Forget Regular Butter And Mayo: Spread This Rich Ingredient On Bread For Crispier Grilled Cheese

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Probably up there with boxed mac and cheese or an easy cold cut sandwich, grilled cheese is likely one of those first meals many American kids first learned to make by themselves. But, at least since I was a kid, the grilled cheese game has gotten a little more serious. You probably know you can go beyond butter and try some mayo on your grilled cheese (both inside and out), and there are certainly more cheese choices than just the plastic-wrapped American slices. But maybe it's time to step it up another level entirely and try spreading some ghee on your bread for a beautifully crispy toasted experience.

If you're unfamiliar, ghee is similar to clarified butter but is basically cooked longer with the milk solids as the butter breaks down. With clarified butter, on the other hand, the proteins are strained off just as they separate. Allowing them to cook longer in ghee imparts more flavor, a deep satisfying nuttiness. Plus, because the solids and water are removed, ghee ends up as pretty much pure fat, just like processed cooking oils. So, not only is it shelf stable, but it means you can use it at a much higher temperature than butter or mayo and add a whole lot more taste than your standard cooking oil. The stuff can be a little pricy, like Spring Sunrise's Grass Fed Organic, but you can even make ghee at home.

Regular butter is usually about 80% to 82% fat, around 16% water, 1.5% salt, and 1% milk solids. Because of the milk solids and high water content, butter has a lower smoke point and can burn your food easily, especially in a frying pan. With butter, you can get up to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but ghee can go all the way up to around 465 degrees Fahrenheit, so you can leave your grilled cheese in the pan longer to get the cheese sufficiently melted.

Ghee will help you get an ideally-browned and crunchy exterior because it melts more evenly under high heat, where butter or mayo could burn immediately in spots, if not evenly spread. While it's perfectly delicious with a couple classic slices of American cheese, its caramel-tinged flavor lends itself well to Comté and Gruyère that melt wonderfully and share some nutty undertones that ghee is loved for. From there, there are a number of tips for making a killer grilled cheese. Try some simple deli-sliced ham or go all the way with a classic Reuben.

And, while grilled cheese isn't typically the realm of the lactose-intolerant, because ghee has the milk solids removed, it's a lactose-free food. Maybe try it with a low-lactose aged cheddar or pecorino. And most cheeses made out of sheep or goat milk generally have much less lactose, so it might be worth giving them a shot. But, whatever goes inside, to get a perfectly-toasted grilled cheese on the outside, it's probably a good call to spread on the ghee.