Patty Melts – 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.
At long last, a recipe that bridges the vast gap between sandwich and burger! Patty melts are the sandwich-burger of our dreams.
Our version of the classic patty melt features caramelized onions, which we quickly realized during our last Brooklyn test kitchen should rank up there with cheese on “burger requirements.” Also along for the ride (don’t worry, we tested it extensively, for hours) is thousand island dressing — a combination of ketchup, mayonnaise and chopped pickles or relish. When these forces of flavor unite, the debate of “sandwich or burger” seems pretty irrelevant.
More cheeseburger than sandwich—or, is it more sandwich than burger? The patty melt defies categorization. All we can say for sure is that patty melts are delicious. Restaurant lore says that this beloved, beefy, crispy, melty sandwich—yeah, let’s just decide that it’s more sandwich than burger—originated at a diner in Los Angeles called Tiny Naylor’s sometime in the early 1950s. It quickly became a favorite at diners all across the country. Some have described a patty melt as the love child of burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches, and that’s a pretty apt description. So, just how to you make a patty melt? Well, it all starts with…
Patty Melts Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 whole large onion, halved and sliced
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
