Add This Rich, Smoky Cheese To Your Chicken Sandwich For A Flavor Boost

There are quite a few toppings that make any chicken sandwich better, elevating it to a more grown-up level. One of the best is smoked gouda. The cheese adds a flavor boost that changes the vibe from something you'd eat for a school lunch to restaurant-worthy by itself.

Gouda is a mild, creamy, semi-hard cheese that's usually made from the milk of cows. Smoked gouda gets its distinctive flavor from being smoked over wood chips or otherwise infused with smoke flavor, making it a flavorful, gooey cheese for sandwiches. It has a mild to medium flavor with tasting notes that are rich and savory. 

A chicken sandwich is the perfect vehicle for that flavor profile, just plain and customizable enough to let the gouda shine. But it's especially good melted. Add the cheese on top of the chicken right at the end of the cook. Either shred smoked gouda on top or add a slice and let it melt before building the rest of the sandwich.

You can use gouda cheese on basically any chicken sandwich, regardless of the chicken's form factor or the toppings. A fried copycat KFC chicken sandwich, with its signature herbs and spices and melty smoked gouda, is a match made in heaven. You can also use it to dress up a grilled version, like a blackened chicken sandwich. Smoked gouda also adds some pizzazz to barbecue-style chicken sandwiches — the sweet, savory, and smoky notes in barbecue chicken amplify similar tasting notes in the cheese.

But you don't have to go to a lot of work prepping the chicken for a sandwich co-starring smoked gouda. Use sliced, smoked deli chicken and add more flavor with a quick dressing of Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Smoked gouda also elevates everything about a chicken salad sandwich. Stir in diced cheese for a flavor boost or stack slices.

Smoked gouda also plays well with a variety of toppers. Ingredients like bacon and fresher options like sliced avocado and tomatoes harmonize with the savory cheese. For a little heat, try adding smoky jalapeño or chipotle mayo. Or make a panini-style chicken sandwich with a sweeter edge using smoked gouda and a smear of jam, such as apricot, mango, or peach.