Can You Use Bacon Grease Instead of Butter for Grilled Cheese

Last Updated on May 24th, 2023

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There are four main components to preparing the perfect grilled cheese: Cheese, bread, heat, and fat. The fat component must be of decent quality because the use of the fat when cooking a grilled cheese sandwich is to crisp up the bread and add richness to every bite.

Bacon grease is a great butter alternative that can be used individually or mixed with butter to achieve the perfect crunch. In addition, bacon grease can withstand high amounts of heat, making this fat a great option for toasting the bread of this classic sandwich.

Does Bacon Grease Grilled Cheese Taste Better?

The taste of bacon grease-grilled cheese is quite unlike any other. If you are a fan of the salty and smoky flavors of actual bacon, then you are sure to love using bacon grease to fry your grilled cheese.

But, at the end of the day, it all comes down to flavor preference. In addition, I have found that using bacon grease instead of butter can make the sandwich feel a little more oily or greasy.

But, if a greasy hot sandwich is your kind of thing, then a bacon grease grilled cheese is the recipe substitute for you!

How Much Of it Should You Use?

The key to a great grilled cheese is ensuring that the bread’s outer parts are evenly and thoroughly coated in your choice of fat. Making sure that the bacon grease is at room temperature will allow you to spread it easier on your bread of choice.

Depending on how heavy-handed you are with spreading the grease around, this should be no more than one tablespoon of bacon grease per slice. In addition, it is my personal preference to add some extra grease to the pan.

This allows the bread to fry well and absorb some grease into the bread while it cooks, making every bite that much more satisfying. Overall, I would suggest using about three tablespoons of bacon grease to prepare and cook your grilled cheese.

Is Bacon Grease Healthier Than Butter?

Believe it or not, bacon grease is actually healthier than butter! Bacon grease has higher amounts of “good fats” compared side by side to butter. In addition, bacon grease is fat rendered directly from pork meat, whereas butter is the milk fat separated from heavy cream.

Both fats are derived from different sources. In addition, bacon grease contains less cholesterol per serving than butter.

For How Long Should You Grill Cheese With Bacon Grease?

It is always recommended to cook grilled cheese sandwiches at a lower temperature so that it has time to melt the cheese inside the sandwich while the outside gets all nice and toasted to perfection.

The lower the temperature, the better your sandwich crunch will be. If you grill the sandwich for too short a high temperature, the cheese will not melt, and the outside of the bread will burn.

I suggest allowing your sandwich to cook for at least five to seven minutes on low heat. The indicator of cook time is when your sandwich reaches the golden toast color of your preference.

Tips for a Better Bacon Grease Grilled Cheese

Making bacon grease-grilled cheese is no different than making a normal grilled cheese with butter. The only difference is that you are replacing the butter with the bacon grease. Low and slow is a good grilled cheese cooking motto.

This means low temperature and allowing it to cook for a little while longer so the cheese inside fully melts. Being sure to use enough bacon grease to thoroughly coat the outer sides of your sandwich is a crucial step to achieving the best-grilled cheese sandwich.

Final Thoughts on Using Bacon Grease Instead of Butter for Grilled Cheese

Creating the salty and savory bacon grease-crusted grilled cheese sandwich of your dreams is a lot easier than one would think! Simply spread bacon grease on the outsides of your bread of choice before placing it into the pan to toast!

For added bacony flavor, you can try adding a spoonful of bacon grease into the pan and let it melt down before adding your bacon grease-covered bread slices.

Then, allow the sandwich to toast on low to medium-low heat to ensure that the outside doesn’t burn while the heat from the pan melts the cheese in the middle to gooey perfection!