Cheddar

Crisp tostadas topped with cheesy sautéed poblanos and mushrooms, charred cherry tomato and serrano salsa, and fried eggs.

Creamy, cheesy potatoes with crispy edges, tender middles, and just a whisper of heat—need we say more?

Here's a fun party trick: Ask your friends to guess how many pounds of greens went into this supremely cheesy gratin. Three huge bunches of kale (and/or chard) get drowned in garlic- and rosemary-infused cream, then blanketed in cheddar cheese and panko and sent into a hot oven, where they sizzle and shrink. 

Starting your grilled cheese (slathered in mayo, obviously) in a cold nonstick skillet, then slowly and gently heating it up is the trick to achieving evenly golden brown, supremely crisp exteriors, with molten cheesy interiors.

Whether you know it as American Chop Suey, Chili Mac, or American Goulash, this deeply flavorful, super-comforting pasta dish is greater than the sum of its humble parts.

You may not mistake these jammy-crisp, slow-cooked onions for bacon, but they are truly exceptional as a stand-in.

Onions, garlic, oil, wine, and salt are all it takes to make a rich vegan broth that still evokes the classic version.

Guarantee there’s always a hot, melty batch ready for your guests with this nacho construction strategy.

The highly addictive, melt-in-your-mouth cheddar cracker is all grown up thanks to a little heat from the cayenne and a hint of sweet pepper from the pimento.

A slice of apple pie with a slab of sharp cheddar on it is one of life’s great gastronomical treasures.

Brunch, lunch, or dinner, we're never not excited about sweet, garlicky shrimp and cheesy grits.

An easy, cheesy dip you can serve this with pretzels, your favorite kind of crackers, or a platter of crudités.

DIY kid food is the best food, if you ask us.

Store-bought puff pastry + shredded cheese = the easiest, flakiest, most irresistible dinner party snack of all time.

Keep a log stashed in your freezer AT ALL TIMES.

File under: Breakfast for Dinner.

Muenster and Fontina are pretty soft cheeses and can be difficult to grate, so just stick both in the freezer 10 minutes to let them firm up before starting.

Feel free to sub store-bought tortilla chips for the tostadas.

This will take you back to the flavor of all those canned cream-of-mushroom-soup-based casseroles, but without all the weird ingredients!

A legendary layered dip from Matt’s El Rancho in Austin, Texas, of taco meat, queso, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.