On American Cheese

2026-02-15

On a lighter subject.

I remember as a kid that my dad really liked cheese sandwiches, my mom does too dont get me wrong, but my dad is a meat and potatoes (and cheese) kind of guy and we had a lot of cheese sandwiches growing up. And he also had mid level cheese at the house, sometimes fancy even. Aged cheddar, smoked gouda, swiss, etc. And so that is mostly what I grew up eating and liking. I also remember eating tacos with my mom and she would always buy a block of cheddar and shred it freshly for the tacos, we never had pre-shredded cheese.

And eventually I came into contact with American cheese, I dont remember when, but it is not as good as real cheese. It is soft and kind of like plastic. It doesn’t taste like much. And so when I was a young adult I was a cheese snob, when ever I threw BBQs with burgers I would try to buy real cheddar. We would never have American cheese in the house if I could help it, I would just have some other types.

But I have made a small u-turn on American cheese, mostly because of these two things:

  1. Kenji Alt Lopez, a chef who I follow recommends American cheese for some things: https://www.seriouseats.com/whats-really-in-american-cheese

  2. Korean Ramen with cheese on top

So this chef I follow knows that American cheese is not real cheese, but because it is not real cheese it melts and coats in a way that real cheese never could. And I didn’t think about this before, putting real cheddar on a burger and then trying to melt it is kind of hard. The cheese holds it shape and is resistent, it doesn’t melt into the meat. No so with American cheese, it melt so quickly, almost too quickly, and fuses itself to the meat instantly adding flavor that wont slide off. I think the same principle applies to grilled cheese, you can make a much softer grilled cheese with that American cheese goop than you can with a harder less plastic-y cheese.

And then Sneha introduced me to Korean ramen, spicy korean ramen, that is garnished with American cheese. It adds a creaminess to the ramen and also takes away some of the heat. We also sometimes add a bit of milk.

So I have amended my outlook on American cheese. It is good for a very few select things, mostly burgers and ramen. I still think grilled cheese is better with real cheese but you just gotta be more patient. Most things are better with real cheese, but American has it place, a very small niche place.

-Gary