Make Grilled Cheese Great Again, or Basic Grilled Cheese Sandwich

There are dozens of Instructables on making variations on a grilled cheese sandwich. Some include meat; some use 11 secret herbs and spices. What I did not see was a tutorial on making just a basic grilled cheese. You know, bread, butter, Velveeta, and heat. Since I made some tomato soup I liked, I thought I would make a grilled cheese to go with it. Here, then, are my instructions on a basic grilled cheese sandwich.

For equipment, you will need:

1. A fry pan or griddle pan. I'll use the Henckels cast iron I got from Amazon.
2. A knife to spread the butter.
3. A spatula, because you will be flipping the sandwich at some point.
4. Because someone will holler at me if I don't include this, you will also need a heat source, like a stove top.

For ingredients, you will need:

1. Two slices of bread. I'm using a hearty white bread I got for half price at the local big-box Kroger.
2. Velveeta cheese slices. You could use American cheese, but I think the Velveeta is meltier.
3. Butter (do NOT use margarine). I spend a lot on my better because it is much, MUCH better than the store brand.

In order to have the butter softened and the cheese less cold for melting, take them out of the fridge to get to room temperature before proceeding.

Prepare your ingredients:

1. Butter one side of each slice of bread.
2. Sandwich 3 slices of Velveeta between the non-buttered sides of the bread.

The reason I am using 3 slices is I have SOUSes (slices of unusual size), so I need the extra cheese to cover the entire bread. If you are using basic sandwich bread, you can probably go with just 2 slices of cheese.

Heat your pan on the heat source per the pan's instructions. If you are using a stainless steel skillet, you can follow these instructions for preparing your pan.

Put your sandwich in/on the skillet/griddle. Occasionally lift the edge with the spatula to see how toasted it is. When it reaches your desired level of doneness, flip it over.

You want this side to toast while at the same time giving the cheese enough heat to become melty. It may take you a few times to get the timing down for your particular equipment, so don't be discouraged if the first few aren't perfect.

It is traditional to serve a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. I even have a recipe to make grilled cheese croutons to put into soup! I'll post that later. For now, enjoy the gooey goodness.