I Made The World s Greatest Grilled Cheese

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Recipe – We Tested the World's Best to Build the Perfect Sandwich**

What actually makes the perfect grilled cheese?

To find out, we travelled from London to Paris, tasted some of the world's most iconic grilled cheese sandwiches, dug into the surprising history of the dish, and stole the very best techniques from each one.

Along the way, we discovered:

🇺🇸 The classic American grilled cheese
🇬🇧 The original English grilled cheese from Mrs Beeton
🇫🇷 Luxurious French Croque Monsieur variations
The science behind the perfect cheese pull
How to get an ultra-crispy golden crust
Why mayonnaise beats butter for browning
The secret to a rich, gooey cheese filling using béchamel, Red Leicester and Gruyère
The cooking method that creates the ultimate texture

After dozens of tests, we've combined everything we've learned into what we genuinely believe is the best grilled cheese recipe on Earth.


Ultimate Grilled Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:
1 large white tin loaf
100g clarified butter
30g flour
30g butter
300ml whole milk
150g Red Leicester
100g Gruyere
30g Mayonnaise

Recipe:
1. With a sharp serrated knife, start by thinly slicing the crust off all sides of the loaf (if super soft, put the loaf in the freezer for 30 minutes)
2. Position the loaf lengthways along the edge of your worktop
3. Place a thin chopping board (around 1cm thick) along the edge of the loaf furthest away from you.
4. Lie your serrated knife at one end of the loaf with the tip on the chopping board and start to slice horizontally, ensuring that the end of the knife stays in contact with the board at all times
5. Set aside the bottom slice and continue to slice the bread in this way until you’re left with 6 slices
6. Spread these out on a baking tray and bake on 160C for 10 minutes until just crisp
7. For the bechamel, on a medium heat, melt the butter and the flour in a saucepan, whisking continuously for one minute until you have a golden roux
8. Take the pan off the heat and slowly whisk in the milk until fully incorporated.
9. Return to the heat and continue to whisk until the bechamel has thickened and has volcanic bubbles on the surface
10. Take the thick bechamel off the heat and add the grated red leicester
11. Whisk until you're left with a silky, full homogenised cheese sauce.
12. Season with salt, transfer to a tray and put in the fridge to chill
13. Once the bechamel has cooled down, use a spatula to scrape the contents into a mixing bowl before whisking vigorously until it loosens slightly and looks smooth.
14. Fold through the grated Gruyere
15. To assemble the grilled cheese, lay out your toasted pieces of bread and spread 50g of the bechamel mix on all but one of the pieces.
16. Stack the slices one on top of the other, topping with the final slice without bechamel.
17. Trim all the sides before portioning width-ways into 4
18. Brush all the sides of each portion with mayo
19. Heat a pan to medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter
20. Carefully place the first portion into the pan and fry for a minute or so until golden brown.
21. Carefully flip over and then repeat on the other 3 sides. If the pan starts to look dry, add another couple of tablespoons of clarified butter
22. Transfer to a baking tray, brush with more clarified butter and bake in the oven for 10 mins or until the cheese has started to run out
23. Remove from the oven, allow to sit for a couple of minutes and enjoy!