Starbucks Signature Grilled Cheese Toastie

The Starbucks Signature Grilled Cheese Toastie costs £6.60 and carries 477 calories with 9.6g of saturated fat. Cheese topped sourdough filled with Monterey Jack, mozzarella and vintage Cheddar with a creamy bechamel.

9.6g of saturated fat is the highest of any sandwich on the menu, just under half an adult daily reference intake. Three cheeses in the filling and a fourth baked onto the crust is the reason, and there is no meat or vegetable in it to displace any of them. It is the most concentrated cheese item Starbucks sells.

The three cheese blend is chosen for behaviour as much as flavour. Monterey Jack melts smoothly and stretches, mozzarella does the same with less flavour of its own, and vintage Cheddar brings the sharpness the other two lack but would go oily on its own. A toastie made from Cheddar alone splits under heat, which is the thing this combination exists to prevent.

At 22g of protein it is the lowest of the four hot signature items, though still a solid figure, and salt at 1.7g is well below the ham version at 2.5g. The absence of cured meat is what does that, and it makes this the more sensible order of the two toasties on salt by a clear margin.

Vintage in the description points at age rather than marketing. A Cheddar matured eighteen months or more has lost water and concentrated its flavour, which is what lets a modest quantity register against two milder cheeses. It also crumbles rather than bends, so it is used grated here rather than sliced.

It carries a vegetarian label and lists spelt, wheat, mustard, rye and milk as allergens. Prices reach £7.40 on delivery, which makes it the cheaper of the two toasties. The ham and cheese toastie is the meat version at £6.80.