The Best Bread For A Classic, No-Frills Grilled Cheese
A crispy, gooey, sensational grilled cheese — is there anything more comforting than that? The classic grilled cheese is a fixture in the lives of children and adults alike. There's just something so simply satisfying about a perfectly made grilled cheese that is sure to leave you satiated. And no matter how long it's been since you've had one, there's just no replacing the one-of-a-kind dish.
There are many hacks out there to level up your grilled cheese. These range from swapping out grilled cheese staple ingredients to using coconut oil to provide extra crispiness, but what if you want that nostalgic taste of a classic grilled cheese? For that, it's all about the choice of bread — and look no further than the humble, simple white sandwich bread. It may seem like a questionable choice — possibly even a boring one — but white sandwich bread is a kitchen staple for a reason and is perhaps the only choice for a proper grilled cheese sandwich in all its quintessential glory.
Staying true to the past
This choice is not meant to discredit fancier, modified, lusciously decadent forms of the grilled cheese sandwich. You can make delicious grilled cheeses with your creativity as your only limit, even making cinnamon raisin bread grilled cheese for a truly unique and wonderful take on the sandwich with Brie. But when it comes to the classic grilled cheese of your childhood, it's best to remove all the frills and get down to the essence of what makes the dish so great. One of those essential items is sliced bread that's soft, yet easy to get crispy on the outside, and there's perhaps no greater or more widely available example of that than regular white sandwich bread.
Sandwich bread is a fluffy, soft bread that has a relatively neutral taste as far as breads go. This is a perfect vessel for your melted cheese and butter (or whatever oil you use to grill your sandwich). As well, the fluffy airiness of white sandwich bread lends itself well to grilling, its lightness making it easy to get a crispy outside while maintaining a beautiful soft inside. This isn't even mentioning the nostalgia factor. Just close your eyes and let the taste of this no-frills sandwich whisk you back to your childhood kitchen table.
Building on a classic
Now, just because white sandwich bread is a great choice for providing you with that classic idea of grilled cheese, that doesn't mean that it's the only right choice for you. Ultimately, the type of bread that suits your taste best is the one that you should choose. Other soft breads such as sourdough, brioche, or challah bread are all beautiful choices for a grilled cheese. Alternatively, if your core memories are centered around a grilled cheese on a nuttier multigrain bread, then you listen to your heart!
The wonder of the grilled cheese is that its simplicity lends itself well to modifications. For an ultimate grilled cheese, many cooks call for using sourdough bread and a mixture of cheeses — an excellent alteration to the classic. A plethora of grilled cheese recipes are out there that use additional ingredients to level up the dish even more. Between tomatoes, pickles, herbs, and even fruits like apples or pears, you can find just about anything on a grilled cheese. So experiment with your sandwich, but don't forget the classic. And don't forget to avoid the mistake that prevents your cheese from melting.