Want a warm, gooey cheese toastie, but don’t have a toastie maker? Not a problem. We’ll walk you through how to make cheese toasties American style so that you don’t miss out on that toastie texture or flavor.
We made this cheese toastie recipe for one personal sandwich serving and didn’t use a panini press. If you want to make this cheese toastie for more than one person, be sure to double or triple the recipe accordingly.
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Difficulty Level: easy
Ingredients
- 2 slices white bread
- 2 ounces of cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon mayo
- One to two slices of ham per sandwich
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
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Soften your butter until it is spreadable. Combine the mayo and butter in a dish.
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Spread the butter and mayo mixture onto each slice of bread.
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Heat up a pan on medium heat. Melt a little butter or neutral oil.
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Place one slice of bread down in your warm pan. Make sure the side with the butter and mayo mixture is on top of the hot pan so it browns.
Place your cheddar cheese and ham onto the bread while it’s frying. Leave it a minute or so until the cheese has melted and the bread has turned a lovely golden brown.
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Once your cheese looks melted, place the other slice of bread on top with the mayo and butter side facing out. Flip it over with a spatula to ensure both sides of the sandwich brown evenly.
- Once you’re done cooking your cheese toastie and the bread looks brown on both sides, you can remove it from the heat. Let your toastie sandwich cool for about 2-3 minutes and then serve. Be patient even though the melted cheese smells tempting. You’ll still be able to serve the sandwich warm, but this will prevent you from burning your mouth, which can completely ruin a cheese toastie.
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Why Is It Called a Cheese Toastie?
In America, we call a cheese toastie a “grilled cheese,” but in the U.K., they are more commonly referred to as a “cheese toastie.” This is a super popular market or street food that is incredibly crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside. One of our student contributors from the U.K. provided this recipe inspiration so that we could share the subtle differences between the two sandwiches and also share our foolproof cheese toastie recipe without a toastie maker.
A grilled cheese is a sandwich that usually only includes bread, butter, and cheese. It’s also frequently made with American cheese or a mixture of various cheeses in the United States. However, a cheese toastie is much more rich and delicious than just a layer of cheese between bread. In fact, most cheese toasties are gooey and oozing cheese before you take a bite.
Traditionally, a cheese toastie uses a very fine kind of cheddar cheese, so that’s what we recommend for the authentic taste. It can also come with a layer of ham or meat, so we also recommend throwing that on your cheese toastie when crisping it up on the stove.
Cheese Toasties Without a Toastie Maker
The cheese toastie is usually made with a toastie maker, which presses the two pieces of bread together, browning the bread and melting the cheese. Similarly, in the United States, we use a panini press to achieve this same result.
However, many people do not have a panini press at home and everyone should get to enjoy this savory market food from the comfort of their own home. As a result, we fried up our cheese toastie “American style,” which means frying and flipping the sandwich in a frying pan. While this resembles making grilled cheese, you can certainly end up with a delicious cheese toastie that will transport you to the U.K.
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