Martha Stewart's Butter Trick For The Ultimate Melty Grilled Cheese

Grilled cheese may be the most popular sandwich in the U.S., and a quintessential comfort food for many, but it's not without its controversies, including what type of cheese and bread to use, and the whole butter vs. mayo debate as to which makes a better grilled cheese sandwich. It's not surprising that Martha Stewart, domestic doyenne extraordinaire, would have an opinion on the topic as well. And it seems she comes out on team mayo, at least for coating the exterior of the bread with. As for the butter, Martha Stewart saves that for inside the sandwich, to get a good melt going on in her grilled cheese.

While she favors mayo for the outside of the sandwich to get a crispy and golden crust on her bread (although she does sometimes mix butter with mayo for the coating), Martha Stewart smears the inside of the bread with a little bit of butter. Not only does the butter add, well, extra buttery flavor that you just wouldn't get from using mayo alone, it also softens the inside of the sandwich, and lends a smoothness to the melted cheese for the ultimate in melty, gooey, cheesy goodness, and the perfect textural contrast with the crunchy exterior.

To pull off Martha Stewart's butter trick, you'll want to use softened butter on the inside of your bread, or risk tearing the bread with fridge-cold butter, which does mean a bit of planning ahead to get the butter soft enough. Unless you regularly keep some butter on the counter, plan to take the butter out of the fridge a few hours beforehand, although you can soften it in the microwave as long as you don't leave it too long and end up with fully melted butter. You also don't want to use too much butter, just a little bit is enough for the flavor and texture benefits without the inside of your grilled cheese sandwich getting too greasy.

Nor is using butter the only trick that Martha Stewart has for the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. She also uses mustard or fruit preserves as part of her grown-up grilled cheese, along with a choice of fillings such as bacon, apple, red onion, pickles, and even canned pumpkin for a Martha Stewart-worthy grilled cheese.