Diner-Style Patty Melt with Slow-Caramelized Onions

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The whole point of a patty melt is timing: onions that have gone deep amber over 40 patient minutes, thin beef patties that cook in barely two minutes a side, and buttered rye griddled low enough that the Swiss goes molten before the crust turns bitter. One skillet does all three jobs, and the beef fond left behind from the patties is what makes the bread taste like a diner flat-top.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola
• 2 lb yellow onions (about 3 large), halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water, plus more as needed
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 1/4 lb ground beef, 80/20
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 8 slices seeded rye bread
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 8 slices deli Swiss cheese

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp finely chopped dill pickle
• 1 tsp yellow mustard

Instructions

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and the sugar. Toss to coat — the pan will look overfull, but the onions collapse by half within 10 minutes.
2. Cook the onions over medium to medium-low heat for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring every 4 to 5 minutes. When brown film builds on the bottom of the pan, splash in a tablespoon of water and scrape it up. The onions are done when they are jammy, deep amber, and reduced to about 1 1/4 cups. Stir in the Worcestershire, then scrape into a bowl and wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel.
3. While the onions cook, stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup, chopped pickle, and mustard if making the sauce, and refrigerate. Divide the ground beef into 4 loose portions of about 5 ounces each. On a sheet of parchment, press each into a thin rectangle roughly the shape of your bread slices and about 1/4 inch thick — thin is what lets the patty cook in the same time the cheese needs to melt. Season both sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder just before cooking.
4. Heat the wiped skillet over medium-high until a drop of water skitters, about 2 minutes. Cook the patties two at a time, 2 minutes on the first side until a hard brown crust forms, then 1 minute on the second side. They should be just barely pink inside; they finish cooking in the sandwich. Transfer to a plate and repeat. Pour off all but a thin film of fat and reduce the heat to medium-low.
5. Butter one side of each rye slice, edge to edge, using about 4 tablespoons total. Build each sandwich butter-side-out: bread, a slice of Swiss, a patty, a quarter of the onions (about 1/3 cup), a second slice of Swiss, then the top bread. The cheese on both sides is the glue that keeps the onions from sliding out.
6. Griddle two sandwiches at a time in the skillet over medium-low heat, pressing gently with a spatula for the first 30 seconds. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the rye is deep golden and crisp and the Swiss visibly runs at the edges. If the bread is browning before the cheese melts, drop the heat and cover the pan for 1 minute. Add the remaining butter to the pan as needed for the second batch.
7. Let the sandwiches rest on a cutting board for 2 minutes so the cheese sets slightly, then cut each in half on the diagonal and serve immediately with the diner sauce for dipping.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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