Patty Melt
1069kcal66.7g protein67.2g fat48.2g carbs~$4.47/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
Contains gluten, dairy · sometimes contains soy — check the label · only in an optional ingredient: egg, fish
Restrictions
Containsgluten · dairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Sometimes contains — check the labelsoy (dressing, thousand island)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.
Only if you add itegg (dressing, thousand island) · fish (worcestershire sauce)Leave that ingredient out and the dish does not have it.
Diets
No porkNo alcohol
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| 12 oz |  beef (ground, 80/20) |
| 4 slice |  bread (rye, cut 1.5 cm thick) |
| 2 unit |  onion (large, sliced thin pole to pole) |
| 4 slice |  cheese (swiss, sliced) |
| 4 tbsp |  butter (for the onions and the griddle) |
| 1 ¼ tsp | salt |
| ½ tsp |  black pepper (ground) |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| 3 tbsp |  dressing (thousand island, inside) |
| 2 tsp |  mustard (Dijon) |
| 2 slice |  cheese (cheddar, in place of half the swiss) |
| 1 tsp |  worcestershire sauce (in the patty) |
Steps
- Slice6 minonions cut thin, pole to pole rather than into ringsonions sliced thin along the grain. Pole to pole follows the cell structure so the pieces hold together through forty minutes of cooking; cut across the equator they break down into shreds
- Caramelize40 min2 tbsp butter, medium-low, stirred every few minutes, 40 minutesonions + a pinch of salt cooked slowly until deep brown, jammy and reduced to a fraction of their volume. This is the step everything else is built around and it cannot be rushed — fifteen minutes gives soft golden onions, which is a different and much thinner thing. If they catch, add a splash of water and scrape; that deglazing is where a lot of the flavour is
- Score5 minmeat divided in two, pressed thin to the shape of the bread, dimpled in the centrebeef + salt + pepper (+ worcestershire) formed into two flat patties matching the bread's outline, slightly larger since they shrink, with a shallow dimple in the middle. Handle it as little as possible — worked hard, ground beef develops the sticky protein that makes a patty springy. Shape to the bread or the corners of the sandwich end up empty
- Sear5 minsame pan, high, patties undisturbed 2-3 minutes a sidepatties seared hard in the onion pan and left alone until a deep crust forms, then turned once. The residue from the onions is already there and browns onto the meat. Thin patties cook through in the time it takes to build that crust, which is why they are thin
- Griddle6 minmedium-LOW, buttered outer faces, assembled in the pan, 3-4 minutes a sidesandwich built — bread, cheese, patty, onions, cheese, bread (+ thousand island, + mustard on the inner faces) — with butter on the outer faces, and griddled slowly. Cheese on both sides of the filling glues the sandwich together as it melts. Low and slow for the same reason as a grilled cheese: the cheese has to melt before the rye is done, and high heat reverses that order irreversibly
- Rest2 minwire rack, 1-2 minutes, then cut on the diagonalbriefly on a rack so the molten cheese sets enough to hold and the steam escapes from underneath. On a flat plate the crust you just built goes soft in under a minute