Recipe from Jody Williams and Rita Sodi
Adapted by Pete Wells
Updated Feb. 6, 2024
- Total Time
- 35 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(508)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Patty melts have very few components: sliced bread, beef patties, caramelized onions and cheese. Vary them slightly and it’s possible the sandwich you end up with won’t be a patty melt anymore. Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, the chefs and owners of The Commerce Inn in New York City, put Dijon mayonnaise inside their patty melts, and it works. The mayo makes the sandwich juicier, the mustard helps cut through the fat, and the result is still, undeniably, a patty melt. —Pete Wells
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Ingredients
Yield:2 patty melts
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter, plus softened butter for the bread
- 2medium onions (any color), very thinly sliced
- 1rosemary branch
- ¼teaspoon granulated sugar
- Salt and pepper
- 4large slices seeded rye
- 4teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1teaspoon mayonnaise
- 12ounces ground beef (20 percent fat)
- 4ounces sliced Swiss cheese
- Pickles, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, then add the onions and rosemary. Season with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions get a nice dark caramel color, about 20 minutes. Fish out the rosemary.
Step
2
While the onions cook, spread one side of each slice of rye with softened butter from corner to corner. Mix the mustard and mayonnaise in a small bowl and reserve.
Step
3
Make the beef patties by splitting the meat in half, then patting each half between 2 pieces of wax or parchment paper until it’s thin. Each patty should be slightly bigger than the bread so when it shrinks down you’ve got meat in every bite. Season the patties with lots of salt and pepper on both sides, as if they were steaks.
Step
4
Put the bread on a hot griddle, butter sides down, and divide the cheese among all 4 pieces. Put the meat on the griddle. (You can use two skillets set over high heat if you don’t have a griddle.) Smash the patties with a spatula. When they’re browned, 1 to 3 minutes, flip the patties and spread the onions over the meat. Sizzle them for a minute or 2 to brown the underside. Meanwhile, spread the Dijon-mayonnaise over the melted cheese.
Step
See AlsoSweeney Potatoes RecipePerfect Sous Vide New York Strip Steak RecipeFrench Onion Soup RecipePimento Cheese Recipe5
Put each patty on a slice of bread and make sandwiches by topping with the other slices. Serve immediately, with pickles.
Ratings
4
out of 5
508
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Neil
This works well with cheddar too, for those who don’t like Swiss. Importantly, put the finished sandwich on the grill with some weight on top just before serving. This brings the cheese, onions and patties together in a magnificent way!
Tim in Portland
I made this with Beyond Beef. It was excellent!
Mmkperez
Rye bread is traditional
Tom
The French sell dijonaise, already mixed and quite good.
Dave
How does the cheese cook in this recipe? Put the bread on the skillet and distribute the cheese, check. But cheese sitting on bread in an open skillet doesn’t melt before the bread burns does it? Is the cheese supposed to be melted? When does that happen?
Jim H.
I have been using Durkee Famous Sauce on (Beyond Meat) sausage dogs because I was seeking more bite than the Dijon mustard had. I plan to use it for this recipe also, substituting a veggie burger. No need to mix mayo with it, as it already has mayo consistency.
Christopher Walworth
The trouble with a patty melt is the rye bread. It overwhelms the taste of the beef. A patty melt made with a good white bread, like sourdough, is food for the gods, and so is a good Reuben, made with corned beef that can stand up to the rye.
David H
Hold the mustard and hold the mayo… come to think of it hold the rosemary too… now it’s perfect
Jevitchka
I’ve made this using Gruyère cheese, which melts much faster than swiss or cheddar. Or, you can use a combination Gruyère and cheddar cheese - check your grocers’ cheese section for this.
pgalvin2
As for the cheese..."Coopers Sharp White American"... only way to goInstead of butter on the outside of the rye bread, use Hellman's mayonnaise Far less greasy
Diana
During the recent Icemageddon, I could not leave my home for 9 days. I have never liked patty melts, but now I had time, and a day-old loaf of Cuban bread and some very good ground beef I needed to use. Other change was homemade Kewpie mayo. I used a panini grill to squash and pre-grill my bread, then used a Zojirushi indoor electric grill to cook the sandwich. I was hosting a couple who did not have power at home, and they said this was the best patty melt they ever tasted!
Jules
Recipe says rye which is traditional.
Arlene
We loved this. It stood the test of a proper party melt. I didn’t think it needed the mayo/mustard. It just added more fat. And it was deliciously perfect without.
Brushjl
Just ok, nothing special, but my family fought over it.
Vika
Made with ground turkey because we can't eat beef. Really good! Love the rosemary caramelized onions.
Barb
I just made a big batch of caramelized onions using the slow cooker method. Some will go into the patty melts for Super Bowl supper. The rest will be frozen for other winter meals.
chloe
Absolutely delicious! Market bakery was out of rye so I used pumpernickel, turned out fantastic. The rosemary onions are wonderful. So good!
Dave
How does the cheese cook in this recipe? Put the bread on the skillet and distribute the cheese, check. But cheese sitting on bread in an open skillet doesn’t melt before the bread burns does it? Is the cheese supposed to be melted? When does that happen?
Richard X
The cheese melts just like it does in a grilled cheese sandwich.
James in LA
The big issue I had with the recipe as written is the amount of ground beef. The pattie in a pattie melt should not dominate, but this recipe calls for so much ground beef (3/4 of a lb.) for two melts that you end up with a cheeseburger on bread. And the result of the recipe as written is quite bland. What to do? Substitute some sharp cheddar or gruyere for the swiss? Or maybe just find another recipe that will give us the pattie melt we all know and love.
Nicole
I made a patty melt this evening, and ended up wishing I had included Dijon.
Ned Kandel
Please mention that the patty melt treatment works just as well with a bacon, egg, cheese-- made scrumptious on sourdough or rye
Richard X
Please mention that without a patty it's no longer a patty melt!
M
I used smoked Gouda instead of Swiss.
Becky
Made this, and it was wonderful, just as is. I think next time I’ll put the buttered bread on low heat, though, because it almost burned. Thanks for a great recipe.
Lady from Holland
Being from Europe, can annyone tell me whats the difference between a patty melt and a smash burger?
Richard X
A patty melt is a grilled sandwich on rye bread with Swiss cheese and caramelized onions. A smash burger is a flattened hamburger, with or without cheese, on a standard bun, served with the usual condiments (lettuce, tomato, raw onion). If you compare photos of the two, you'll easily see the difference.
BG
This was really delicious but do ensure your patties are very thin or the bread will burn before the patties cook. Also, a half-pound burger is too large for most people. Next time I will make quarter-pounders. The caramelized onions made this. Served this with the Tomato-Lentil Soup with Goat Cheese. To the poster who asked: yes the cheese does melt in the open pan. It's not like a grilled cheese -- not that much cheese, so mine melted easily
Richard X
A half-pound burger is perfect for me!
SusanW
The recipe calls for 6 oz per patty melt, not 8 oz. It's still more than a quarter pound--but not a half pound!
Zeldie
Made it with rye bread many do not like seeded rye ; very good ! but really! toast both sides!!! made “no knead bread” used it thinly sliced ; my opinion? even better. use the least amount of pans; sear onions, toast bread , put on the cheese which melted right away, put on the spread , put it on plates, covered lightly with foil then used same pan for meat. once it was a sandwich i quickly seared all the sides in the stillhot pan. one pan, one cleanup, one delicious sandwich.
Tom
Made this with a few small modifications and absolutely loved it. Used wheat bread and homemade brown mustard because I had them on hand, but otherwise as written. I remain perplexed by commenters insisting of some recipe presented here that it is incorrect and that there is but one way to make a given item. Foodways vary regionally within countries or states, to say nothing of how diasporan versions of dishes can vary from their originals for many reasons. But de gustibus non est disputandum.
Emma Thompson
By "Wheat bread" do you really mean "whole wheat?" Because the default for bread is wheat, unless it's rye, and even rye has wheat in it or it would be leaden. So you must've meant "Whole wheat?"
Richard X
Where I live, "wheat" bread means "whole wheat" without further qualification or nit-picking.
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