Not Butter Or Cheese: The Creamy Ingredient That Makes Grilled Cheese 10x Richer

Grilled cheese is already a decadent meal that requires little effort, but a different form of richness from meat, rather than cheese, can make it more complexly delicious. If you're going to reach for rich meat, then look no further than pâté, something that comes in enough variety to suit any cheese combination you choose for your sandwich.

Many of us are familiar with pâté on a charcuterie board, served with a light cracker so you can experience its full flavors. But it's a common sandwich ingredient — take, for example, French influence in the Vietnamese bánh mì, creating an international grilled cheese style that's as unique as it is delicious. As it heats, the pâté practically melts like a meaty butter, infusing your cheese and bread with all that richness and delivering a truly powerful taste. When done properly, the pâté should mix directly into the gooey cheese, creating a single filling with the best possible texture.

Thanks to its high fat content, pâté has a signature silky texture that's hard to find elsewhere. Even vegetarian varieties made from mushrooms, soft cheese like ricotta, and butter can be a spot of decadence on an otherwise straightforward meal. It has a remarkable capacity for taking even the most underrated cheeses and turning them into gooey perfection, even if they don't have much moisture or fat to begin with. Combined with a sturdy bread toasted with butter or mayo, each layer of your grilled cheese will end up impossibly rich.

Pâté is an extraordinarily delicate ingredient, so adding it to any hot recipe takes a bit of know-how. Some are designed to be eaten hot or cold, so selecting the right variety and application can prevent you from losing out on any of its delicious virtues. For example, a terrine — not to be confused with true pâté or even rillettes — warms beautifully.

Heating up a pâté made to be eaten cold may make it greasy and fall apart, rather than melt. Instead of these, look for ones used in pâté en croûte, a type of fluffy pastry that uses it as a filling. Just like a country variety, aka terrine, it has a coarser texture that adds a satisfying bite to your sandwich and won't split once heated. These can also come in a dizzying variety, from meaty ones seasoned with nothing but salt to ones laden with chopped vegetables, nuts, and spices.

A simple smear on one side of your bread does the trick just fine, and the direct contact with the bread lets it soak up excess fat as it heats. But if you use an aged or low-fat cheese, try incorporating it with another simple trick for a meltier result: grating the cheese first. By tossing the cheese with your pâté, you coat each individual strand with a bit of the fat and ensure that, when they melt, the two ingredients fuse together. If you use slices, it can also help to smear a bit of pâté on each one before layering them between your bread.