Usually I don't really care that much about celebrating the random food holidays that are out there (unless of course it involves making a specialty cocktail then I'm ready and willing!), but I am super excited about today's nonsense food holiday. Drums please, it's National Grilled Cheese Day (actually this month is National Grilled Cheese Month too)!
YumSugar and I love cheese so much that we marked this one on the calendar months ago. I'm a big fan of enjoying the simple pleasures of life and nothing is as wonderfully good as slices of cheese melted between two pieces of toasted, buttery bread. On average I consume about one grilled cheese a week and practically lived on these little sandwiches in college. I love them made with individually packed American cheese slices and wheat bread as much as I love them made with CowGirl Creamery's goat cheese and fresh baked focaccia. Gourmet or down-home style, a grilled cheese is easy to make if you are patient. Never make one over high heat because the bread will toast before the cheese has melted. For more tips on making the perfect grilled cheese and a classic recipe that can be tweaked to your liking, read more
- Use a nonstick pan for best results rather than a cast iron grill to ensure that the bread does not stick to the pan.
- Place a lid on top of the pan while you are cooking the sandwich to thoroughly melt the cheese without burning the bread.
- If using a bar of cheese, grate it rather than slice it. Grated cheese melts quicker and more evenly than slices no - matter how thin they are.
- Consider the thickness of the bread, the thinner the bread the sooner it will toast. When using a thicker bread, like a roll or focaccia, pull some of the inside out to have a nice bread-to-cheese ratio.
- Use a low temperature, never higher than medium.
- Although you may use olive oil, I find that butter makes the tastiest grilled cheeses. Use room temperature butter that will spread evenly to prevent splotchy toastiness.
- Preheat pan before you place sandwich inside it. Flip with a spatula.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich
From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham
2 slices Cheddar, American, or Swiss cheese
2 slices white bread
2 tablespoons butter
- Put the cheese between the slices of bread. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet or grill and when melted add the sandwich.
- Gently press down with a spatula once or twice during the grilling.
- When one side is golden, add the remaining tablespoon of butter, turn the sandwich over, and brown.
Serves 1.
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Take-Two
JC de CASTELBAJAC
Vanessa Bruno
I just love love LOVE grilled cheese! Lots of callories but it's worth it!
1every week at my school, i order grilled cheese sandwiches for a afternoon snack with my friends. They are so good!
2I live for grilled cheese.
3I think that's what I'll have for breakfast.
Definitely a grilled cheese day in Ohio! My favorite diner lunch is grilled cheese and fries. I love to dip mine in ketchup! Thought it sounded gross until my college roommate had me try it a decade ago....tasty!
4I'm a recent convert to grilled cheese. Everyone used American cheese growing up and I don't eat it! But I recently found a Greek Grilled Cheese sandwich, using feta, and YUM!
5Tell me more ALSW, sounds interesting. You still use the butter on the bread?
Style Before Comfort!
6Oh - grilled cheese sounds so good right now. I always make mine with one slice of american and one slice of provolone cheese on wheat. And always butter - never olive oil, though I imagine that could be great on something like the foccaccia/goat cheese combo you mentioned.
7i lived in ecuador for about 6 months, and they didn't really have any yellow cheeses there...or white bread for that matter. we would make grilled cheese on wheat bread with a white ecuadorian cheese similar to mozzarella. it was SO good. i got hooked. now i crave that more than the good old fashioned grilled cheese!
8I LOVE grilled cheese, but always feel guilty about all the cals, so to make it a little healthier I use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray and Laughing Cow cheese on rye bread. It's less than 300 cals and does the trick if I'm having a craving!!
The best things in life are free. The second best are expensive.
9Oh man, that looks soooo good. Eeks. Shall not be tempted, shall not be tempted... *continues chanting*.
10yummmmmm but i gotta fit in my prom dress
11Oh yum. I think I'll have this for dinner with a bowl of tomato soup! Perfect meal for the weather.
12Good timing for Grilled Cheese Day, actually, because I'm still using up my leftover Easter ham, and I just made a grilled ham and cheese last night for dinner. Yummy.
13I love grilled cheese. With tomato and on wheat (and always butter and full fat white cheddar). This is perfect for the cold rainy day today.
14When I was younger it was grilled cheese all day, Now I gotta have my Honey Ham on that bad boy! Yall made me hungry now...
15LaLa - I found it on allrecipes! I've made it twice and both times I changed things around a little bit, adding a little garlic or even some leftover pasta sauce.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Greek-Grilled-Cheese/Detail.aspx
Also, here's one for Italian Grilled Cheese!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Grilled-Cheese-Sandwiches/Detail.as...
16I was a little ahead of the game because I had a grilled cheese on sourdough and tomato soup for tuesday night dinner! This combination, is sooo delicious!
17Always satisfying!
18Team - I love that combo too! Grilled cheese and tomato soup, so yum!
When i was growing up, my dad always put grape jelly on his grilled cheese. It sounds disgusting, but it tastes great.
And finally, what Jimmy does when he makes a grilled cheese: he gets it almost done, and then he sprinkles shredded cheese on the non-stick pan and then puts the sandwich on top of that. This way you have gooey cheese on the inside of the bread, and crispy cheese on the outside! Soooo bad for you i'm sure, but soooo good!
19grape jelly, sounds gross, but I trust you yum, I will give that a try!!
20I'm just sitting here thinking grape jelly and cheese...Torn between interested and a little grossed out! =]
21yah, I actually haven't had one since I was in high school. but it really worked well with pre-sliced bread and kraft individually wrapped cheese. some weird savory/sweet thing. then again, this is coming from the girl who likes fried egg with strawberry jam... and for the record, I know two other people who love that combo too.
22Has anyone tried yellow mustard on grilled cheese (white bread, American cheese)? That's what my mom does, and in college it was grilled cheese and tomato soup day every Friday at my sorority, and I ALWAYS put mustard on mine and people thought it was so weird. But it's DELICIOUS! Something with the American cheese and the tangy mustard combo. Try it! And a little paprika on there too gives it a little kick. To this day, my mom and I are the only ones I know who do that!
The best things in life are free. The second best are expensive.
23Mmmm grilled cheese, I haven't made these in forever and tomorrow for lunch I plan on making Grilled cheese and tomato soup.....yummy...I also love adding tomato slices to my grilled cheese once the cheese is melted and sometimes I add bacon...so very tastey
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24My favorite grilled cheese sandwhich consists of Sheepherders bread, a thin layer of extra sharp cheddar, and thin layer of pepperjack and the outside sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan. You can't go wrong with this and the pepperjack adds just the right amount of zing.
25It tastes even better with some ham!
ohhh man i am getting very tempted!! i haven't had a grilled cheese since i was much younger. ahh i think i'm going to have to run out to the grocery store and get some light white bread and either use the cheddar cheese i have at home or buy fat-free american singles. which is better? cheddar or american??
26grilled cheese and tomato sandwich = heaven
27It's hard to find (Whole Foods and some international/greek markets carry it), but halloumi cheese makes a totally addictive grilled cheese. It's a salty white cheese that tastes really unique and grills well, too. Mmm.
28Doh, I'm always late
The Jimmy recipe sounds to die for. I ♥ crispy
cheese.
29OMG Yum, you're killing me!
Buzz, do you put mustard on your grilled ham & cheese? My grandma made me one years ago with leftover Easter ham and the mustard really added something.
Thanks ALSW! I am definitely going to give it a try.
Jelly, eh? Interesting.
Style Before Comfort!
30Thank you for the remedial tips! I am widely acknowledged to be the worst cook in the world, and my infamous grilled cheese night is often cited as evidence that I deserve this title. It took me three tries and a call to my mom, and I ended up with a kitchen covered in cheese and butter, lots of burnt bread and nothing to eat. It was awful. I think with these tips, I might be ready to give it another try.
31Maddyme - That sounds like another kind of grilled cheese I'd actually try!
Kscinscotta - The first time I tried making grilled cheese, I was cooking and trying to make another at the same time and ended up burning the first one to a crisp! Still ate it though! =)
32If there were no such things as calories (and saturated fat), I would eat grilled cheese for every meal.
33I use Bertolli cooking spray, instead of butter. You can spray the bread instead of the pan, getting an even light and toasty sandwich.
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