The #1 Underrated Ingredient You Should Add to Your Grilled Cheese, According to TikTok's Justine Snacks

Did you know that it’s National Grilled Cheese Month? Justine Doiron (better known as Justine Snacks on Instagram and TikTok to her millions of followers), partnered with Pepperidge Farm for the occasion. 

Starting and popularizing trends like the butter board and crispy quinoa, Doiron is now taking one of America’s favorite comfort lunch staples and turning it up a notch. Her recent Instagram video shares tips and tricks for making the best grilled cheese—and we got the chance to talk to her one-on-one about it.

In this exclusive interview, learn more about Doiron as well as her upcoming cookbook, Justine Cooks. From her favorite Ina Garten recipe to the underrated ingredient you should be adding to your grilled cheese, here’s what the social media star told EatingWell.

EatingWell: What’s an underrated ingredient everyone should add to their grilled cheese?

Doiron: My recipe is a standard Cheddar on Pepperidge Farm white bread, butter on the outside, and thin slices of a really, really crisp Honeycrisp apple. The apple adds sweetness that pairs well with the sharp Cheddar. It gives a crunch, it adds contrast, but it's not too out there. It's still keeping to your standard comfort food.

EatingWell: Why partner with Pepperidge Farm?

Doiron: When a perfect bread for grilled cheese approaches you about making something for [National Grilled Cheese Month], you don't really say no, so partnering with Pepperidge Farm was a no-brainer. The more I use their Hearty White Farmhouse bread, the more it's become apparent that I'm never going back. Pepperidge Farm did a survey where they polled a bunch of people and found out that the average American eats 36 grilled cheeses a year. And I was like, “OK, I need to be involved.” If we are at this high volume level of grilled cheese, I need to be a part of it.

EatingWell: We’re so excited for your new cookbook, Justine Cooks! What’s something unique about your book that you can share?

Doiron: I can give you a bit of a scoop. This is going to be in an upcoming video of mine, but I can give EatingWell the tea. I haven’t always had the best relationship with food. When I started my social media accounts, I used that as my way of healing. And when I started writing the cookbook, there was so much pressure around food and recipe testing that it became a generally stressful part of my life. When I was deep in the trenches, like 50 recipes into the cookbook, I was like, “Wow, I'm not enjoying food anymore.” I was worried that working on the cookbook was pushing disordered eating, not eating well and not treating myself well back into my life. I was worried, so I made a really personal decision halfway through writing the book where I [told myself] I needed to focus on recipes and food that I like to prove that I'm taking care of myself. 

This cookbook is meant for people who want to take care of themselves and eat holistically. I refuse to let this book put me back into a place of being stressed about food or worried about food and how it relates to my body and controlling my body in that way. It turned the book into a struggle, but it also turned the book into something that I'm so proud of because it's just another layer of my story with food, my creativity with food and how I've healed my relationship with food through cooking. I'm excited that I took that time to pivot, and I'm excited that all the recipes in the book are healing in my brain. I know that they're just going to be so wholesome and useful for people's home kitchens.

EatingWell: What are your top 3 pantry staples?

Doiron: Three is tough. I am pivoting really quickly to look at my pantry, which is behind my desk because that’s New York City apartment life. My No. 1 staple is probably a canned bean of any variety. I think dried beans are my preferred but canned beans are just so approachable for the everyday home cook. My life's mission is to justify that a can of beans counts as a whole meal—it's very on brand for me. My second pantry staple would have to be really, really good white balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar. If something like a salad needs a bit of a finishing, it’s just perfect. If I don't want to pull out a lemon and do the whole zest and juice thing, a little dash of vinegar can sometimes give me the same result. I've been going through lots of bottles lately. For my third pantry staple, I am going to say rolled oats because I eat them every day.

EatingWell: Who are your cooking inspirations?

Doiron: Well, Ina Garten just announced her memoir, so she's top of mind.

EatingWell: Favorite Ina recipe?

Doiron: Everybody has favorites from her cookbooks, but I like one that she did on the Food Network where she made salmon tacos with a little citrusy slaw. That's just so perfectly Ina.

EatingWell: What does “eating well” mean to you?

Doiron: I think eating well just means choosing foods that align with my ethos and also choosing foods that let me feel relaxed about eating. For a long time, I was really hyper-focused on ingredients, thinking “Oh, this is bad for me” and “This is good for me.” There's even a little excerpt about that in the book. But right now I focus on eating foods that bring me joy while I'm cooking and while I'm eating.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.