Best Grilled Cheese

This grilled cheese is all about the crust. Choose a hearty bread, butter it up, and shred your favorite cheddar for the best grilled cheese ever: crispy-crunchy on the outside and melty in the middle. My recipe relies on shredded, rather than sliced, cheese for a quicker melt and the world’s most impressive cheese pull.

How To Make Grilled Cheese

INGREDIENTS

• Butter: Softened butter spreads more evenly, ensuring a crispier exterior to the sandwich.
• Bread: Any type of reasonably thinly sliced sandwich bread will do, but I’m partial to tangy sourdough, which is a nice foil to all that rich melted cheese.
• Cheese: Shredded cheese is my solution to the perennial challenge of ensuring the cheese and bread cook at the same rate. Shredded cheese melts quicker and more evenly than sliced, so it’s better able to keep up with the bread as it toasts. Just make sure to shred the cheese yourself rather than buying it pre-shredded. Pre-shredded cheese has additives to keep it from melting, so it's less than ideal.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

First task: Buttering the bread. I don’t think this requires an exegesis, but you will definitely want to work with softened butter for more even coverage and less risk of tearing the bread. To soften butter quickly, turn to your microwave. Five-second intervals on low power should do the trick—you just want the butter spreadable.

Task 2: Apply the cheese. Flip 2 of the bread slices buttered side down and divide the cheese between them. Note the texture of the cheddar: Finely grated is the way to go. Use the small holes on a box grater and you're golden. Top with the remaining bread slices, buttered side up, to form the sandwiches.

Task 3: Grill the cheese. Grab a medium skillet, preferably one made from cast-iron—it heats more evenly and browns foods like a champ. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in the skillet over medium heat until foamy. Place one sandwich in the skillet and cook until golden underneath and the cheese is starting to melt. Turn the sandwich over with a thin metal spatula and cook until golden on the second side and the cheese is fully melted. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels—burnt butter is no friend to grilled cheese—and repeat with another Tbsp. butter and the remaining sandwich.

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• What cheese is best for a grilled cheese? A grilled cheese is only as good as the cheese you use for it. You want to make sure you're using a melty cheese like American, cheddar, pepper Jack, Havarti, Gruyère, or Monterey Jack. Look for low-moisture cheese when picking, as they melt the best.
• What bread is best for a grilled cheese? Really any bread works. I love sourdough, white bread, or even brioche. The important part is making sure the slices aren’t too thick, so the whole thing feels crispy.
• Should I use mayo or butter on grilled cheese? Mayo vs. butter: the great debate! My classic grilled cheese keeps the tradition of using softened butter to coat the outside of the sandwich. Mayo and butter both work great for getting an extra crispy exterior. Mayonnaise adds an extra layer of creaminess and saltiness. A tip I love is to use salted butter for your grilled cheese if you don't want to use mayonnaise.

Storage

Leftover pizza is inarguably delicious, but leftover grilled cheese…not so much. If you want to work ahead, you can grate the cheese up to 4 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.