Recipes / Breakfast / American Breakfast Skillet Grilled Cheese Sandwich Mayonnaise on the outside instead of butter, and a lid on the pan. One browns more evenly, the other melts the cheese before the bread burns.
Time 15 min
Serves 2
Difficulty Easy Ingredients Servings
− +
Quantities for 2 servings
4 slices of white sandwich bread 120 g mature Cheddar, coarsely grated 60 g Gruyère or mozzarella, coarsely grated 2 tbsp mayonnaise 20 g softened butter 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard (optional) A pinch of black pepper
The base is worth following fairly closely, but everything on top is yours. Change the fillings, herbs and garnishes freely, and use the method as your anchor rather than the exact list.
Method 1 Grate the cheese rather than slicing it. Grated cheese melts in a fraction of the time, which is the whole problem with grilled cheese — getting the middle molten before the outside burns. 2 Butter the inside faces of the bread and spread the mustard on one slice. Mix the two cheeses together and pile them on, keeping them just short of the edges so they don't leak and burn in the pan. 3 Spread mayonnaise thinly over the outside of both slices. Mayonnaise has a higher smoke point than butter and contains egg and oil, so it browns more evenly and gives a glassier crust — it does not taste of mayonnaise afterwards. 4 Set a heavy pan over medium-low heat. Resist turning it up: the sandwich needs 4–5 minutes a side, and a hot pan will give you a burnt sandwich with a cold, solid core. 5 Lay the sandwich in and cover the pan with a lid. The trapped heat melts the cheese from above while the base browns. 6 After 4–5 minutes, when the underside is deep golden, flip and press down gently with a spatula. Cover again and cook a further 3–4 minutes. 7 Rest on a board for a minute before cutting — slice it straight from the pan and the molten cheese runs out. Cut on the diagonal, which is not superstition: it gives you a longer edge and a better cheese pull. Tap a step to cross it off. Your place is saved on this device.
Cook’s notes Pre-grated cheese is coated in anti-caking starch and melts badly. Grate it from a block.
If the bread is browning faster than the cheese is melting, take the pan off the heat for 30 seconds with the lid on rather than flipping early.
How it should look Photos of the finished dish, so you know what you’re aiming for.
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