Sometimes regular old hamburgers seem so humdrum that you’d just like something a little different. There’s cheeseburgers and sliders, double burgers and imitation “Big Macs” but what else is there?
Have you ever been in a café scanning the menu, not finding anything other than the “same old same old”? You don’t want their meatloaf with instant mashed potatoes and gravy that started its life in an envelope. And you don’t want the “cook’s surprise”. But wait, what’s this? “Old Fashioned Patty Melt”—ground beef patty on rye smothered in onions. Oh man, sometimes that sounds just so good. Your mouth starts to water and you order it with a big old heap of fries knowing that your stomach and other parts might rebel on you later on. But it’s worth it.
Some people use pre-formed patties—some even going with frozen. Nope. It’s gotta be hamburger that you form patties out of—and if it’s frozen, thaw it first. And I’ve come to the conclusion that a 6 ounce patty is just the right size. I did 8 ouncers for this post but it was too much. Quite frankly, nobody needs more than a 6 ounce burger. We can all benefit from cutting down a bit.
So here’s Cheap Bastid’s take on Old Fashioned Patty Melt:
Recipe: Old Fashioned Patty Melt on Rye
Summary: Here’s a “cafe classic” that’s a different twist on hamburgers.
Ingredients
- 12 oz. 85% ground beef
- 4 slices rye bread
- 4 slices white cheese (American, Swiss, Provolone)
- 1 ½ white onion sliced ¼ inch thick
- Cooking oil
- Salt, pepper, garlic
- Mustard
Instructions
- Take out your cutting board and knife and slice onions to ¼ inch thickness. Put a
medium sauté pan on skillet on the stove with heat turned on to medium. - Squirt about 3 tbsp oil into the pan and put all the onions in the pan. Let them start to caramelize stirring every 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. It will take 20-30 minutes to caramelize the onions. (This seems like a lot of onions but they really cook down).
- Form patties making them big enough to cover a slice of bread. Make a “dent” in the middle of each with your thumb (that keepsthem flat when you’re cooking them). Season with salt, pepper and garlic.
- Don’t start cooking patties until onions have been caramelizing for at least 15-20 minutes. (You can always turn onions to low and cover to “hold” them for a while).
- Either grill the patties over a hot fire for about 3 minutes per side or pan fry them in a skillet set to medium high for about 3 minutes per side.
- Either put onions down on top of the patty and then cover with cheese or just put cheese on top of the meat (you’ll put onions on top of the cheese before topping with bread).
- Pop the rye bread in the toaster set to light.
The patty on the left has onions under the cheese. The one on the right doesn’t.
- Build your patty melt with a squirt of mustard spread on the bottom piece of bread with the patty on top.
- If you put cheese on top of the meat, then smother with onions and top with the 2nd piece of rye.
- If you put onions on top of the meat and melted the cheese on top of that then just put the second slice of bread down.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Patty melt with onions under the cheese
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 2
My rating 5 stars: ★★★★★ 1 review(s)
Serve with oven fries (potato or sweet potato) and a salad and you’ve got an old-fashioned, All American treat—the Patty Melt.
Cheap Bastid Test: The bread cost about $.20, ¾ lb of 85% ground beef is $1.50 and the onion cost about $.25 and the cheese adds about $.50. Total for each patty melt was just $1.50 each. Add oven fries for about $.25 per person. Restaurant price would be about $6-7 just for the sandwich.
Patty melt with onions on top of cheese
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!
I’ve a tip for helping to caramelize the onions: add a scant teaspoon of sugar to the onions as you begin to cook them. The sugar helps the caramelization of the onions and adds a touch of sweetness if the onions aren’t terribly sweet to begin with.