After making an Animal Style Burger, I had to do another rendition with this Animal Style Patty Melt. This is based on the Five Guys Grilled Cheese Patty Melt that blew me away, except you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home!
To make this delicious recipe, I took some Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise and made the classic special sauce. Then, I caramelized onions and smashed some burgers patties. Then, all you have to do is use upside down burger buns with gooey cheese, and you have a winner!
It will only take you 15 minutes of prep and 1.25 hours of cooking to make enough for 4 people.
These Animal Style Patty Melts only take 15 minutes to prep and an hour and 15 minutes to cook! The process is straightforward and results in a delicious meal for up to four people.
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Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Animal Style Patty Melt
This stacked sandwich is similar to our Grilled Cheese BBQ Cheeseburger, while bringing that animal-style flavor. The key is the caramelized onions, special sauce, and some gooey American cheese.
Wanting to try a classic patty melt? Try our Chopped Texas Patty Melt, Cheesy Patty Melt, and Oklahoma Onion Patty Melt.
Animal Style Patty Melt Ingredients
To start creating your delicious patties, take some ground beef and add kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and yellow mustard.
Then, you’ll make some caramelized onions out of yellow onions and a little oil.
Mix up your special sauce by combining Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise, ketchup, yellow mustard, relish, white vinegar, and white sugar.
Finally, build your burger with some brioche burger buns, sliced American cheese, and sliced bacon.
How to Make an Animal Style Patty Melt
Caramelized Onions:
To make some tasty caramelized onions, preheat your grill to medium heat (around 300F) for direct cooking.
Next, add a cast iron skillet to preheat for 2 minutes over the fire. Then, add 2 tbsp of oil and your diced onions. Slow cook the onions, making sure to stir often, until they turn to a dark brown color (about 45 minutes of cooking).
Once the onions are done, pull them off and keep warm.
Patty Melt:
Prep
Now for the main event! Start by heating your grill to a high heat (around 400F) for direct cooking.
While the grill is heating, let’s make the special sauce. All you have to do is mix all the ingredients for the special sauce in a small bowl and then place in the fridge until ready to use.
Next, add a large skillet or plancha over the flames to heat and add some sliced bacon to the cold skillet. Cook them bacon until crispy, then pull off and mop up any excess bacon fat in the skillet.
To make your patties, grab a handful of ground beef (around 1/4 lbs… ish) and gently roll it into a ball. Repeat this process to make each beef patty until you’re out of meat. It should yield anywhere from 6-8 patties.
Cook Your Burgers
Now, get your skillet ripping hot (so it’s gently smoking), and then add a couple of burger balls to the skillet. Place a piece of parchment over one ball and then firmly press with the spatula until the burger is “smashed” on the skillet.
Season the patty with salt, pepper and garlic. Let cook for another 1-1.5 minutes.
Before flipping, drizzle some yellow mustard on the unflipped patty for a bit of added flavor. Then, carefully flip the burger patty over and season the new side. Top with a slice of cheese and let melt for 1-2 minutes.
Once melted, stack one completed patty on top of another (so you have a double patty) and then remove them from the grill to rest. Repeat for the rest of your beef patties.
Build Your Sandwich
Finally, build your patty melt with an upside down bottom burger bun, slice of melty cheese, special sauce, double patties, caramelized onions, more special sauce, bacon and the top bun on upside down. Feel free to add any other extra toppings you might want!
Add the patty melts to the skillet and toast the buns. Once golden brown, serve and enjoy!
Good news, other animal style recipes are just within reach! If you love this patty melt, try our Animal Style Cheesesteak and Animal Style Burger.
Tips and Tricks
Keep in mind, the onions take at least 45 minutes to really get the amazing flavor, so make sure to build in that time for cooking.
The special sauce is key, so don’t skip it! You could easily make it while the onions are caramelizing. There will be plenty of time to mix it up as they cook.
Finally, you can smash these patties or do your favorite burger! It’s all up to your preference of how thick you prefer your beef patties.
How to Store Leftovers & Reheat
Store any leftover patties and other Animal Style Patty Melt ingredients in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot skillet for maximum flavor.
What to Serve with Your Animal Style Patty Melt
Make this recipe into a full cookout by adding some hot dogs, grilling up some potato wedges, and making a variety of sides, like mac and cheese, a fresh veggie tray, or fruit salad.
Recipe FAQ’s
You can absolutely use a different type of bread for these tasty patty melts. Traditionally, patty melts are made with rye bread, and they also taste delicious with Texas toast sandwich bread.
You can absolutely use a different type of onion for this sandwich. Sweet onions or vidalia onions are great options. White or red onions will have a different flavor, but you can use them if that’s what you prefer.
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Animal Style Patty Melt
Ingredients
Beef:
- 1.5 lbs Ground Beef 85/15
- 1.5 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1.5 tbsp Black Pepper
- 1.5 tbsp Garlic Powder
- Yellow Mustard as needed
Caramelized Onions:
- 2 Whole Yellow Onion sliced
- Canola Oil as needed
Special Sauce:
- ½ cup Primal Kitchen Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Ketchup
- ¼ cup Yellow Mustard
- 2.5 tbsp Relish
- 2 tbsp White Vinegar
- 1 tbsp White Sugar
Burger:
- Brioche Burger Buns
- Sliced American Cheese
- Sliced Bacon
Instructions
Caramelized Onions:
- Preheat your grill to medium heat (around 300F) for direct cooking.
- Add a cast iron skillet to heat up for 2 minutes over the fire.
- Add 2 tbsp of oil then your diced onion. Slow cook the onions, making sure to stir often, until they turn to a dark brown color (about 45 minutes of cooking).
- Once the onions are done, pull them off and keep warm.
Patty Melt:
- In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the special sauce then place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Heat your grill at high heat (around 400F) for direct cooking.
- Add a cast iron skillet or plancha over the flames to heat and add some sliced bacon to the cold skillet.
- Cook the bacon till crispy, then pull off and mop up any excess bacon fat in the skillet.
- Grab a handful of ground beef (around 1/4 lbs… ish) and gently roll it into a ball. Repeat this for 6-8 balls or until you’re out of meat.
- Get your skillet ripping hot (so it's gently smoking).
- Add a burger ball to the skillet. Place a piece of parchment over one ball and then firmly press with the spatula until the burger is “smashed” on the skillet.
- Season the patty with salt, pepper and garlic. Let cook for another 1-1.5 minutes.
- Before flipping, drizzle some yellow mustard on the unflipped patty.
- Carefully flip the burger patty over and then season the new side.
- Top with a slice of cheese and let melt for 1-2 minutes. Once melted, pull off and rest.
- Repeat for the rest of your patties.
- Build your patty melt with an upside down bottom butter bun, slice of cheese, special sauce, double patties, caramelized onions, more special sauce, bacon and the top bun on upside down.
- Add the patty melts to the skillet and toast the buns. Once golden brown, serve and enjoy!
Love your cooking style!!