A big thank you to the oh-so delicious Tradewinds Slow-Brewed Teas in partnership with Mom It Forward Bloggers Network for sponsoring this post.
Few things are more comforting than the classic American grilled cheese sandwich. The crispy, buttery grilled bread, the melted cheese oozing over the hot crust… simple and perfect.
The modern grilled cheese sandwich was born in the 1920’s as sliced bread and American cheese became readily available. Of course, bread with cheese has been a staple in many countries for ages. The combination of filling bread and rich cheese is just so appealing to humans everywhere!
As a busy mom, grilled cheese can be a yummy part of a quick meal. I love that it only takes 10 minutes to prepare a grilled cheese sandwich with apple slices and carrot sticks.
Have you heard that the best way to make a grilled cheese sandwich is by using mayonnaise on the bread instead of butter? I’ve read this theory on social media and wondered if it could be true. Can mayonnaise make a better grilled cheese than butter? Let’s experiment and find out!
My sandwich making started with a trip to the grocery store. While shopping I picked up a gallon of Tradewinds Slow Brewed Green Iced Tea with Honey. You guys… YUM! I am a big fan of the light sweetness from honey paired with the refreshing flavor of the green tea. Be sure to click here and see what other amazing flavors of Tradewinds Slow Brewed Teas are available. Tell me in the comments, which one do you love the most or which one you want to try?
To make my test fair, I went with the most basic and classic American grilled cheese sandwich recipe. Here are the ingredients I used:
- 4 slices of white sandwich bread
- Butter (softened to be easy to spread) OR real mayonnaise (full fat)
- 4 slices of American cheese singles
When making a grilled cheese sandwich with butter, it’s super important to use really soft butter. Otherwise the bread will tear when you attempt to spread the butter.
When I make a grilled cheese sandwich for my daughter, I’m usually in a hurry so I actually completely melt the butter in a small bowl or ramekin and then spread it on the bread with a pastry brush. This works SO well! But for the sake of the experiment I wanted to use the same process of spreading the butter or mayonnaise on the bread.
I buttered one side of two slices of bread, spreading the butter out to completely coat the bread from edge to edge with a thin layer.
Next, I heated my skillet over medium heat. As the pan heated, I built the sandwich with two slices of buttered bread (buttered sides facing out) and two slices of American cheese singles. I place one whole piece of cheese on the bread and then cut the second piece into strips to make sure I can place them on the sandwich in a way that every inch has cheese.
I placed the sandwich into the skillet and pan fried it on each side until golden brown. At medium heat this took about 2 minutes per side, but your cooking times may vary.
I use a white ceramic pan and it’s awesome! Nothing sticks to it and it cooks very evenly. Here’s my pretty sandwich cooking away in the pan:
Just LOOK at that perfectly browned bread! Oh how I love that crunch of biting into a warm grilled cheese sandwich…
The grilled cheese made with butter was a complete success, so now on to mayonnaise! I love mayonnaise. Big fan.
Using the same amount of mayonnaise as I did butter, I spread it evenly over one side of two slices of bread and built my grilled cheese sandwich in the same way I detail above.
Now, the first big difference I noticed right away was that this sandwich did not do well at medium heat the way the buttered sandwich did. I had to crank the heat back to medium-low and pull the pan from the burner for a moment to cool it down before the sandwich burned. I do have a pretty new stove that works well, so I can say for sure that the burning problem had to do with the mayonnaise and not the stove heating above the set temperature.
Here is the sandwich cooking (note the slightly singed edges):
Other than having to reduce the heat for the mayonnaise sandwich, the two were prepared and cooked in the exact same manner. Here they are together:
Can you guess which is butter and which is mayonnaise?
Well, of course you can! The sandwich made with butter is on the left in the above picture with the sandwich made with mayonnaise on the right. Notice the difference? The left is certainly prettier, but what about taste?
Here’s a little taste test video:
The sandwich made with mayonnaise was very good, but a little bit less crispy than the sandwich made with butter.
My conclusion? Butter is better! But if you prefer grilled cheese made with mayonnaise, go for it!
Please do me a big favor and check out the oh so delicious Tradewinds Tea site! I’ve absolutely LOVED sampling all of their refreshing flavors such as sweet tea, unsweetened iced tea, raspberry iced tea, and more. Find out where you can buy Tradewinds Teas by clicking here. Thanks, friends!
Jayson says
I’m willing to bet the mayo sandwich was cooked after the butter sandwich. I’ve experience the same symptoms using butter on two sandwiches. Uring a smaller pan that fits one sandwich you tend to cook the first sandwich as it heats up and the second sandwich after the pan is a lot hotter. It’s not the mayo or butter causing the uneven browning/burning.