Making the perfect grilled cheese isn’t exactly magic, but one wrong move and poof — the entire kitchen fills up with smoke. Far too often, people end up burning their sandwiches while trying to achieve that crunchy, golden-brown crust we all crave. But making grilled cheese doesn’t have to be difficult, especially with one key…
Move Over, Butter, It’s Mayo Time
When making grilled cheese, it’s traditional to spread butter or margarine on the outside of the bread before cooking. But those ingredients aren’t ideal. Cold butter can be difficult to spread, and it’s prone to burning quickly. Plus, you’ll likely end up needing to use a few tablespoons of butter, which is high in fat and calories.
Mayonnaise, on the other hand, is a game changer when it comes to making grilled cheese, and all you need is about 1 tablespoon. Not only is it a suitable substitute for butter, but it’s also likely to improve the snack in ways you never imagined. First, mayo is far easier to spread than butter, and you don’t even need to bring it up to room temperature. Mayo also has a higher smoke point than butter, so the sandwich is less likely to burn quickly. Lastly, mayo has a lighter flavor than butter, allowing the cheese inside your sandwich to really shine through. All of these benefits make mayonnaise the perfect choice over butter for a top-notch grilled cheese.
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Don’t Skimp on the Fat
One important caveat: You won’t achieve a crispy crust without using full-fat mayonnaise. Reduced-fat spreads have a higher water content than full-fat versions, so they won’t produce as crispy a result. We’ll leave the brand of mayo up to you, though, whether you prefer Hellmann’s (aka Best Foods), Duke’s, or another option.
Steps To Achieve Golden-Brown Goodness
Outside of swapping butter for mayo, there are no changes to how you should cook your grilled cheese sandwich. Of course, everyone has their own process, but we suggest using a cast-iron skillet, low to medium heat, and cooking for two to three minutes on each side. Also, cover the pan with a lid to keep the heat in and help the cheese melt.
One last tip is to consider boosting the flavor of the mayo-coated exterior by sprinkling a bit of parmesan cheese so it sticks to the mayo and cooks into the crust. Or, use garlic aioli instead of traditional mayo if you’re looking to add some depth of flavor to the sandwich. Consider the mayonnaise a blank canvas for your culinary creativity.
