The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich
on Sep 01, 2023, Updated Aug 16, 2025
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If you’re on the hunt for the absolute best grilled cheese sandwich, this is it. Perfect crispy golden-brown bread meets gooey, meltedc heese in the ultimate balance of crunch and creaminess. This recipe walks you though exactly how to make diner-worthy grilled cheese with simple tips to get a crunchy crust, evenly melted cheese, and can’t-stop-eating-it flavor.
A perfect grilled cheese sandwich is hard to beat. It’s crunchy and gooey at the same time. It’s buttery, cheesy, and insanely satisfying. It’s a fast lunch or dinner when you are too tired to cook (about 10 minutes to make!), it’s the perfect comfort food after a tough day, and it’s the fastest way to any kid’s heart (and by a kid, I mean all of us). And it’s easy to make a perfect grilled cheese at home with just a few little tips.
There are a number of ways to make a good grilled cheese sandwich, but the best grilled cheese is made on a griddle or in a skillet. These sandwiches are best hot from the pan, though my kids actually like them at room temperature, too, so I packed them for school and camp lunches often! But that’s a very personal predilection.
This grilled cheese pairs perfectly with any simply cooked vegetable or leafy salad. Think about Cauliflower Tots, Sautéed Broccoli, or Roasted Asparagus.
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The Secret to Perfect Grilled Cheese
Laura Werlin, the author of many books on cheese, suggests covering the skillet at the beginning of the cooking process and then finishing the sandwiches with the skillet uncovered. This way, the cheese melts all the way through, and then the outside of the bread gets nice and crisp.
This tip has forever changed my grilled cheese sandwich game. Try it, and never again will any of you suffer the disappointment of unmelted cheese in the middle of your sandwich or overcooked toast at the expense of perfectly melted cheese.
Ingredients
- Cheese – This is where the fun starts. This recipe is a blueprint, and the sandwich that results is your creation and yours alone. Mixing different kinds of cheese results in some very special combinations. If you use a stronger-flavored cheese, like Stilton, for instance, you may want to cut the flavor with a slice of milder cheese like Muenster, so the sandwich isn’t too intense. See my cheese suggestions below.
- Bread – Another choice, and an important one. I love using substantial slices of a nice sourdough or country white bread for grilled cheese, but there are so many fun bread options out there. If you want to experiment with some brioche or multigrain or olive bread, go for it!
- Butter – Use unsalted butter. The salt in this sandwich will come from the cheese and a final sprinkle of salt at the end.
Best Cheese Choices for Grilled Cheese
There are so, so many cheeses to choose from! Here are some cheese options to mix and match for your grilled cheese.
- American cheese – If you’re going for old-school diner nostalgia, well, there’s nothing more classic than an American cheese grilled cheese.
- Blue cheese – If you want a more intense, funky grilled cheese, add a few crumbles of earthy, pungent blue cheese into the mix.
- Brie or another double or triple creme cheese – Trim any thick rind off of these soft cheeses before using!
- Cheddar – The level of flavor and sharpness depends on the age of the cheddar.
- Feta – Tangy and salty.
- Fontina – Semisoft, mild, melty.
- Goat cheese (chèvre) – Tart, tangy, earthy.
- Gruyère – Nutty and flavorful.
- Jarlsberg or Swiss cheese – Smooth, sweet, and nutty.
- Monterey Jack – Quite mild and very melty.
- Muenster – Mild, buttery, like a cross between mozzarella and cheddar.
- Pepper Jack – This variation on Monterey Jack cheese includes hot peppers, so it’s a fun cheese to include to spice things up.
- Provolone – Ranges from mild and creamy to sharp and tangy, depending on the age of the cheese
If you are looking for a mildly flavored grilled cheese, possibly for the kids, some good choices are American, fontina, Muenster, and Monterey Jack.
How to Make the Perfect Grilled Cheese
- Butter the bread: Spread one side of each slice of bread with the butter, dividing it equally.
- Layer on cheese: Place 2 slices on a cutting board, butter side down (a bit messy, yes), and layer 3 slices of cheese or sprinkle 2/3 cup of grated cheese on each slice of bread. If you are using more than one kind of cheese, divide the different kinds as you like between the sandwiches.
- Finish your sandwich: Top the sandwiches with the remaining slices of bread, butter side up.
- Cook sandwiches in a covered skillet: Heat a large skillet, either a nonstick skillet or one that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, over medium heat. Carefully place the sandwiches in the skillet, cover it, and cook the sandwiches until the bottoms start to turn golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Flip, press, and flip: Uncover the skillet and, using a spatula, turn the sandwiches over (be careful if you’ve used grated cheese to make sure the filling stays put). Press down on the sandwiches a bit with the spatula, and cook them uncovered until the second side is golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Turn the sandwiches one more time, and cook them until the bottom is fully golden brown and crispy, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Take off the heat: Transfer the sandwiches to the cutting board. Let them sit for 1 minute so that the melted cheese firms up a bit. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.
Best Grilled Cheese Add-Ins
Pick the add-ins you like best for the grilled cheese of your dreams! Here are a handful of ideas:
- Spread of green olive tapenade or black olive tapenade (olive paste)
- Sun-dried tomato pesto
- Pesto
- A thin slice of ham or prosciutto (For a great grilled ham and cheese sandwich, I like to use a mix of cheddar and Swiss cheese.)
- Slices of cooked bacon, crumbled or whole
- Thin slices of tomato
- Sauteed or Caramelized onions
- Pickled onions
- Roasted bell pepper
- Sliced jalapeños (also check out this Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese!)
Variations
- Sub in mayonnaise for the butter.
- You can make grilled cheese in a toaster oven or a regular oven, but you won’t have that amazing griddled taste and texture.
- An air fryer grilled cheese is also surprisingly successful!
What to Know About Making the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich
In a skillet, for sure! Add in the trick of covering the skillet during the first half of cook time and then uncovering it in the second half for cheese that is gooey, and toast that is perfectly crunchy. Yum.
Yes and no. Yes, you need something like butter to boost the flavor of the cheese and to make sure the bread gets all toasty in the pan; but no, it doesn’t have to be butter. You can also use mayo or vegan butter.
It depends on the texture of your cheeses: If you’re working with soft cheese, slices are great, but hard cheese will take longer to melt if you put a thick slab of it on your sandwich, so grate it instead, or at least slice it thinly.
What to Serve With Grilled Cheese
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The Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 slices bread (of your choice)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 ⅓ cups grated or crumbled cheese (or sliced cheese)
- Nonstick cooking spray (optional)
- Kosher salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Spread one side of each slice of bread with the butter, dividing it equally. Place 2 slices on a cutting board, butter side down (a bit messy, yes), and layer 3 slices of cheese or sprinkle 2⁄3 cup of grated cheese on each slice of bread. If you are using more than one kind of cheese, divide the different kinds as you like between the sandwiches. Top the sandwiches with the remaining 2 slices of bread, butter side up.
- Heat a large skillet, either a nonstick skillet or one that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, over medium heat. Carefully place the sandwiches in the skillet, cover it, and cook the sandwiches until the bottoms start to turn golden brown, about 2 minutes. Uncover the skillet and, using a spatula, turn the sandwiches over (be careful if you've used grated cheese to make sure the filling stays put). Press down on the sandwiches a bit with the spatula, and cook them uncovered until the second side is golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Turn the sandwiches one more time, season lightly with salt, and cook them until the bottom is fully golden brown and crispy, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Transfer the sandwiches to the cutting board, let them sit for 1 minute so that the cheese firms back up a bit, then cut the sandwiches in half and serve.
For anyone else using this recipe, try using some mayonnaise instead of butter/margarine on the bread. Not only is mayo super easy to spread very similar to margarine in how it cooks, more importantly it adds a slight tangy-ness to the grilled cheese that is perfect! Works best with milder cheeses, like American or Muenster, as stronger cheeses can drown out the tang from the mayo.
Thank you for reminding me! Just like my Mom taught me to do it! And, for the great ideas to broaden the thinking from sharpe cheddar. Smart girls, you and my Mom! xo
My family loves grilled cheese. I love my family so I make this for them along with a cup of tomato soup. Delish!
Tasted really good and was easy to prepare. Needed to pack something for a long road trip and this was just perfect.
So glad to hear it! Good road trip snack.