Sourdough Bacon Cheeseburger Melt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A diner-counter classic built like a grilled cheese: buttered sourdough griddled until shatter-crisp around a thin, hard-seared beef patty, two slices of American cheese and thick-cut bacon. The bread toasts while the cheese fully melts into the meat, so every bite holds together instead of sliding apart. Fast, cheap and absurdly satisfying — a 20-minute answer to the $7 melt on the corner menu.

Ingredients

• 12 oz ground beef, 80/20
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon
• 4 slices sourdough bread, cut 1/2 inch thick
• 4 slices American cheese
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
• kosher salt
• coarsely ground black pepper

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp dill pickle relish
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

1. Stir the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, pickle relish and smoked paprika together in a small bowl. Refrigerate until you build the sandwiches.
2. Lay the bacon in a cold 12-inch cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes, until deep brown and crisp. Move to a paper towel–lined plate and pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of the fat.
3. Add the sliced onion to the skillet with a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat, stirring, 5 to 6 minutes, until limp and lightly browned at the edges. Scrape onto a plate. Wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel.
4. Divide the ground beef into 4 loose balls of about 3 ounces each. Do not knead or compact them. Set the skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes until it just begins to smoke.
5. Place two balls in the dry skillet and, using a sturdy spatula lined with a small square of parchment, smash each one flat to roughly a 4x5-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick — slightly smaller than a bread slice. Season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Sear undisturbed 2 minutes, until a dark brown crust forms and the edges look lacy. Scrape up with the spatula, flip, season the second side, and cook 45 seconds more. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining two balls. Wipe the skillet, leaving a thin film of fat.
7. Butter one side of each sourdough slice, edge to edge, using about 2 tablespoons total. Place two slices buttered-side down on a cutting board and spread the unbuttered faces with the melt sauce.
8. On each sauced slice, layer a slice of American cheese, one patty, half the onions, two strips of bacon broken to fit, the second patty, and a second slice of cheese. Top with the remaining bread, sauced side down, buttered side up.
9. Set the skillet over medium-low heat and melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add the sandwiches and cook 4 to 5 minutes, pressing gently with the spatula every minute, until the underside is evenly deep golden and crisp.
10. Flip carefully and cook 4 to 5 minutes more, pressing again, until the second side is browned and the cheese has visibly melted down the sides. If the bread darkens too fast, drop the heat to low and cover the pan for 1 minute to finish the melt.
11. Move the sandwiches to a rack for 2 minutes so the crust stays crisp, then cut in half on the diagonal and serve immediately.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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