National Grilled Cheese Day

National Grilled Cheese Day History

National Grilled Cheese Day celebrates the popular hot sandwich. A grilled cheese sandwich consists of toasted bread with melted cheese inside. It is a simple recipe that has been enjoyed since the Ancient Roman civilization. It is believed that they were one of the first to combine heated bread and cheese as a sandwich. Grilled cheese became popular in the U.S in the 1920s when bread and cheese became more affordable. Its popularity continued as more people discovered the zesty flavor of a grilled cheese. A common pairing with the sandwich is creamy tomato soup.

National Grilled Cheese Day seems to have been created in 2012 as a promotion for the toasted sandwich. It is observed annually on April 12th.

Top 10 Facts for National Grilled Cheese Day in 2026

• The Guinness World Record for the most expensive commercially available sandwich is held by the Quintessential Grilled Cheese at Serendipity 3 in New York, which is priced at $214 and features two slices of French Pullman champagne bread made with Dom Pérignon and 23-karat edible gold flakes, filled with the rare Caciocavallo Podolico cheese.
• During the Great Depression, the sandwich was a staple known as a Cheese Dream, often served open-faced as an affordable and filling meal during difficult economic times.
• In 2004, a partially eaten grilled cheese sandwich that appeared to bear the image of the Virgin Mary was sold on eBay for $28,000 to an online casino.
• The modern popularity of the dish is largely credited to the 1920s confluence of two major inventions: the automatic bread slicer developed by Otto Frederick Rohwedder and the mass-production of processed cheese by James L. Kraft.
• United States Navy cooks during World War II were instructed by official government cookbooks to prepare hundreds of American cheese filling sandwiches for military personnel because they were quick to produce in bulk.
• While butter is the traditional choice for toasting, many enthusiasts insist that the secret to a perfectly golden and creamy crust is using mayonnaise on the exterior of the bread instead.
• In the 1993 film Benny and Joon, the character portrayed by Johnny Depp famously demonstrates a unique cooking method by using a standard clothes iron to press and melt his grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Competitive eater Joey Chestnut set a world record in 2006 by consuming 47 grilled cheese sandwiches in just 10 minutes at the GoldenPalace.com World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship.
• The iconic preparation of a multi-cheese sandwich on thick sourdough bread in the 2014 movie Chef has become so famous that it sparked a significant resurgence in gourmet home-cooking techniques for the classic dish.
• Americans consume an estimated 2.2 billion grilled cheese sandwiches every year, with the pairing of tomato soup becoming standard in school cafeterias during the 1960s to ensure students met their daily Vitamin C requirements.

In the News and Trending for National Grilled Cheese Day

Top things to do for National Grilled Cheese Day

• Visit your local sandwich shop and see if they are offering any specials or deals on grilled cheeses to celebrate the day.
• Explore grilled cheese recipes.
• Host a grilled cheese party. Have platters of meats, herbs, and spices for everyone to create their own sandwiches.