Tillamook’s Trick for Making Perfect Grilled Cheese Every Time

Bread. Cheese. Heat. While there’s virtually no way to muck up a grilled cheese sandwich, there are a few ways to elevate it: a dollop of pasta sauce, for example, or some spicy gochujang. And just this week, Tillamook announced Butternaise, a limited-time-only combo of Tillamook butter and Kewpie mayonnaise “made specifically to create perfectly crusted grilled cheese sandwiches.” Better break out the frying pan. 

On November 6, only on its website, Tillamook started selling eight-ounce tubs of Butternaise in a box with two packages of sliced cheese and a branded spreader for $15. It sold out in two minutes, but it’s easy to make your own at home; Tillamook has even supplied the recipe to do so. But what do butter and mayo each contribute to a grilled cheese, and what’s the benefit of combining them?

Adding mayonnaise to the exterior of the bread is a tried-and-true trick for rich and flavorful grilled cheese, one endorsed by pretty much every Southern cook. Mayo has a higher smoke point than butter, so it can sizzle away without burning as the cheese takes its time to melt.

Butter imparts that savory, irresistible flavor to the bread, so it’s worth including, too. Butternaise is a one-to-one ratio of mayo to butter, a combination that creates a “delicious twist on this iconic comfort food,” according to Tillamook Executive Chef of Culinary Development Josh Archibald.

“During development we tested different ratios extensively, until we got it perfect,” Archibald says. “We found that when the ratio skewed too high with mayonnaise, the bread got a bit heavy and had an almost greasy feel to it. When we went higher on the butter ratio, we lacked the unctuous crispness we were looking for from the mayo.”

Archibald has long sung the praises of the butter-and-mayo combo, and it’s cited as the secret to his “perfect” grilled cheese. (Martha Stewart is also a fan of the combination, so you know it’s good.) Butternaise also includes a dash of seasoning blend—Tillamook recommends Spiceology Fries Seasoning—in order to bump up those savory flavors just a bit more.

You can whip up a batch of Butternaise with whatever mayo you’ve got on hand, but Tillamook partnered with Kewpie for both its flavor profile and the company’s commitment to sustainability efforts. “The yolk-only and umami-packed qualities set it apart from other mayonnaise,” Archibald explains. “The richness and slight sweetness complement butter beautifully.”

Finally, one bit of advice from a chef who makes a living in cheese: Ditch the rippin’ hot pan and go with the low-and-slow method when making a grilled cheese sandwich. 

“Almost every grilled cheese fail I see is because it started in a pan that was too hot,” reveals Archibald. “Flip and turn often until you get cheese melted, then slowly increase heat until you get the even, golden brown toasting you are after!”