Patty Melts with Secret Sauce

Sandwiches don’t have to be boring or thrown-together messes you make when you’re too exhausted at the end of the day to do anything hard. You don’t have to settle for stale turkey and bland processed cheese when you can create a creamy, gooey, and mouthwatering patty melt instead! If you’ve ever wanted to make the perfect patty melt, the secret is all in the sauce! When done properly, making your own patty melt sauce from scratch is a breeze.

That makes it the perfect comfort food for those rough days when nothing seems to go right. Rather than slaving over the stove for hours and wasting most of your relaxation time on dinner, you can start eating in well under an hour. There are few other recipes that bring such a luscious and delicious meal to your lips so quickly. Even kids love this meal, especially when adjusted to meet their unique tastes: it’ll make your whole family happy!

Since this homemade patty melt sauce recipe takes less than fifteen minutes to prepare and serve, you’ll have no more store-bought sauces that taste like cardboard! It’s something that you can prep for your kids or yourself for lunch and enjoy as a midday repast, or cook with an array of side dishes, desserts, and drinks for a dinner everyone will love. Once you try it out, you’ll probably never order a patty melt again: why buy one when you can make it for far less?

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Why You’ll Love This

Are you looking for a quick-to-make and inexpensive meal that still tastes fantastic? It might seem impossible, but this patty melt hits that sweet spot! Using only a handful of ingredients, you can throw together a sandwich and sauce that blend together beautifully and serve it up before your kids are done watching their favorite cartoon. That’s what we call awesome!

Importantly, this patty melt serves well with many other dishes. Can it be a side for a larger, meat-heavy meal? Absolutely! How about setting it up as your main meal of the night? Go for it! Its unique combinations of flavors and aromas make it easy to integrate into just about any diet to provide adults and kids alike with a new favorite that you’ll make regularly.

Ingredient Deep Dive

Though there are several ingredients in this patty melt, most are pretty easy to find or probably already in your pantry. Even better, the main ones are useful in many other meals, meaning you can use leftovers to cook other dishes. Just as importantly, the main items can be swapped out with other ingredients to produce whatever kind of patty melt that you want.

Ground Beef: A Thick and Delicious Meat

By far the most prominent ingredient in your patty melt, ground beef offers a juicy and thick taste (when using fattier meat over 70/30) or a beefier, less greasy taste (when using anything under 70/30). It’s a surprisingly mild meat that offers a gritty, dense texture that is easy to flavor using various sauces and herbs. That makes it perfect for your tasty little patty melt!

If you’re not into beef, chicken or turkey can work in a pinch, though the milder flavors and textures significantly change this dish. Vegetarians or vegans can try lentils or tofu, though pan-fried mushrooms typically feel the closest to ground beef than any other ingredient.

Cheddar Cheese: A Creamy and Melty Cheese

There’s a reason why they say “cheddar makes everything better!” This cheese offers a myriad of flavors and textures, depending on its age. Mild varieties are rich and creamy with a buttery, appealing taste, while older ones are sharp and tangy. You can use whatever cheddar you want here, with sharp cheddar offering a nice middle ground between mild and extra sharp.

If you’re one of the few people who don’t enjoy cheddar, there are many cheeses that you can try instead. Gouda offers a milder and smoother variety that melts beautifully on your sandwich. Swiss also offers a nice variation thanks to its sharper, more unique taste.

Chopped Bacon Pieces: A Sweeter Extra Bit of Protein

Who doesn’t love bacon? It’s simply one of the most popular meats in the world, thanks to its savory and smoky flavor. Whether cooked crispy and crumbly (one of our favorites) or soft and pliable (perfect for sandwiches), it brings together a dense texture with a sweet flavor to bring more taste to your meals. There’s nothing quite like the mouthfeel of bacon when cooked right.

You can also use chopped ham bits if you want a similar taste and texture, or turkey bacon for a healthier option. Tempeh also crumbles well to create a bacon alternative for vegetarians or vegans, though the taste is quite different, so be prepared for that change.

Pro-Tips & Technique

Browning your meat before putting it on your bread serves two purposes. First, it ensures your beef is safe from disease and healthy to serve. Furthermore, it helps open it up for your sauce! After all, the sauce is the boss with this dish! Since browned beef absorbs flavors so smoothly, it’s essential to ensure you get the best results when prepping your beef.

Here are a few tips: cook slowly over medium heat and turn regularly to distribute the heat. While you don’t need to constantly flip the meat to cook it evenly, you should flip it as you notice the browning moving past the mid-point of each piece. As a result, you can’t walk away and just hope for the best, but should actively sit next to your stove and watch your meat.

Step-by-Step / How-To

Step 1: Start by prepping your patties for your sandwich, flattening three of roughly the same size and shape as the bread.

Season them with onion and garlic powder, along with salt and pepper. Use gloved hands to really work it into the meat as much as possible. Cook each over medium-high heat and watch the browning surface: it should cook all the way through and smell amazing!

Cooking the patties.

Step 2: As your meat cooks, mix your mayonnaise, chopped bacon pieces, sugar, relish, and ketchup into a bowl and blend fully.

Pay close attention to the texture and color as you go. The final result should be nice and creamy and drip slowly off your spoon when it’s done. It should have a light yellow/orange color with a slightly mustard tone that looks great on your sandwich.

Mix until well incorporated.

Step 3: Clean the skillet carefully and put it back on the stove after reducing the heat to medium.

Carefully butter all your bread and place three slices face down in the skillet. Place provolone cheese and a meat patty on each slice and top with cheddar cheese. Bring it all together by topping with the sauce and placing a second slice on top of the sandwich: nice and thick!

Placing the bread in the skillet.

Adding the provolone and meat patty.

Topping with cheddar cheese.

Adding the sauce.

Step 4: Stay close to your stove and watch the provolone on each patty as it cooks.

Once it melts, check the bottom slice of each patty. If its bottom is well toasted, carefully flip it over to the other side. Note that your second slice should toast far more quickly due to the higher heat in the pan. Sniff the air as it toasts and remove from the heat if it smells like it’s burning.

Step 5: Place your patty melts on plates and cut them in half diagonally to make them easier to serve.

The cheese should be nice and melty, and the ground beef rich and tasty. The aroma should be almost overpowering at this point, and your mouth will likely be watering. Let it cool down for at least five minutes so that you don’t burn your mouth when taking your first bite.

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What is the cooking time for the patty melt sauce? 

The sauce isn’t cooked at all for this recipe. You will need to cook the beef patties though. You’ll also need to brown the bread so it’s nice and toasty. That is going to give the sandwich an even better flavor.

Serving & Pairing

As a main dish, patty melts serve beautifully with bar-style sides, such as sweet potato fries, fried potatoes,  onion fritters or baked potatoes on the grill. In the same way, drinks like soda (especially colas) and beers just feel right with this heavy meal and wash down its sauce perfectly. 

You really don’t need garnishes since you’re using such a creamy sauce, though red pepper flakes and oregano add a bit more flavor. End your meal with a milkshake for a true dinner-style meal.

FAQs & Troubleshooting

It’s easy to store a patty melt by placing it in an airtight container and chilling for three days in the fridge or up to three months in a freezer. Reheat by putting them in a stove and warming at 250 degrees for 10-15 minutes. The microwave is usable but not preferable because it tends to dry out the meat and burn the cheese. It also ruins the sauce.

Another common concern with this meal is how to use your leftover sauce. Amazingly, it’s excellent on a Reuben, regular cheeseburger wraps, or even drizzled on a big fresh salad. While this dish is generally quite mild, you can make it spicy by adding a dash of sriracha, cayenne pepper, or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes that add a little extra kick to it.

More Easy Sauce Recipes

Alfredo Sauce – Creamy and oh-so-good!

Amazing Caramel Sauce – Sweet and delicious!

Homemade Pesto Sauce – It’s great on chicken or in wraps!

Tzatziki Sauce – Creamy and cool sauce!