How To Make The Perfect Grilled Cheese

First off, the above picture was the best I could find in free images. I have no clue what all is going on with that sandwich, but it sure is eye catching. My secret is a lot less stressful or messy. It really is not that much of a secret recipe at all.

First, to tell a little of why I am even writing this article. I read a vocal article on how to make more tips”. One of the things the author mentions is that people like a “how to” article. She used the example of “how to make a grilled cheese sandwich” to which I had to immediately do a search to see if anyone made them the way I was taught. Below is the article I am referencing.

https://vocal.media/journal/how-i-ve-earned-over-200-in-vocal-tips

No one on Vocal had the basic recipe that I was taught, with one key ingredient to cook with, and so I decided to share. I would love to say that I experimented and came across this recipe all my own, but I cannot take credit. I truly think I was taught by my sister's mother in law one summer when we were visiting. She has a taste for food, and would have took the time to have shown me. I am pretty sure I have a memory of this.

I know this is going to be like one of those articles where you start reading to get to the good stuff, and you have to first read about how someone came across the wonderful recipe and all the background and then by the time you find the recipe you are a little frustrated. I promise the secret is short and to the point. I just need to make sure you are invested a little before giving out the “secret” which I’m sure is not all that secret at all, but it was eye opening to my crowd.

Most of the other Vocal recipes I found told specifically what type of bread and cheese to use. I’ll tell you we have used plain Sunbeam white bread, to homemade sourdough bread (thank you local Mennonite store), and the flavor is all in the cooking ingredient. We have used deli cheddar, to plain whatever that sliced cheese is that is completely processed, and it is all good. Promise.

My teen recently asked how to make a grilled cheese. I was actually kind of embarrassed because baby girl has been cooking cookies and brownies for a while now. She also experimented with a recipe and made homemade pierogis. The child can cook, yet when she was making grilled cheeses, she was using all the basic ingredients in the house and cooking with butter on the outside of the bread, and could not figure out what I was doing different that made mine amazing and hers bland by comparison. They were good, but just not at the same level.

Now, for the main reveal. The bread, do whatever. You just need two pieces. Slip some cheese in the middle. One or two slices, whatever is your fancy. Heat up the pan and get the butter ready, but we are not putting it on the bread just yet. Nope. To cook this delicious sandwich we need to get out the mayonnaise.

Now do not let me lose you here.

My crowd HATES mayo. My husband and I leave it in the fridge basically for the occasional ham and cheese sandwich. Now that I type that I really do not think he uses it for even that. I think I am basically the only one in the home that eats mayo on an occasional sandwich. Or for cooking grilled cheeses.

You cannot taste it once it is cooked into the bread. Lightly toasted of course. I dare you to say you can taste it once it is cooked, because my youngest child is famous for finding a recipe that has mayo in it and refusing to eat it. He will eat any grilled cheese that I cook for him though. He just read over my shoulder and literally kissed his fingers, like some fancy chef, and said the mayo adds just a hint of the right flavor. He is 8 going on 80 sometimes…

Anyways slightly spread mayo on just the outsides of the bread. Then with cheese in middle place sandwich into heated pan and give it just a minute. Keep by it and flip it once a little time has passed. Sometimes I do not have the pan preheated so I just keep flipping until that beautiful golden brown color is on the outsides of both sides. By this point the cheese in the middle is just melted, and I quickly will remove the sandwich from the pan, and then I take a stick of butter and just barely spread a little on the outsides.

The sandwich will be a little messy. I promise it is worth the mess though. Everyone in my home will eat my grilled cheeses and that is saying something in a home where each child and my spouse can be incredibly picky. We heat up some tomato soup to finish off the meal at times.

Now I have made myself hungry.

So I feel like a total YouTuber, but instead of asking for you to subscribe, how about leaving a heart if you liked this article, or even better yet, if you knew of this trick already, or have tried it and found it improved your sandwich adventures! Just think, you do not have to stop with a grilled cheese. We have also made hot ham and cheeses using this same method and it just gives it extra flavor!

Also there are naysayers who completely disagree with the mayo vs butter cooking method. I will even include a link below for one such article. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I for sure will never be a famous chef or someone writing for Food and Wine.