cheese in the Garden from Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Spinach from Tara at Tara's Multicultural Table
• Ham, Apple and Sharp Cheddar Grilled Cheese from Carlee at Cooking With Carlee
• Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese from Lauren at From Gate to Plate
• Muffuletta Grilled Cheese from Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Southern Grilled Cheese from Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Spicy Pear Grilled Cheese from Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Caramelized Onion Bacon Grilled Cheese adapted from Ring Finger Tan Line

Ingredients
8 slices sourdough or Italian bread
4 slices sharp cheddar
4 slices smoked provolone cheese
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS bacon grease
2-3 TBS BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's)
8 thick cut slices of bacon, cooked to desired crispiness and drained (save and use grease for cooking the onions if you don't already have bacon grease stored)
Olive oil, as needed

Directions

1. Melt butter and bacon grease in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced red onion and stir occasionally until color changes to lightly brown, they are very soft and tender, and the taste is sweet, about 10-15 minutes. Add BBQ sauce to the onions and set aside.
2. Lay your bread slices out and place a slice of cheddar on the top half, and a slice of provolone on the bottom half. Lay 2 slices (cut in half if needed to fit sandwich bread) of cooked and drained bacon onto the bottom half, and top with about 3 - 4 TBS of the BBQ / onion mixture. Top the sandwich filling with the top half of bread and cheddar cheese. Lightly brush the outside (top and bottom) of the sandwich with olive oil and cook in a sandwich press (or use a cast iron skillet, or griddle if preferred). Repeat with remaining ingredients for a total of 4 sandwiches.
3. Enjoy immediately.