Intensify The Umami In Your Grilled Cheese With One Pantry Staple

There's really no wrong way to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Regardless of the bread, cheese, and any other accouterment you choose, it's going to be a melty, gooey good time. This is especially true if you get extra creative by selecting any one of the many additions to elevate grilled cheese. Be it on gluten-free bread with dairy-free cheese or teeming with a stack of smokehouse cheddar slices atop a thick slice of sourdough, one of the ideal ways to amp up your grilled cheese sandwich is with a simple dash of one unexpected ingredient: Worcestershire sauce. The key to enhancing the umami flavor in your grilled cheese sandwiches is introducing this element of tangy, savory goodness to the mix and tasting the rich and delicious difference.

One of many brilliant ways to use Worcestershire sauce as an upgrade to your meals is by adding it to your next grilled cheese sandwich. This is because the unique combination of flavors present in the sauce all add up to a pleasant punch of umami taste. Between the sour notes of tamarind and vinegar to the saltiness of the soy sauce and anchovies to the sweetness of molasses and sugar, all of the ingredients in Worcestershire sauce come together to form a delightful complement to the earthy elements in a grilled cheese. This goes especially well with a nice sharp cheddar and sourdough bread but can be translated to myriad other grilled cheese recipes.

You can take things up a notch for starters by trying out the ultimate grilled cheese recipe with an addition of Worcestershire sauce and get ready to make your tastebuds sing. If you'd prefer a more custom approach to your grilled cheese sandwich preparation, then consider all the umami-rich flavors present in Worcestershire sauce that will inform your cheese and bread selection. Once you've picked from the best cheeses for your grilled cheese sandwich, grabbed a couple of slices of your favorite bread, and determined the best means of frying everything up, it's time to have some fun. There are several unique ways to incorporate Worcestershire sauce with your grilled cheese depending on how strong of an umami presence you desire.

For one, mixing a spoonful into your mayonnaise or butter for frying will infuse the flavor into your outer crust. If you'd rather drizzle a few drops onto the cheese before grilling, this is also a great way to ensure the umami flavors will permeate every gooey bite. You can even take things a step further by mixing up a batch of Caesar cocktails -– booze optional –- and using the tomato-based drink complete with fish flavor and a hearty dose of Worcestershire sauce as a side dip for your grilled cheese sandwich. Any way you do it, you'll find that Worcestershire sauce was the missing ingredient your grilled cheese needed all along.