Ree Drummond's 2-Ingredient Special Sauce For Grilled Cheese

If there is someone we are trusting to sauce up our grilled cheese with some extra special ingredients, it's Ree Drummond. The longtime host of "The Pioneer Woman" on Food Network has been slinging her signature mix of hearty country-inspired recipes and easy home cooking for over a decade, so if anyone knows her way around the quick and cheesy American classic, it's her. A grilled cheese is one of those sandwiches that inspires a lot of debate and questions for how simple it is. There are a lot of great additions for upgrading grilled cheeses, but how much can you add before it isn't a grilled cheese anymore? Some people prefer the "simpler is better" route, while others will swear by loading them up. Thankfully Drummond has a grilled cheese booster that can satisfy whichever side you fall on.

Drummond revealed her grilled cheese special sauce in the video for her best-ever grilled cheese. In it, she uses a simple combo that's equal parts mayo and Dijon mustard with the rest of her ingredients. As Drummond puts it, this isn't meant to be an overwhelming addition that outshines the cheese, but a small addition that brings a little tang, extra fat, and moisture to take everything to the next level. As delicious as a classic grilled cheese is, the common cheeses used are sometimes on the mild side, and the Dijon mayo mix brings an extra flavor and nice kick of acid to wake everything up.

There are just a few notes you need to use Drummond's grilled cheese sauce to maximum effect. She coats the inside of both sides of bread with a thin layer of the sauce, about a tablespoon per slice. This makes sure you're getting a good flavor distribution throughout the grilled cheese, but the thin coat won't make anything too messy or gloopy. The sauce goes on the inside before cooking so everything can melt together for that perfectly gooey, integrated grilled cheese finish.

As far as cheese goes, Drummond pairs her sauce with a mixture of provolone and sharp cheddar for a nice mix of melty texture and more pungent flavor. But this sauce's punchy, rich taste will work with just about any recipe you already use and any cheese that's great for grilled cheese. Strong melters like mozzarella and American cheese will really benefit from the extra notes the salty mixture has, but even more flavorful varieties like gouda and fontina will be balanced out by the sharp, slightly spicy Dijon mixture. In her recipe, Drummond adds some green chiles, which adds a nice vegetal touch, but the fat in the sauce would work great with meaty additions like crumbled bacon or the sweetness of some chopped ham, too. But this sauce really shines with just cheese, where it will add almost no extra work, but make your grilled cheese taste like it did anyway.