This Oregon-Famous Grilled Cheese Has Been Ordered More Than 78K Times—We Tried It to See What the Hype Was About
A grilled cheese was one of my favorite quick meals growing up and my passion for the elite sandwich has stayed steady all of these years. As an adult, I make myself a grilled cheese at least once a week. There's something about the combination of buttery toasted bread and gooey melted cheese that always hits the spot.
Recently, I had the pleasure of touring the Tillamook Creamery, the flagship for the iconic dairy brand (you might have seen their cheese or ice cream at the supermarket). And because you can't tour a creamery without eating, we made a stop at the Tillamook food hall.
As I scanned the menu, one of the items immediately jumped out at me: The Tillamook Grilled Cheese. Even without hearing the lore about this sandwich (more about that in a moment), I knew it would be my order. And I'm far from alone. Last year, the sandwich was ordered a total of 78,000 times, if you count the sandwiches ordered at the creamery food hall and the Tillamook location at the Portland airport.
I thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich at the food hall and when I got back home to New York I knew I had to try and recreate this melty, gooey, cheesy perfection in my kitchen. I made a few calls, got some insider intel and got to work. Here's what you need to know to make this next-level sandwich at home.
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What Is The Tillamook Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
To make sure I got everything just right, I set up an interview with Josh Archibald, Tillamook’s Executive Chef of Culinary Development. “The Tillamook Grilled Cheese was part of a larger project called Triple C, or Culinary Cult Classics,” Archibald told me. “The work took over 2 years and included The Tillamook Cheeseburger, Fried Cheese Curds, Tillamook Mac and Cheese and The Tillamook Grilled Cheese Sandwich.”
Archibald said that the aim of the project was to create “gold standard” recipes, which meant that he and his team didn't have to look at “costs, sourcing, scaling” or “implementation of processes in operations.” What does that mean? It means they were free to make the best, most delicious grilled cheese sandwich they could and not worry about the details that corporate chefs typically have to deal with.
The result? One of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had. The sourdough adds a great flavor and tons of crunch. The whipped butter-mayo mixture that's spread on the bread gives the sandwich a “savory crouton-esque crumb,” as Archibald described it.
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What Do You Need to Make The Tillamook Grilled Cheese?
As I suspected, Archibald was able to provide very precise details about the sandwich. Each Tillamook grilled cheese has 2 slices of ¾-inch-thick sourdough, 11/2 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, 11/2 ounces of medium white cheddar cheese, Kewpie mayonnaise, whipped butter and a seasoning blend of salt, pepper, paprika, thyme and garlic powder.
And then there’s the cheese. “While I love our sharp cheddar, the sandwich with only sharp cheddar had an aggressively sharp flavor,” Archibald said. “It was great for some of our consumers but too adventurous for a young visitor or any consumer who was new to the Tillamook flavor.”
By using 2 slices of sharp yellow cheddar and 2 slices of medium white cheddar, Archibald and his team were able to “get the best of both worlds.” The cheese combo created a grilled cheese with “big flavor” and superior “meltability and stretch.” The lower moisture content of sharp cheddar tends to cause the cheese to separate as it cools. The addition of medium cheddar helps ensure the sandwich still has the cheese pull we're all looking for.
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How to Make The Tillamook Grilled Cheese Sandwich
This grilled cheese is a little more involved than your typical cheese + bread situation but the effort is well worth it. Here's how to do it.
Start with the spread. The spread really brings the whole sandwich together, so we'll start there. Whip one stick of room-temperature unsalted butter in a bowl until it's fluffy and lightened in color. Mix in some Kewpie mayo (add some, give it a taste, then add more if you'd like), then season to taste with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and thyme. Mix until well combined and set aside. If you're just making one sandwich this is going to be way too much spread. If that's the case, cut the spread in half (or less) or stash leftovers in the fridge to use for future grilled cheeses. The butter mixture would also be great tossed with roasted or steamed veggies.
Build the sandwich. Next, heat a cast-iron skillet or other large skillet over medium. Spread some of the butter mixture on one side of each slice of your sourdough (reminder: you're going for 3/4-inch thick slices of bread). Once the skillet is heated up, place the bread, butter-side-down in the skillet. Divide 11/2 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese and 11/2 ounces of medium white cheddar cheese among the bread and let the heat start the melting process before closing the sandwich.
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Brown it up. Once the cheese starts to melt, carefully close the sandwich up and continue to cook the sandwich, turning occasionally. The goal is to get a nice even browning on both sides. Straight talk: Cooking the sandwich over medium heat will seem like it's taking forever for the cheese to melt, but this low and slow approach will reward you with golden brown bread and perfectly melted cheese.
Let it rest. Once the bread is perfectly golden brown and the cheese is thoroughly melted, transfer the sandwich to a cutting board to cool for a second before cutting it in half. Serve solo or pair it with a bowl of tomato soup and/or a green salad.
Make it your own. The original recipe is great, but Archibald says that they sometimes include seasonal grilled cheese options. One of his favorites is a version that incorporates Kelly's Jelly, another Oregon-based brand. Kelly's makes sweet and sweet-and-savory jams, including habanero, strawberry habanero, and marionberry habanero. These jams add a great kick of sweet heat to the sandwich, and this fun twist a reminder to look in your fridge and pantry to see how you might want to jazz up your grilled cheese.
“I still eat [the grilled cheese sandwich] at least two times a week, and I am so proud of how we got there,” Archibald says. “To me, it truly is a perfect reflection of how we want consumers to experience our product. It's familiar but has a few twists.”
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