One of my favorite burgers in the world, is a good old fashioned patty melt! So when wondering what I could make us for a quick and easy supper with minimal ingredients, this classic quickly came to mind! We didn’t have any buns for regular burgers, but had bread. Hamburger and cheeses in my freezer stash, and a few onions. Sounded like a solid plan to me! Though my hubby wanted his “regular-style with American cheese”, I decided to have a little fun with mine. It had incredible flavor and was one of the best patty melts I’ve ever made yet! If you want some extra zip and flavor, too, play with your food and try out this amazing Mustard Horseradish and White Cheddar Patty Melt for supper tonight!

Instead of the plain-old plain-old American cheese slices, though still always a welcome friend when going traditional, I used a blend of 2 cheeses. A sharp white* cheddar, (*meaning no artificial orange dyes have been added), and a horseradish-flavored white cheddar! The horsey cheese is wonderfully strong, but I didn’t want it to over power the burger, so by mixing the two, I ended up with a really nice balance of flavor!

You can use any kind of mustard you’d like. I was down to just regular French’s and spicy brown in the fridge, so spicy it was! A hearty whole grain mustard would also be awesome, but the spicy brown worked just fine for me!

What would a patty melt be without onions, right? You can certainly just sauté them in a little butter, but I added some extra flavor with a little balsamic vinegar and dark brown sugar to make them so good, you might want to sneak a spoonful… or two…

Next element. The bread. I only had plain ole white bread, but it held up surprisingly well, though it may not show in the photo. Of course my, and my hubby’s, bread of choice would’ve been rye, or even a sourdough or specialty bread, I kept in mind the reason of making this to begin with. It is still a patty melt, and that “plain ole white bread” kept some of that old-fashioned goodness that you expect in this diner-style classic. Crispy on the outside, not too much bread, (which is why we love patty melts so much and is the opposite of cheeseburgers), letting the burger itself be the star, and all of the goodies and flavors inside completely shine through!

Which brings us to the last, most important character, and star of the show….the burger! Now, don’t quit on me. Do that last little lap because there’s some pretty awesome flavors being added here all with only two ingredients! Our old friend A1 Steak Sauce, and some extra-hot prepared horseradish! After you form the patties, give it a good amount of salt, regular ground pepper, and garlic powder on the outside. Go especially heavy on the pepper! And you’re going to end up with one heck of a great burger! Not so much flavor that you can’t taste the beef, but enough to say, omg this is so good!   

Making a patty melt is like running into an old friend! So enjoy making this killer-good Mustard Horseradish and White Cheddar Patty Melt today! Heck. Might as well triple this, use the whole pound of ground beef, and invite some friends over for lunch! Serve with a simple side and a frosty cold beer! Enjoy!!

Goes well with:
Copycat Five Guys Fries
French Onion Dip Potato Salad
French Onion Roast Potato Wedges with Spicy Brown Mustard, Garlic and Thyme
Creamy Deli-Style Macaroni Salad

Yield: 1 serving

Mustard Horseradish and White Cheddar Patty Melt

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Ingredients

For Burgers:

• 1/3 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 tsp. A1 Steak Sauce
• 1 tsp. prepared jarred extra hot horseradish
• salt, garlic powder, and lots of pepper, to taste

For Onions:

• 1 Tbl. butter
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. dark brown sugar
• salt and pepper

Rest of Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread, (rye, sourdough, marble, pumpernickel, white, whatever you like or have on hand)
• 1/3 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded horseradish cheese
• spicy brown, stone ground, regular, or whole grain mustard
• 2 Tbl. butter, more if needed depending on size of bread slices

Instructions

For Beef:

In medium-small bowl, add ground beef to bowl breaking up. Evenly drizzle and sprinkle burger ingredients over meat, and combine, lightly mixing and tossing with hands. Form into a large patty. Chill while prepping rest.

For Onions:

In small frying pan, melt butter and add rest of Onion ingredients, stir, and sauté slowly over low heat until soft and sweet. Season with a little salt and pepper, scrape into a bowl, and set aside.

To Finish:

Season top of meat patty with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Don't be shy with it. In frying pan that you cooked the onions in, get hot over medium heat. Place patty seasoned side down into heated pan, season second side, and fry burger until browned on both sides and done in the middle to your liking, turning once. Remove from pan and set aside.

Spread a slice of bread with mustard, top with half of cheeses that have been grated and tossed together to mix, then burger patty, grilled onions, rest of cheese cupping with hand and letting the rest fall onto edges of bread. Spread a second slice of bread with mustard and place mustard side down onto cheese. Press lightly. Melt 1 Tbl. butter on heated pan keeping in pool the size of the bread. Carefully place sandwich on top of butter. Don't move it, and let it toast slowly so the cheese has time to melt. When browned, slide spatula underneath, move sandwich to side of pan and melt second Tbl. butter. Slide spatula back under sandwich and hold top with your hand, turn over in a rolling motion keeping sandwich intact, placing onto melted pool of butter. Toast second side slowly as well. When second side has browned, remove, carefully, to a cutting board. Let rest about 30 seconds, then slice in half corner-to-corner.

Serve hot with lots of napkins and a frosty beer! (*Triple recipe to use full pound of ground beef and invite two friends over for lunch!)