17 Ways Celebrity Chefs Load Grilled Cheese With Flavor

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When it comes to making the ideal grilled cheese sandwich, everyone has their preferences. You can take the traditional route with buttered classic white bread and American cheese, opt for premium ingredients, or infuse it with endless flavors. However, if you choose the latter route, the sandwich's versatility and endless possibilities can lead to decision paralysis if you don't know where to start. With this in mind, checking in with a few celebrity chefs and their go-to grilled cheese upgrades is a surefire way to achieve some of the tastiest versions around. They are the pros, after all.

With grilled cheese sandwich glory in mind, we spoke with a collection of celebrity chefs at the New York Wine & Food Fest about how to load up this humble comfort-food sandwich with flavor. No surprises here, but they had quite a few tips and tricks to share on the matter. Commit them to memory and explore a few the next time grilled cheese is on the menu, and you will be well on your way to making a version of the sandwich that even the best chefs would be more than willing to give their stamp of approval.

When asked about grilled cheese sandwiches, Danny Grant, a chef and managing partner at Maple & Ash, said, "Oh boy. You go one or two routes: really sh***y white bread or beautiful sourdough; I'm good with either one. But the most important thing is [to] slowly caramelize your grilled cheese so that the bread is toasting evenly on the outside while melting the cheese on the inside." The slower process ensures you get the best of both worlds, and instead of one happening before the other, they come together in expert fashion. Since that's what we all strive for, rushing won't serve you well in the long run.

He also told us that adding garlic to grilled cheese is a good touch. It infuses it with lots of umami flavor that won't go unnoticed. Yes, it takes it away from the simplest rendition of the recipe, but garlic and cheese are a match made in heaven, so no arguments here.

A surefire way to bulk up a bland grilled cheese is with a premium protein. According to Geoffrey Zakarian, author of the new cookbook "Original Food: Recapturing the Joy of Eating," Jambon de Bayonne (or Bayonne ham) is more than up to the task. These uniquely salted, cured hams only come from the Adour Basin in Southwest France.  Like Italian prosciutto or Spain's Jamón, Bayonne ham is sliced very thin and known for its subtle flavor with hints of hazelnut and a luxurious, buttery texture.

As jambon de Bayonne isn't widely available, you'll likely have to order it online. However, if you are lucky enough to live near a specialty gourmet market, you may be able to acquire it there as well. Either way, if you like a salty, gooey grilled cheese with lots of bite, it won't let you down.

Chef JJ Johnson, author and renowned man behind FIELDTRIP and other restaurants in New York City, knows a thing or two about bringing people together with food. When asked, Johnson told us to start by cooking the dish in a basic pan with a small amount of oil. Once the bread turns golden brown, he begins to baste it with butter (like a steak) to further enhance flavor and texture. "When you flip it, treat it like steak, throw butter in the pan, and then baste it over top of the grilled cheese," Johnson explained. Umm, okay, our minds are blown. Sure, it's an extra step, but buttery grilled cheeses are where it's at. Opting to go this route is one way to ensure you get all the buttery flavor you could want infused into the bread.

Whether we are talking about classic grilled cheese made with bread or a regional variation made with a tortilla, Chef Aarón Sánchez offered up some mouth-watering recommendations. He shared, "What I do is I put butter on it, soft melted butter, and then I put cotija cheese on the outside of the bread." This creates a crispy, salty, crusty coating that you won't get by simply layering cheese inside of the carb-laden exterior.

Sánchez also likes using Oaxacan cheese (which also has a salty flavor), and sometimes he adds kimchi inside a grilled cheese. For the bread, he goes for thick Texas toast or a corn tortilla (though that's more of a late-night snack pick for him). Either way, the mix of flavorful cheeses, vinegary kimchi, and premium bread makes a well-rounded sandwich that sounds anything but boring.

When making grilled cheese sandwiches, most reach for butter, or maybe even mayonnaise, to achieve the ideal golden-brown, crispy exterior. However, chef Ham El-Waylly takes a different route. He sears the sandwich in clarified butter until both sides are extra crispy. While this may sound fancy at first, making clarified butter isn't all that complicated. Although it takes extra time, you can easily clarify butter by heating it until the extra water evaporates and the milk solids settle to the bottom of the pan. Then, strain it off and you're left with the liquid gold your grilled cheese craves.

In addition to clarified butter for grilled cheese, El-Waylly said, "I like a sourdough filled with Jarlsberg and Munster because those two cheeses stretch like no other." We all know that glorious cheese pull is nothing to scoff at, but paired with a super crispy exterior and the premium taste of clarified butter, you've got a recipe for success.

As chef Andrew Zimmern told us, "Grilled cheese is something that no one should f*** around with at all. Supermarket white bread, American cheese, a little mayonnaise on the exterior of each side so you get a really nice crust, right?" However, he also revealed a couple of unique upgrades that even a purist like himself can get behind. The first of which is dunking them in Worcestershire sauce, a condiment he loves. Salty and layered with nuanced flavors, it gives even the simplest recipe an instant upgrade, and all you need is a dish for dunking.

Zimmern also recommended a creative twist: grilled cheese with cheddar and cinnamon raisin bread. While a bit out of the ordinary, the sharp cheese flavor paired with the sweetness of raisins and warming cinnamon will, as he put it, "f***ing blow your mind." Enough said.

Chef Sarah Raffetto of Petite Pasta Joint answered the age-old question of whether to use butter or mayo on grilled cheese. She said that when she isn't concerned about calories, she uses mayo on both the inside and outside of the bread. That goes for any kind of grilled sandwich, too, BLT or whatever.

In addition to an abundance of mayo, Rafetto also loves a mix of cheeses, like American and a good cheddar for a taste of both high and low flavors: "You want something trashy and really gooey, but then also another layer of refinement and pungency." American cheese and cheddar provide that in spades. They scream down-home comfort without straying too far from the ordinary. All things considered, her upgrades sound simple at first, but give them a taste, and you'll see exactly why she stands behind them.

Another celebrity chef who chooses mayo instead of butter is Pedro Moreira of Empanada Papa NYC. However, he also infuses the mayo with even more flavor by adding a bit of chili crunch. If you like spicy umami goodness, it fits the bill. Just make sure you opt for a quality chili crunch, or you'll be doing yourself a disservice — some are much tastier than others, after all.

After the chili crunch mayo is sorted, Moreira also reaches for nice sourdough bread, cheddar, and provolone cheese to bring the sandwich together. Together, the quality ingredients create a gooey, decadent sandwich with a bit of heat and added texture that is sure to turn heads. Thankfully, none of his enhancements are tricky to pull off, either, so you don't have to be an experienced chef to reap the benefits.

Guinness World Records has a record for the most expensive sandwich in the world, and it happens to be a take on the humble grilled cheese paired with tomato soup. We caught up with the man behind the award, Joe Calderone of Serendipity 3, to get all the details of his creation.

Calderone revealed that the legendary sandwich uses a French Pullman loaf made with Dom Pérignon champagne instead of water. "The cheese is hacha caballo Puerto Rico [caciocavallo] from Italy, from the Podolica cattle, which are only like 25,000, so it's a rare, incredible cheese," he explained. It's also made with white truffle-infused grass-fed butter and 23-carat edible gold for finishing flair. "And instead of tomato soup, I used a San Marzano tomato and South African lobster tail to dip that in," said Calderone. He says the result is a grilled cheese that's essentially on steroids, in the best way possible.

The culinary director at Mike's Amazing Foods, Eleazar Fuerte, focuses on flavorful cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches. For him, a mix of mozzarella and pepper jack is the way to go. Mozzarella may not have the boldest taste, but pairing it with something potent like pepper jack easily gives you the kick you want. He also noted, "None of that American cheese because that has no actual flavor."

Fuerte also told us that using mayo instead of butter for toasting is seriously underrated. After hearing so many celebrity chefs sing mayo's praises for grilled cheese, it's sounding more and more like the way to go. Fuerte prefers it because it adds slight sour and citrus notes while also helping you achieve the nice golden crust we all want to attain on the outside of the bread.

When asked about the classic sandwich, Jackie Carnesi, executive chef at Bar Susanne, quickly responded, "Oh, I love grilled cheese." She always uses sourdough, never white bread. We like the sound of that, too. After all, you want the base of the sandwich to boast plenty of flavor all by itself, and white bread can't deliver in that regard.

Chef Carnesi also recommended adding a bit of cilantro: "There's a spot in Austin called Golden Creek. They do a grilled cheese and put cilantro on it. It's my favorite herb by far. And a little cilantro on a grilled cheese goes a long way." Yes, please! Just make sure you don't try to substitute dried cilantro for the fresh stuff. It won't provide the same robust flavor, not even close. There's something about the bright green contrasting color of fresh cilantro that also catches the eye.

Catherine Willhoit, co-owner of The Hive, which has two locations in New Jersey, also offered up some banger flavor additions for grilled cheese sandwiches. For starters, she told us, "I always use mayo. I never use butter on the bread." The tiny bit of tang it provides is more her speed. She also likes to use a mix of different cheeses, but even so, a white American slice is still something she craves, despite some people thinking it's a more boring pick.

Willhoit also said the sandwich is a staple in her home, so she has plenty of experience perfecting it. As she said, "I have two sons. And when I don't know what to cook, I will make them a grilled cheese. And they're pretty basic." However, when making the dish for her husband or herself, she loves to layer jerky, ham, or caramelized onions (which are easy to make by steaming) to add plenty of flavor and texture.

This next celebrity chef tip will throw some of you for a loop, but hey, if the pros stand by it, who are we to argue? Giorgio Rapicavol, owner of Eating House and Luca Osteria, starts his grilled cheese off in the microwave. Yup, you read that right. Despite our natural urge to question the method, he said it helps melt the cheese a bit before transferring the sandwich to a pan for a quick sear on both sides. According to him, this creates an extra-crispy exterior and fluffy, soft bread inside, with gooey melted cheese.

As for the ingredients, Rapicavol sticks to the basics: bread, butter, and American cheese. In fact, he even said, "Don't do anything else." While many of the other chefs we talked to would disagree, there's something to be said for a classic recipe, especially when the cooking method provides so much yummy textural variation.

When we asked Romina Peixoto of Sweet Graffiti, a confectionery and pastry bakery in Manhattan, NYC, if she has a secret recipe for grilled cheese, she told us, "Gruyère cheese and Parmesan together are the best." Salty and far from bland, the combo won't let you down. She also said sourdough bread is the key, so no boring white bread for her.

Interestingly, though, chef Peixoto doesn't feel the need to rely on fancy cooking methods for her grilled cheese sandwiches, either. Instead, she revealed, "I just have the Grill Master thing, and it works perfectly." Not only is this incredibly easy, but it eliminates a lot of room for error, so just about anyone can achieve ideal results every single time. It may seem like cheating, but it's true. It's nice to have a pro confirm it, too.

For many cooks, using a mix of cheeses in a grilled cheese is the best path, and Sabrina Persaud of Flutter Butter Bakery concurs. She likes layering her sandwich with pepper jack, mozzarella, and provolone. They add plenty of flavor, especially when combined, and, of course, they're super melty.

For the ultimate indulgence, chef Persaud also recommends buttering both sides of the bread with salted butter. She admits that this may sound like a heart attack, but she doesn't care; she loves it nonetheless. Plus, we're talking grilled cheese with plenty of flavor, so skimping on the butter shouldn't even be a consideration. As the saying goes, butter makes everything better. Salted butter in particular truly delivers in this realm. It also enhances the cheeses' inherent saltiness, letting all the elements come together as they should, with dialed-up flavor in every bite.

For Tom Gardner of Watch Hill Oysters, loading grilled cheese with either caramelized onions or sliced apples is the way to go when he wants extra flavor. Caramelized onions add umami goodness and a crunchy texture that perfectly complements gooey cheese.

If a mix of sweet, tart, and tangy is up your alley, sliced apples make another show-stopping addition to grilled cheese. Gardner likes to fry the sandwich open-faced. Then, when he lays the cheese down, he also places extra-thin apple slices on top so they start to cook while the cheese melts. As it happens, the fruit's sweet juices meld with the other ingredients and pair exceptionally well with the cheese. The apple slices also add another layer of texture, so it's a win-win — just pick your apple variety based on how sweet you like it.

The final celebrity chef we caught up with at the New York Wine & Food Fest was Big Chris Farella, co-founder of Brothers Smokehouse, and he has two ways to make a crowd-pleasing grilled cheese. First, he told us he uses straight-up American cheese when he's cooking the sandwich for his son, so nothing fancy. However, "If it's for me, I'm on some artisan bread, like some sourdough," said Farella. Then he loads it up with a little Gruyère, Colby Jack, and cheddar cheese. With that combination, you really can't go wrong.

As you can see, the people you are cooking grilled cheese for should heavily influence how you make it. Focusing on premium cheese and top-quality bread will go a long way when a more discerning palate is enjoying it.