Add Just One Ingredient For The Crispiest Grilled Cheese You've Ever Had

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

While some prefer a good old-fashioned grilled cheese with minimal modifications, others enjoy altering the sandwich to suit their tastes, in one way or another. While this could mean giving your grilled cheese sandwich some help in the flavor department with kimchi, it can also be a matter of elevating the distinctive grilled cheese crunch by using mayonnaise for a crispier crust.

We discussed improving the crispiness of grilled cheese with content creator, self-taught chef, and author of "Stacked: The Art of the Perfect Sandwich," Owen Han, who suggested that using mayonnaise can make a world of difference for your grilled cheese. "Mayo works great because it browns really well and spreads easily," he remarked. "I usually just use mayo on the bread and skip extra fat in the pan so it doesn't get greasy."

Despite Han seemingly choosing a side in the debate between using butter or mayo for grilled cheese, he did admit that using any fat — be it butter, mayo, or even coconut oil — can help make your sandwich crispier. "I like to use a good amount of fat on the outside of the bread — either butter or mayo," Han explained. "You can definitely use coconut oil, and it'll give you a nice crispy texture because it has a high smoke point. It might have a very subtle coconut flavor, but it's usually pretty mild."

While covering your bread in mayonnaise is likely the best way to give your grilled cheese a crispy exterior, other factors can also help produce the texture you desire. For starters, before you even begin cooking, picking the right bread is absolutely vital (Choosing bad bread is just one of the common mistakes everyone makes with grilled cheese). "The type of bread matters a lot," Owen Han explained. "Something sturdy like sourdough holds up and gets super crispy." While sourdough's taste and texture are perfect for a good grilled cheese, it also oftentimes has holes in it, which can make it a risky choice for a dish that features melted cheese.

Once you've selected the ideal bread, cooking the grilled cheese with patience produces the best results. "Cook low and slow," Han advised. "This gives the bread time to crisp up evenly without burning, and it creates that golden, crunchy crust everyone loves ... The outside is crunchy while the cheese melts perfectly."