How to Make a Delicious Grilled Cheese Sandwich (with photos)
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe
Making a perfect grilled cheese sandwich is more difficult than it sounds. Once you're done preparing the sandwich, you want it steaming hot all the way through where the delicious cheddar cheese has been completely melted, and the bread is fried a golden brown. A grilled cheese sandwich prepared any other way is surely going to disappoint. Here's how to make the perfect grilled cheese.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ingredients
A great grilled cheese sandwich starts with high quality ingredients. While you may have had kraft slices of american cheese as a kid, I think that ends up making a subpar sandwich. My favorite ingredients
- Tillamook cheddar cheese - Tillamook produces extremely high quality cheeses. Their cheddar cheese is even avaliable at costco in a large block or already sliced. Either way you get it, a high quality cheddar cheese is the most important ingredient.
- Real butter - Butter plays an important role in a great cheddar cheese sandwich. It adds to the richness and keeps it from burning while the sandwich fries. Avoid margin and other oils. This isn't a low calorie sandwich and cheeting a on few calories will leave you unimpressed.
- Real Mayonnaise - I grew up on Best Food's mayo, and it's all I really like. Like real butter, real mayo is the only way to go. My wife sometimes buys the light mayo. It works, but I still prefer the real deal.
- Bread - While i love a grilled cheese on a fresh sliced sourdough bread, you can use just about any bread. These days we seem to have mostly wheat bread in the house that tastes good, especially after it's been dressed up with butter, cheese and mayo.
Putting Mayonnaise on the bread
The first step is to put mayonnaise on each piece of bread. Take out your knife and spread it generously on both pieces of bread.
Add the cheese
The next step is to add cheese to the sandwich. I usually put two slices of pre-sliced cheese on a sandwich for an adult, and one slice for a kid.
Butter goes on the outside
Close the sandwich and generously butter the outside of both pieces of bread. This is a little tricky since you're buttering the outside. Once I butter both sides of the bread, I place the sandwich in my frying pan. I almost always get butter on my hands when performing this step.
American or Cheddar Cheese
Do you prefer American or Cheddar cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich?
See results without votingGrill the Cheese Sandwich Slowly
Since one of the keys to a great grilled cheese is browning the bread, but also getting the cheese to completely melt, you have to grill the sandwich slowly. Put your frying pan over a low heat and put your sandwich in the side of the pan. Then, cover the pan with a lid. This will keep the heat in while the sandwich grills. This is the most critical part. You want the cheese to melt without burning the bread.
I've cooked a sandwich for up to ten minutes because I kept the heat low enough. It's fine if it takes longer to cook, just as long as you don't burn the bread. Once the butter has melted on the top of the bread facing up, that's when I flip the sandwich to cook the other side.
When you flip the sandwich over, it's going to cook the second side much faster since the pan is already hot. Be aware and use a spatula to check it a few times to make sure it's not burning. When I flip my sandwich for the first time, I try and turn the heat down a little more.
After both sides of the bread are grilled a nice golden brown, and the cheese is completely melted, place your delicious grilled cheese sandwich on a plat and enjoy.
Comments
PERFECT!
Great photos!!! Cool points for the Tillamook cheese and real butter. I personally skip on the mayo, but I can see how that might be a nice addition :D
That might be a good grilled cheese sandwich but having it on Italian Bread will make it a GREAT grilled cheese sandwich
It looks so mouthwatering.
yummy!
youmeget
I've never used mayonnaise, but it looks great and worth a try. I like all the photos as well.
Mayo? Wow? I'm heading toward the kitchen.
Great photos. I think you're right about cheddar. I also like using gruyere, because it gets wonderfully melty and gooey! :)
Yum!! I always get criticized for ordering grilled cheese sandwiches when I go out to lunch. But, if cooked right, it's the best!!! I agree that NOT burning the bread is crucial. I have to say I've never tried the mayo. Thanks for the delicious hub. QB
Finally! Some practical information in a hub. Thanks.
Whew! Looks delicious. Unfortunately, my wife and I am diabetic. Thanks, anyway, for that great info. I'll have it reprinted for my friends. More power and God bless.
I use olive oil, which has a great flavor. I'll have to try it some time with really good cheese. I'm still using store-brand wrapped slices (American, white American, or "Swiss"). But never mayo. That's strictly for cole slaw dressing or tuna salad.
I love grilled chesse.
Yummy! I love grilled cheese, especially with some tomato soup to dip it in!
That sounds great and a real "must try".
mayo on a grill-cheese? I m not aware of that but you are right. The butter plays an important part of the taste. Always a good hub when it involves a tasty recipe. Oh, and the pictures surely help too :).
I love cheese toasted sandwiches but have never tried them cooked on a pan. The idea of mayo on the cheese was a surprise too but I will give it a try to see how it tastes.
Hmm..Looks yummy. The pics are wonderful.
I love grilled cheese sandwiches! Yum! And there is an art to it.
Thanks for the comprehensive guide to making a perfect grilled cheese sandwich. Since patience is not one of my virtues, I err on turning up the heat too high and hurrying the process. I plan to follow your advice, turn down the heat and let the cheese melt.
Cooking it slow is the secret....They're delicious!
You know I had a friend I used to make grilled cheese sandwiches for and he told me he could never get them the way I do so you are exactly right. It's amazing how different results can come from something so simple. He always said his comes out to soggy.
A tip I discovered by accident when I was in a hurry to make grilled cheese sandwiches - melt the butter in the frying pan first, then add your prepared sandwich on top of the melted butter. The butter is much easier to apply this way instead of needing to soften it first, then spreading it on the bread by hand. As far as we can tell, the flavor of the sandwich is not altered, and the process is much faster and less messy.
Great hub and topic - now I'm getting hungry!...
I make the sandwiches and then place them on a plate with Miracle Whip for dipping. Yummy!
We are a Best Foods Mayo family. Isn't miracle whip poular on the east coast?
Sinea Pies 14 months ago
Mayo on a grilled cheese sandwich! You have discovered have of the famous sandwich my dad and I invented when I was a kid: a Peanana Dressing Sandwich. Here it goes: spread a slice of bread with mayonnaise and the other slice with peanut butter. Slice a banana lengthwise and put it on the peanut butter side. Close up the sandwich and butter each side. Grill and enjoy! If you like the ingredients, it tastes amazing!