How To Recreate Five Guys' Crispy, Melty Grilled Cheese At Home

Recreating fast food or casual chain favorites at home is as worthy a cooking pursuit as any other. But with all the proprietary nuances and trade secrets, it can be harder to approximate something like your favorite Five Guys burgers than to whip up a batch of standard patties from scratch. (The latter just has fewer boxes to check for success.) Grilled cheese is the same: Plenty of ways exist to make an everyday or even upgraded grilled cheese, but those in the know will know a Five Guys version when they see it.

Five Guys' grilled cheese's chief unique attribute is probably its bread. The restaurant doesn't use the standard slices most folks picture when imagining common versions of the toasty, gooey sandwich. Instead, it features an inverted sesame seed bun, according to the brand website. This presumably helps Five Guys outposts streamline inventory, since buns are also the base for the chain's BLTs, which would typically use slices, too. Not only is this a resourceful way to use up any leftover buns in your kitchen, but it's also crucial for making grilled cheeses like the ones you'd find at Five Guys. That alone, plus any yellow cheese and your favorite standard grilled cheese cooking method, will have your sandwich looking like the fast food quintet's in no time. Still, there are other careful considerations to make it taste like the real thing, too.

Another virtually invisible element that's also clutch in capturing the true essence of a Five Guys grilled cheese: the fat. Cooks eschew butter and instead slather the traditionally interior sides of the sesame seed buns with mayo for what the company asserts is superior flavor. These then begin to sizzle on a flattop grill right before the cheese squares are added to what would otherwise be the buns' exterior. If your kitchen isn't equipped with a similar griddle, you can, of course, proceed in a pan over medium-low heat. That relatively gentle warming gives the cheese time to melt properly.

The chain's "American-style" cheese is actually just a few slices of the incredibly easily sourced Kraft, according to a Five Guys nutrition and allergen FAQ. Without further customization, Five Guys grilled cheese is sliced down the center and wrapped in shiny silver paper. At home, you can probably skip that last step, but you can squeeze in any additional toppings you wish. If you'd rather make it closer to what you'll actually find at Five Guys, you'll want to opt for things like tomatoes, jalapeños, and mushrooms, which go terrifically with grilled cheese in any case.