If you know me, you know how much I love Jolly Holiday at Disneyland. This cute little restaurant has the best location by the castle, the most delicious treats and one of my absolute favorite meals in the entire park: the Jolly Holiday Combo.
If you haven’t tried this combo, it’s an absolute must! The perfectly toasted grilled cheese sandwich and the warm tomato basil soup to dip it in is one of my favorite quick meals to grab in the parks.
I’ve been missing Disney so much lately and the weather where I live has been grey and stormy lately which it put me on the mood for a nice grilled cheese sandwich and soup. So, I went to work to recreate the Jolly Holiday combo and now that I’ve got it just right, I’m going to share it with you!
TO MAKE THE TOMATO BASIL SOUP
To start this combo, we need to get going on the soup because it takes longer. Here’s what you’ll need:
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Chicken stock
• Can of diced tomatoes
• Can of crushed tomatoes
• Sugar
• Salt
• Pepper
• Onion powder
• Italian seasoning
• Fresh basil
• Sundried tomatoes in oil
• Whipping cream
First, heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30-60 seconds until fragrant. Next, add the chicken stock and crushed tomatoes to the pot.
To achieve the right texture in your soup, you need to blend up your diced tomatoes a little bit. I put mine into a blender and pulsed them two or three times until the chunks of tomato were more broken down. You don’t want it to be completely smooth, just smaller bits of tomato so you still have some texture. Once you’ve got the right texture to your tomatoes, pour that into the pot.
Next, add the sugar, salt and pepper to taste, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the soup is simmering, finely chop up 15 fresh basil leaves. You can see from the photo below I try to get it fairly small but not too small because the pieces will cook down as they heat in the soup.
Next up is the sun dried tomatoes. You want them to be in a jar with oil and herbs. Take out a few sun dried tomatoes at a time and finely dice them up until you have 1/4 cup worth and add them to the soup. Then take 1 tbsp of the oil from the jar and add that to the soup as well. Lastly, add the whipping cream and allow the soup to simmer for 10-15 more minutes so the flavors all come together.
TO MAKE THE GRILLED CHEESE
These sandwiches are so easy to make! All you need is sourdough bread, medium cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese, and butter.
Butter one side of a slice of sourdough bread and place it butter side down in a pan or on a griddle. Add a layer of medium cheddar and a layer of white cheddar. Then butter another piece of sourdough bread and place it on top. Cook over low-medium heat so the cheese fully melts but the bread doesn’t burn, making sure both sides become a nice golden brown.
Serve your grilled cheese sandwich immediately with a cup of tomato basil soup to dip it in and enjoy!
Printable Jolly Holiday Tomato Basil Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Copycat Jolly Holiday Combo
Ingredients
For the tomato basil soup:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 15 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup diced sun dried tomatoes, plus 1 tbsp oil from sun dried tomato jar
- 1 cup whipping cream
For the grilled cheese:
- Sourdough bread
- medium cheddar cheese
- White cheddar cheese
- Butter
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30-60 seconds until fragrant.
- Add chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and onion powder to the pot. (If you want smoother soup, put the diced tomatoes in a blender to break down their size before adding to the pot)
- Allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Finely chop 15 basil leaves and add to the soup.
- From the jar of sun dried tomatoes in oil, add about 1 tbsp of the oil to the soup. Finely dice 1/4 cup of the sun dried tomatoes and add them to the soup.
- Add 1 cup of whipping cream and simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, cut your cheeses for the sandwiches. Butter one side of the sourdough bread and place it on the griddle. Layer on the medium cheddar and white cheddar cheese and cover with another piece of bread buttered on the outside. Once the sandwich is golden brown, flip it over until golden brown.
- Serve immediately with a cup of the tomato basil soup. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! For more Disney inspired recipes, click here.
