This recipe is simple and has flavor, visual appeal and craveability.
After making this a few times, try different types of breads and cheeses.
Try adding slices of prosciutto or smoked ham or grilled vegetables.
I like to serve bitesize squares of grilled cheese as croutons to dunk into cream of tomato or cream of mushroom soup... amazing!
A Beginner’s Guide to Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheese may be thought of as one of the simplest sandwiches to make, but mastering it is a challenge. I've practiced this recipe to offer an almost foolproof recipe...
It's a cooking lesson in heat control, texture, and balance.
When I teach beginners, I start with grilled cheese because it demonstrates key cooking principles: how to properly heat a pan, how fat adds flavor and conducts heat, browning reaction, and how cheese melts.
With just a few delicious ingredients and a little attention, you can turn an everyday sandwich into something crisp, gooey, and deeply satisfying... delicious.
In this post, we’ll look at the fundamentals — choosing the right bread, selecting a good melting cheese, and cooking at the proper temperature — so even a first-time cook can create a grilled cheese worth remembering.
Grilled Cheese
Prep Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Yield: 1 portion
Ingredients
2 ea Bread slices (you can choose ciabatta, sourdough, etc... pick your favorite)
2 slices Cheese (American, Cheddar, Mozzarella, etc...) try using two cheeses in the same sandwich
3 Tbsp Butter, lightly salted
Step 1
Set up mise en place of the bread, cheese and butter. Place the cheese onto one slice of bread and place the second slice of bread on top to make a sandwich.
Note-you can add a slice of ham or tomato or bacon etc... if you like.
Warm a small pan (I like teflon for grilled cheese) and add butter to melt.
Step 2
Add the cheese 'sandwich' to the pan, into the melted butter. Let the bottom slice of bread absorb the butter for one minute and invert the sandwich so there is butter on both sides. Be careful, it will be warm to hot.
Note-you could butter the bread before adding to the pan but I find the bread tears too easily.
Step 3
Use a rubber spatula to flip the grilled cheese sandwich, you can peek to see how quickly the bread is browning. (it will brown in about 1 minute so peeking is advised). Carefully flip the sandwich and move the pan from the heat. The pan is hot enough to brown the other side.
Note-cook at medium heat so there is time for the cheese to melt. If you have the heat too hot, the cheese will not melt.
Step 4
Split the sandwich and enjoy.
