Football Shaped Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is mayo the secret to grilled cheese? ›

So how do you avoid a barely toasted cheese melt or burnt sandwich with still-cold cheddar? This often means going low and slow with the heat, and mayonnaise can quicken this process. Unlike butter, which burns quickly, mayonnaise is an oil-based fat with a higher smoke point.

Standard procedure for grilled cheese is to butter the outsides of the bread before placing it in the pan — for more flavor, butter both sides, inside and out. This works quite nicely, adding flavor to the sandwich, while also preventing burning and sticking.

Mix a little mayo into the butter that is spread on the outside of the sandwich. This will prevent the sandwich from burning.

Use olive oil, not butter.

Many recipes recommend butter, but in the time it takes to properly toast the bread and melt the cheese, butter tends to burn, blacken, and smoke. Ick. I use olive oil instead – its higher smoke point is your friend here (and its flavor will enhance the sandwich).

For the ideal grilled cheese, look for bread with a soft-but-hearty texture with even slices of medium thickness (about 1/4 inch). Hearty sandwich bread, sourdough, brioche, and rye all work very well. Avoid rolls and loaves with large holes in the interior.

Cook until crisp and deep golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes per side, flipping sandwiches back to first side to re-heat and crisp, about 15 seconds. Serve.

A skillet preheated to medium or medium-low is optimal (adjust yours accordingly). Start by placing one slice of buttered bread face down in the pan, top with shredded cheese. Add the second slice buttered side up. Cook 2-4 minutes per side until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Press down on sandwich to encourage even browning and to help cheese melt—be gentle, don't smash it. Cook until second side is golden brown and cheese is melted.

→ Follow this tip: Thinly sliced cheese is a good start, but there's still a better method: grated cheese. It melts more evenly and quickly than slices, and you're guaranteed to have just the right balance of toasted bread and melted cheese.

One mistake people make when they assemble their grilled cheese is using cheese slices that are too thick. The secret to making a great grilled cheese is using thin cheese slices and cooking it low and slow, so that the cheese gets perfectly melted and the bread gets just crispy enough.

Why is mayonnaise better than butter? ›

Mayo contains less cholesterol than regular butter. There are 5 milligrams of cholesterol in 1 tablespoon of Hellman's regular mayo, 4 milligrams in 1 tablespoon of reduced fat olive oil mayo and no cholesterol in Kraft fat-free mayo.

It's not a healthy fat, nor does it try to be. But it gives your grilled cheese sandwich a delicious flavor and similar results to the mayonnaise option. Bacon fat has a high smoke point making it a great cooking oil, and thus a great alternative to use for things like grilled cheese sandwiches.

It keeps them in place and helps their flavor travel. Plus, because mayonnaise has so much fat, you don't have to separately grease the grates, which diminishes the potential for flare-ups. Feel free to use any dry rub you like on steak, or here's a recipe for a new favorite.

Toast is usually buttered, but it's not considered to be a sandwich in and of itself in the United States. Now, a sandwich can be made with toasted bread, certainly, but in that role it's normally slathered with mayonnaise, mustard, or something of that nature rather than being buttered.