Diner Style Patty Melts with Green Chilé Queso
Last Sunday I challenged myself to up my vegetarian game for the week ahead - be intentional about making super healthy meals & go totally meatless Sunday through Thursday. & to be clear, this was a challenge made solely to alleviate any guilt about going all in on over the top patty-melts as my Friday treat.
When I plan for a meatless night at home, I want to make it count! Go heavy with the veggies, eliminate the carb-y extras as much as possible, & come up with creative, super interesting meatless options that fill me up with all the good for you things. I mean, I make it a priority to branch outside the realm of salads while not going down the carby routes of rice bowls, pastas, & flatbreads. So long story short, dinners this week were synonymous with packing in a ton of good for you options in one dish, which lead to a lot of cauliflower steaks and even a plant based take on ceviche. Come Friday morning I was feeling pretty f*cking great, and frankly liking what I was seeing in the mirror and what the scale was reporting back. & then I sabotaged myself with these super stuffed patty-melts.
I’m totally exaggerating because I am writing this post patty-melt dinner feeling just great and not like a total lard ass, but there is just no sugar coating that a patty-melt is an indulgent treat. Greasy, buttery, and cheesy…there is no way to hide that they’re not something that should be part of one’s regular diet. But they are soooo good. These Diner Style Patty Melts with Green Chilé Queso left grease on my fingers and made me want to say yum after every bite. My husband and I bit into them at our dinner table last night and simultaneously looked at each other with a “holy f*ck these are good” look on our face, and then today he confessed that he had been thinking about how he wanted to eat another one today as soon as he finished his from last night.
Why I wanted to make a patty-melt…why the hell not? I’ve never even really had one, but I know they’re a combination burger + grilled cheese, which is such a happy sandwich combo. They’ve got the classic beef patty, which makes them burger-like, and then the melty cheese and crispy, buttery bread that’s indicative of a perfectly cooked grilled cheese. & that grilled cheese bread is so good…crispy when you bite into it but soft enough to still soak up all the melty cheese and burger juices. Just delightful. It seems like a such an old school thing to me, but at the end of the day it’s a burger with crispy, buttery bread, and I’m here for it. Confession - I do use a gluten free bread to make myself feel a little less guilty, and that’s also what I use for every grilled cheese sandwich that comes out of my kitchen, and it’s great. Usually gluten free bread is a little smaller in size, so it also helps avoid creating this colossal burgers that would be beach body suicide.
The patty for the sandwich is simple - 3 ounces of beef seasoned with only salt and pepper. The beef patty needs to be slightly larger than the pieces of sandwich bread, so the meat is inevitable smashed into pretty thin patties opposed to thick and juicy burgers. The shining star, and the reason this meal is worth a repeat in our house, is the queso. This super creamy, cheesy, and kinda spicy queso is the best thing to happen to this patty melt. Cream cheese, sharp cheddar, hot sauce, and green chiles combined together to create a cheese sauce that spreads like butter on the bread, but turns into liquid cheese as the patty melt cooks. It’s the kind of topping that kind of oozes out of the burger with every bite…making you lick your fingers and just enjoy all the cheese. The key, which we learned, is to not skimp on this queso. You’ve come this far & ultimately eating a patty melt for dinner, so the thought of light on the cheese…like why? We made 6 patty melts, and each only ate one for dinner (they’re amazing leftovers…just saying), so we had some trial and error during the cooking process, and by far the best tasting melts were the super cheesy ones. A healthy tablespoon of the queso on top of each patty is ideal, and when it melts it just encases the entire patty. It’s also the only condiment you’re going to use, so go big with it.
The patty for the sandwich is simple - 3 ounces of beef seasoned with only salt and pepper. The beef patty needs to be slightly larger than the pieces of sandwich bread, so the meat is inevitable smashed into pretty thin patties opposed to thick and juicy burgers. The shining star, and the reason this meal is worth a repeat in our house, is the queso. This super creamy, cheesy, and kinda spicy queso is the best thing to happen to this patty melt. Cream cheese, sharp cheddar, hot sauce, and green chiles combined together to create a cheese sauce that spreads like butter on the bread, but turns into liquid cheese as the patty melt cooks. It’s the kind of topping that kind of oozes out of the burger with every bite…making you lick your fingers and just enjoy all the cheese. The key, which we learned, is to not skimp on this queso. You’ve come this far & ultimately eating a patty melt for dinner, so the thought of light on the cheese…like why? We made 6 patty melts, and each only ate one for dinner (they’re amazing leftovers…just saying), so we had some trial and error during the cooking process, and by far the best tasting melts were the super cheesy ones. A healthy tablespoon of the queso on top of each patty is ideal, and when it melts it just encases the entire patty. The pics below show one patty-melt where we went spread a super thin layer or cheese on the bread and one where the cheese was loaded on, and I think it’s pretty easy to tell which is which. We so loved the super cheesey sandwichs, and it’s also the only condiment you’re going to use, so go big with it.
At the end of the day, we got up from our dinner table excited we had patty-melt leftovers, & certain that this will be a repeat dinner in our house, because buttery bread + ground beef + melty cheese is a pretty damn good.
Our full meal with oven fries and simple salad. Simple sides for a patty-melt that stands out on it its own.
For the Queso Sauce
1 package of cream cheese
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp buffalo sauce (I always use Franks)
1-4 oz. can diced green chiles
For the Burgers
6 slices bacon
3 tbsp butter
1 red onion, halved & thinly sliced
1 lb ground beef, separated into 6 equal sized balls
1 loaf of gluten free sandwich bread (you can also use regular white bread if you give zero f*cks)
EVOO
Salt & pepper
Start by making the queso sauce. Add all the ingredients for the queso sauce to a large glass bowl. Use a fork to mash all the ingredients together, getting the cream evenly incorporated with all of the other ingredients to form one mixture that is the consistency of softened butter. Set the bowl aside.
Next move to getting the bacon crisped up. Heat your oven to 375, and line a baking sheet with foil. Lay out the bacon slices in a single layer, and let them bake for 15-17 minutes. You want them to fully cooked and be just crispy when you pull the pan out of the oven.
Meanwhile, place a small skillet over medium heat. Add in 1 tablespoon of the butter. Once the butter has melted, add in all of onions, cooking over medium heat for 10 minutes. You’ll want to give the onions a stir every 2 minutes or so to make sure they don’t burn. Reduce the skillet to low and let the onions cook on low for 15-20 additional minutes.
Next move to forming your pattys. Take each ball of ground beef, smashing each individual ball between the palm of your hands so you’ve got thin patties that are slightly larger than your bread slices. Place each patty on a glass of plastic tray, seasoning both sides generously with salt and pepper.
To cook your patties, place a large skillet over medium heat. Add just a drizzle of EVOO to the pan, and once the pan is hot add in the beef patties. Cook each pattie 3 minutes per side, then remove and set the cooked patties aside. Turn off the heat.
On a clean plastic cutting board, lay out 12 slices of sandwich bread. This will be your assembly station. Lightly butter one side of each slice with butter. Flip the slices over and slather on about a tablespoon of the queso mixture (or a little less depending on your preference…no rules) right on the bread. The queso will also help all of your other burger fixings stick together during assembly. Divide the cooked red onion evenly amongst the bottom pieces, and place a patty right on top of the red onion. Rip each piece of bacon in half, and place 2 halves on a top piece of bread - they’ll stick right on the queso.
Not it’s patty making time, and you can use the same pan used to cook your beef. Place the skillet back over medium heat, and add in the bottom pieces of the patty-melt. You’ll probably only want to cook 2 or 3 sandwiches at the same time. Place the top half of the sandwich on top of the burger patty, bacon side down (duh), and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip the patty-melts and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove the cooked patty melts when the bread on both sides is golden brown, placing them on a baking sheet or oven proof serving tray. Place the cooked patty-melts in a 200 degree oven to keep them warm. Repeat this process until all the patty melts are cooked.
All that’s left is to enjoy your finished product. We served ours with a simple salad and oven fries, & they’re perfect with just about anything. Chow down and enjoy every salty, buttery bite.
