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Patty Melt

October 2, 2024

As diner sandwiches go, the melty, meaty, oniony perfection that is the patty melt reigns supreme—if you know, you know. And if you don’t know, well, welcome to the club.

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a patty melt stacked made with sourdough bread, caramelized onions, swiss cheese and mayo

The Best Patty Melt Recipe

Making a homemade patty melt is about achieving perfection. A nostalgic sandwich like this is about reaching back into your memory banks to recreate that patty melt you always ordered at the diner near your grandparents house. A fast-food patty melt might let you down, but our patty melt recipe just might measure up. Caramelized Onions are the key, as is the homemade patty melt sauce. Sauce is the key to all great sandwiches, as proven by our perfect Burger Sauce, Thousand Island Dressing, and smoky Chipotle Mayonnaise. For even more beefy recipe ideas, check out our Beef Empanadas, sloppy joes and don’t miss our round up of the 30 Best Ground Beef Recipes.

butter, mayo, ground beef, spices, worcestershire, sourdough, onions and swiss cheese in pre bowls for patty melts

Homemade Patty Melt Ingredients

  • Butter

  • Mayonnaise

  • Ground beef

  • Seasonings: onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper

  • Worcestershire sauce

  • Sourdough bread. The only patty melt bread, as far as we’re concerned.

  • Swiss cheese

  • Caramelized Onions

ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Worcestershire being mixed a bowl
4 raw beef patties made with ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Worcestershire
ground beef patties in a cast iron skillet
thinly sliced onions caramelizing in a cast iron skillet

How To Make A Patty Melt

  1. Make caramelized onions. You’ll need a good skillet and about an hour of time, but the best patty melt relies on a few really good ingredients, and you can’t skip the onions. You make them a day or two ahead of time and store them in the fridge, if need be.

  2. Season the beef, then form it into ¼ pound patties.

  3. Cook the patties! In large pan, until it’s cooked to your preferred level of doneness.

  4. Mix together the softened butter and mayo in a small bowl, and slather your bread with a that slightly wicked mixture.

  5. Build the patty melts. The order is as follows: slathered bread slice, Swiss cheese slice, beef patty, caramelized onions, second cheese slice, slathered, butter-side-up bread slice.

  6. Griddle your patty melts! Cook them over medium low heat—if your pan is too hot, the bread will burn before the cheese melts.

  7. Eat your patty melts!

open face homemade patty melt topped with caramelized onions and swiss cheese being grilled in a skillet
two toasted patty melt sandwiches in a pan made with caramelized onions and Swiss cheese in a cast iron skillet

How To Store + Tips For The Best Patty Melt

  • Leftover patty melts are not a thing. Well, maybe they are but we don’t recommend storing patty melts for long. They’ll be safe to eat for up to 3 days in the fridge, but patty melts are really meant to be eaten as soon as they’re cooked.

  • Swiss cheese is best and most classic kind of cheese to use on a patty melt. It’s worth a quick run to the store if you don’t have any on hand.

  • When mixing and forming the patties, use a gentle touch — don’t overwork the meat.

a patty melt stacked made with sourdough bread, caramelized onions, swiss cheese and mayo

Patty Melt Night Is The Best

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Patty Melt

  • Serves:  4
  • Prep Time:  10 min
  • Cook Time:  20 min
  • Calories:  900

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
  • 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 8 slices sourdough bread
  • 8 slices Swiss cheese
  • 1 ½ cups caramelized onions

Method

  1. In a small bowl, combine the softened butter and mayonnaise until smooth.

    butter, mayo, ground beef, spices, worcestershire, sourdough, onions and swiss cheese in pre bowls for patty melts
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, and Worcestershire. Divide the beef mixture into 4 equal portions. Using your hands, form each portion into 4 thin patties roughly the shape of the bread. Sprinkle the patties with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.

    ground beef, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Worcestershire being mixed a bowl
  3. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add the patties and cook until no longer pink in the middle, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

    ground beef patties in a cast iron skillet
  4. Spread one side of each sourdough slice with 1 tablespoon of the mayonnaise mixture.

    Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich 2
  5. Wipe out the skillet and return it over medium-low heat. Top half the sourdough slices, dry sides up, with 1 cheese slice each, 1 cooked patty each, then top evenly with the caramelized onions. Top each sandwich with the remaining slices of cheese, and the remaining sourdough, dry sides down.

    open face homemade patty melt topped with caramelized onions and swiss cheese being grilled in a skillet
  6. Add the sandwiches to the skillet and cook until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted, 4-5 minutes per side. Cut each patty melt in half and serve immediately.

    two toasted patty melt sandwiches in a pan made with caramelized onions and Swiss cheese in a cast iron skillet

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 900
  • Protein 36 g
  • Carbohydrates 48 g
  • Total Fat 70 g
  • Dietary Fiber 4 g
  • Cholesterol 90 mg
  • sodium 715 mg
  • Total Sugars 8 g

Patty Melt

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Helen

    iIss the butter mixture supposed to be on the outside of the bread, the part cooked on the pan?

    Correct!

  • Nicole

    I didn't see when to caramelize onions in the instructions.

    In the ingredient list "caramelized onions" are a link. Click the link to get the instructions for those. Hope you enjoy Nicole!

  • Abbey

    About how many onions does it take to make 1 1/2 cups of caramelized onions?

    about 3 large onions. hope you enjoy! the "caramelized onions" in the ingredient list is a link if you want the recipe for the caramelized onions.

  • Abbi

    Does cooking the bread to melt the cheese also continue to cook the meat? Should I cook the patties a little more rare than usual? Thanks!

    No need, they will be fine. Hope you enjoy Abbi!

  • Jeffrey

    How much pepper on this recipe?

    1/4 teaspoon. Thanks for catching that!

  • CB

    Made it for my meal this evening and it was EXCELLENT! Unfortunately, I won't be able to eat it that often because of the high fat content, but it will become a favorite monthly meal. Thanks so much, because I'm a patty melt lover!

    Thanks CB, glad you loved it!

  • Chris

    These patty melts are perfect! Love this recipe. I have made several times. Thanks for posting .

    YAY! So glad you love them so much, thanks Chris!

  • Joan

    Was pretty good -- but I found the butter burned when grilling the sandwich at the very end, thus the bread also burned. I also made the meat patties way too thick.

    Glad you liked them Joan, you might want to turn the heat down a bit if the butter burned. Your stove might just run a little hot.

  • Monica

    Easy to follow and absolutely delicious! Will definitely make again.

    Thank you Monica! Happy to hear this! Thanks for trying it out.