This $5, One-Minute Grilled Cheese Has People In A Tizzy, And I Taste-Tested It So You Don't Have To
As someone who loves minimal-effort cooking and meals, I make quesadillas and grilled cheeses more than a lactose-intolerant person like myself should. I'll also admit that in addition to enjoying minimal-effort cooking, I love grabbing on-the-go snack packs from grocery stories — specifically, Lunchables. So when I heard that Lunchables came out with microwaveable grilled cheeses, I sincerely had to drop everything and see it with my own eyes (and tastebuds).
I always wanted to be like the other kids who brought Lunchables for school lunch, but my parents never bought them, so this was kinda healing.
Note: BuzzFeed was provided this product free of charge; however, we were under no obligation to give a positive review.
The frozen Lunchables Crispy Grilled Cheesies — which come in original and pepperoni pizza flavors — hit shelves in 2023, and it appears that many folks had big feelings about the quality vs. price point. Reddit user u/ialost took to the very passionate r/frozendinners community to share their experience with the grilled cheese, saying, "I will say I was impressed by how buttery the bread was, but needless to say, just make your own grilled cheese. Also, this was $5.99."
Another Redditor, u/TheGiantRascal, said, "I'm a big fan of crappy grilled cheeses, but $6 is just offensive for something like that. Obviously, it's cheaper to just make your own, but even ordering one from somewhere is close to the same price."
Reservations aside, I wanted to see for myself. In my area of Southern California, a two-pack of these grilled cheeses is a little under five dollars, which is still on the pricier side. (Honestly, no matter how you spin it, making your own grilled cheese will always be cheaper.) But I mean, the idea of a microwaveable grilled cheese that uses "360CRISP" technology is enough to sell me; according to the brand, this element of the packaging "delivers a pan-like crisp in seconds." Like, I was probably more excited than I should be.
Also, it is so cute that it's called a grilled "cheesie." 🥹
Lunchables offers an original grilled cheese and a pepperoni pizza grilled cheese, so I obviously had to try both! To ensure I got the maximum cheesiness and crispiness, I made sure to follow the directions to a tee (which wasn't very hard).
For your convenience, here's what the directions say:
1. Remove the plastic wrapper but keep the lid on.
2. Microwave the box on a paper towel for 60 seconds on HIGH.
3. Cool down for 60 seconds and enjoy.
Simple enough, right?
I heated up the pepperoni pizza grilled cheese right after the original grilled cheese, but the process for both was the same. First, I removed the grilled cheese from the wrapper.
Then, after admiring the little box it came in, I put the grilled cheese on a paper towel and let the microwave do the rest of the work.
After twiddling my thumbs for a minute, the grilled cheese was done!
She's like Hot Pocket's little sister.
Here are the pepperoni pizza grilled cheese and the original grilled cheese after taking them out of their little boxes:
The Original Crispy Grilled Cheesie — Okay, so I cut the grilled cheese in half to attempt a cheese pull, and, um, the cheese didn't pull. The cheese didn't even tug.
Pay no attention to my thumb missing a nail.
I don't know what happened, but the cheese was not cheesing! It barely melted in the microwave, and it didn't even cover the entirety of the bread.
Also, I'm somewhat shocked that there are two slices of cheese; I don't know why I only expected one, LOL.
As for the crispiness, one side of the sandwich was toasted noticeably better than the other. And there was A LOT of butter. Not to say that's a bad thing, but my fingers were slick and slippery every time I handled the grilled cheese, even gently! After using however many napkins and pouring myself a glass of iced tea, here's how the first bite went:
The first immediate critique I had was that the bread was only crispy in theory. Like, there wasn't any crunch — I had to pull the bread apart with my teeth.
Don't get me wrong, it was more chewy than anything, but the "360CRISP" was giving more of a "92CRISP." The bread was really buttery, though, and despite the cheese not melting all the way, it satiated my grilled cheese craving in a "this will just have to do" kind of way.
I obviously wasn't expecting a gourmet of grilled cheese, but for the price point especially, I feel like Lunchables could have at least added in another slice of cheese and maybe even instructed a little more time in the microwave. (Not to pit two baddies against each other, but whenever I heat my Hot Pockets up for the 90 seconds it says to, the cheese is always melty and hot as hell.)
Even so, the Grilled Cheesie tasted like a basic and comforting grilled cheese that you might make at 1:32 a.m. after a night of drinking. It really had nothing special about it, but then again, from the packaging to my mouth, it quite literally took a minute.
Overall rating for the Original flavor: 2.5/5 🥪
If I came home from a really exhausting and draining excursion and didn't feel like taking out a pan and washing it afterward, I probably would reach for this in my freezer.
Moving on! I had higher hopes for the pepperoni pizza flavor: one, I love pepperoni, and two, I love trying things that are not pizza but taste like pizza. (I bought these pizza-flavored chips last week for no reason other than the allure of it all if that tells you anything). When I got the grilled cheese out of the microwave, it looked like it had a lot more meltiness going on than the original grilled cheese, so I was kind of mentally hyping it up! Well, here's what the pepperoni pizza grilled cheese looked like cut open:
Hello?! Is the cheese in the room with us right now? I feel like maybe the cheese melted a little too well or something because I could only see the stain of it. There were three pepperoni slices in there and very minimal pizza sauce, so I quickly learned that I shouldn't have hyped up a frozen pizza grilled cheese so much.
Here's my reaction:
It was questionable at first, but by the end, I just let myself accept it.
Like the other grilled cheese, due to how chewy the bread was, eating it meant really using my teeth and biting. To say that the texture was like taffy would be an exaggeration, but, like, the bread was kind of tough!
I will say, however, that the outer edges of the bread really get nice and crispy, and there were some moments of audible crunch. The downside of that, though, is that there's no cheese on the outer edges, so it's just crispy bread.
All that said, I personally did like the pepperoni pizza grilled cheese in the end — much more than the original grilled cheese, at least. Despite the cheese seemingly disappearing from sight, I could still taste it, and the pepperoni added a dash of extra flavor. To really drive home that it's a pepperoni pizza grilled cheese, though, I wish at least one slice of cheese was mozzarella. That, and I think the sandwich could have benefitted from more pizza sauce.
Overall rating for the Pepperoni Pizza flavor: 3.4/5 🥪
I would reach for this pepperoni pizza grilled cheese after a tiring excursion, but I would also probably reach for one if I were casually looking for something to eat around the house. My siblings are older now, but if they were still kids, I'd probably feed it to them after school if I had to, too.
Alright, so after trying the two Lunchables Crispy Grilled Cheesies, I've concluded that even though making a grilled cheese yourself is easy (and cheap), the Lunchables grilled cheeses somehow made it an even easier task. And because of that, for some people, keeping a box in the freezer just might make sense.
I think the convenience of having a grilled cheese ready in one minute with the microwave doing all the work for you can be especially helpful for people who really just don't have the time, energy, or — and I know this because I've been there as a college student — resources to make a whole grilled cheese yourself. Also, if you don't crave grilled cheeses a lot, the Lunchables single-serving is something to consider.
All in all, there's nothing extravagant or unique about these grilled cheeses to me, but, like all frozen food, the convenience factor is definitely worth noting. Do I prefer to make my own grilled cheese? Absolutely! But am I above putting some bread and cheese in a little box and warming it in the microwave for a minute so that my tummy doesn't grumble? Not at all!
If it means anything, my cousin tried the grilled cheeses and he said, in true Gen Alpha fashion, "It was lowkey gas." (Translation: It was kinda good.)
Have you ever tried the Lunchables Crispy Grilled Cheesies? Do you think you would ever try them? Most importantly, what is your ideal grilled cheese?! I personally love a cheddar and pepper jack combo on sourdough with a side of sour cream. Let me know down in the comments!
