Name: Ham & Cheese Sandwich Melt
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise; 1 teaspoon Brown Mustard; 2 whole Soft Rolls/Buns Cut In Half Sandwich Style; 2 Tablespoons Sweet Cream Butter Softened (plus A Little More For Grill/griddle, Skillet); 6 ounces, weight Thin Deli Sliced Virginia Baked Ham; 4 slices Pepper Jack Cheese (Or Cheese Of Your Choice)

Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Ham & Cheese Sandwich Melt

Serves 2

Prep5 min

Cook8 min

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Brown Mustard
2 whole Soft Rolls/Buns Cut In Half Sandwich Style
2 Tablespoons Sweet Cream Butter Softened (plus A Little More For Grill/griddle, Skillet)
6 ounces, weight Thin Deli Sliced Virginia Baked Ham
4 slices Pepper Jack Cheese (Or Cheese Of Your Choice)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

595Calories

41 gProtein

46 gFat

3 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mustard + hamtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together747 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,475 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, butter, ham, pepper):

Potatofits better
Onionfits about as well
Capsicumfits about as well
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, butter, ham, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.