Take Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Up A Notch With This Meaty Addition

Grilled cheese can be simple with just some white bread and American cheese, or it can get semi-advanced with some bright kimchi flavor to take it to the next level. There are a lot of opinions on how to cover the bread, like whether you should just spread the exterior with butter or use mayonnaise on your grilled cheese for the ultimate crispy bite. Some like a grilled cheese with a little sliced ham or smoked turkey on the interior, but for an amazing meaty grilled cheese you may have never thought of, you can take your melty cheese sandwich up a notch with some sliced Spam.

Sure, sure, Spam is the stuff of military rations, right? Do we really want this stuff in our cupboard? Well, yes. Spam is salty and delicious and perfect on a grilled cheese. Spam is a canned mixture of ground pork and ham mixed with salt, potato starch, sugar, water, and sodium nitrate (to keep it shelf stable) that may look a little unappetizing right out of the can, but when heated and mixed with cheese, it's undeniably good. So, what do you need to know to make a grilled Spam and cheese?

First of all, there's a mistake you're probably making when slicing your Spam — don't go too thick or too thin. You want the Spam flavor to complement the melted cheese without overpowering it. According to the Spam website, you should cut a 12-ounce can of Spam into eight slices and use two slices of Spam, plus two slices of cheese per sandwich for the best ratio. You'll need to cook the Spam slices for about two-and-a-half minutes on each side before covering it with bread and topping with cheese. And you can keep oil away from the pan when cooking Spam, there's plenty of fat in it to ensure that it doesn't stick to the pan.

Although Spam is perfectly edible right out of the can, a few minutes in the frying pan will get it nice and hot and help melt the cheese. Once the Spam is hot, you can add your cheese slices to the bread, then add the Spam to the middle of the sandwich. From here, just fry it as you normally would. Butter or mayo on the bread will work great. If you want a little extra flavor, you can add some spicy mustard, sliced tomatoes, or sweet onions to the mix. A little bit of melted cheese, plus Spam, mustard, tomato, and onions will give you a perfect mix of umami, salt, and aromatic flavors to make you want to keep Spam in the cupboard to quell those cravings whenever they may arise.