Patty melts
A diner classic of thin beef patties, sweet caramelized onions and Swiss, griddled between buttery slices of sourdough.
- 50 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 2
- About $3.26 a serving
- 830 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp butter, divided
- 8 oz 85/15 ground beef
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
From your pantry
- ¾ tsp salt, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 830 calories, 43 g protein, 53 g carbs and 49 g fat, and costs about $3.26 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No sourdough bread? French bread works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion through the root, it, and it into thin half-moons.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
1 tablespoon butter in a large over medium, add the onion and of salt, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until soft and deep . Scoop into a bowl.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 18 min
Dolly’s tip: If the onions start to scorch, stir in a splash of water and turn the heat down a little.While the onions cook, divide the beef in half and press each piece into a thin patty about the shape of a bread slice, ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with the rest of the salt and the pepper.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Turn the heat to medium-high and cook the patties in the same 2 to 3 minutes per side, until browned and 160°F. Move them to a plate and wipe out the pan.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 5 min
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Spread the remaining butter on one side of each bread slice.
Dolly’s tip: Soft butter spreads without tearing the bread. Microwave it for 5 seconds if it’s cold.Build each sandwich with the bread butter side out: bread, a slice of Swiss, a patty, half the onions, another slice of Swiss, and bread.
Cook the sandwiches in the over medium 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing gently with a spatula, until the bread is and the cheese .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Bread browning faster than the cheese melts? Turn the heat down and cover the pan for a minute.Cut them in half on the diagonal and serve hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
