Name: Simple Homemade Patty Melts on Sourdough
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 Lb. Lean Ground Beef; 1 Medium Onion; 3 Tbsp. Butter, separated; 8 Slices Sour Dough Bread; 4 Slices Monterey Jack Cheese

Simple Homemade Patty Melts

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Who doesn’t love a great juicy burger? Well, technically a simple homemade patty melt is a sandwich made with a beef patty, cheese, and caramelized onions. It is also typically made using rye, but sourdough bread is a great substitution.

If you want a burger, you use a bun. When you want a patty melt, you grill the bread to build the sandwich on. The other main difference between the two is the toppings. Burgers get lettuce, tomato, pickles, and usually a yellow cheese. A patty melt is simple and elegant with a white cheese such as Swiss and those tasty onions.

It depends on the mood for the day as to whether the beef patties turn into burgers or patty melts. Have you thought about using chicken or turkey as a substitute meat? Those are a nice spin on a traditional meal too!

Simple Homemade Patty Melt Basics

No one is sure exactly who created the patty melt, but it sure is good.

You start with fresh, lean ground beef. Grass-fed Angus beef makes this a spectacular sandwich, but any good lean beef will work. You definitely want lean beef if you plan on cooking them in a skillet.

The bread choice is the next option you get to decide. We prefer some good thickly sliced sourdough bread. Sourdough gets a nice crunch to it when it is grilled for this sandwich. Another popular bread choice is what is known as Texas toast, which is thick slices of bread that are buttered and grilled on both sides.

Cheese should not be a tough choice, but yet it is. Traditionally this sandwich uses Swiss cheese, but what you really want is a cheese that melts nicely. Don’t skimp on processed slices that are individually wrapped in plastic, those don’t melt. Go for a good Monterey jack or pepper-jack cheese if you are not fond of Swiss.

Thinly sliced and sauteed onions are the final ingredient. Onions tend to seem to shrink when you cook them, so you will need 2 medium sized onions at least. I also like to switch things up and use mushrooms as an alternative. Thin slices of green bell pepper will add a bit of variety as well.

Getting it Just Right

Separate your ground beef into 1/4 pound sections and form them into thick patties. Try to make them slightly larger than your bread pieces as they will shrink as you cook them. Season your patties with salt and pepper or your favorite grilling seasoning. Either cook these on the stove top in a skillet or go ahead and use the BBQ.

Thinly slice your onions and saute them in a skillet with a little bit of butter. Once this is done you simply layer bread, cheese, onions, and bread into a stack. Grab yourself a non-stick skillet and melt the rest of that butter. Place each sandwich into the pan and allow the bread to toast on each side.

Make sure you toast the bread long enough to melt the cheese, but not so long that the butter burns and the bread chars. If your skillet goes dry from the bread soaking up the butter, melt a little more to be able to toast all four sandwiches to a nice golden crisp.

Have Some Leftover?

No worries, store the ingredients separately in airtight containers. They will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days but will not likely actually be there that long.

When it comes to reheating patty melts, there is a bit of art to it. Warm the patty by itself for about 30-45 seconds on a microwave safe plate. Add the cheese and onions on top of the patty and heat for another 30 seconds. Next, build your sandwich on fresh bread and toast as you did the first time. Alternatively, toast some bread and build your sandwich that way.

These simple homemade patty melts are so easy to make, you can just whip up a fresh one anytime you want one. Why would you need to save them except for that great lunch the next day?