12 Patty Melts That Will Melt Your Heart

For the uninitiated, a patty melt can be riffed upon (proof being the recipes that will follow) but incorporates, classically, some key elements. It’s a burger patty, often a thin one (or smashed), served on griddled bread instead of a bun, with caramelized onions smushed in and Swiss cheese. The bread? Interestingly, the most iconic bread for this is rye, and its caraway-spiked character does do nice things for the sandwich with its particular je ne sais quoi. But it wasn’t born that way: Its inventor, largely credited to be William Wallace “Tiny” Naylor, working out of Tiny’s Waffle Shop in San Francisco in the 1940s, first went with sourdough, giving the sandwich a logical sense of place. However, when he later opened a restaurant in southern California, where good sourdough was harder to come by, he switched the bread to rye. This is just a tidbit of food history, if you’re interested, but let’s get to the point here. Once you get the basic idea—build a burger on bread with tasty add-ons, then griddle it—there’s no turning back; you’ll be hit with Cupid’s arrow over this sandwich. The patty melt doesn’t mind if you’ve never heard of it. It’s doing just fine converting eaters one sandwich at a time.

Ree Drummond skews pretty classic with her patty melt, but she makes it a no-brainer for the first timer. A little nip of Worcestershire in the meat helps ensure enough depth and saltiness to stand up to the caramelized onions and Swiss cheese. Griddle the assembled sandwich to fuse all the parts and get that crispness on the outside of the rye bread. Heaven.

No shade on the classic patty melt—we can’t get enough!—but its best quality, all the components sort of melting together, can mean that it’s a comfort-foody-not-so-challenging portfolio of flavors (rye bread notwithstanding). But Trisha Yearwood wakes things up with her take on the melt. Besides bacon, that well-documented notch-raiser-upper, juicy, charred and sweet grilled pineapple stands in for the onions, and a zesty homemade pimiento cheese—itself fortified with jalapeños—ensures that this sandwich qualifies as a party melt. Oof, we know, but it hurts so good.

Texas toast is a classic substitution for the rye bread on a diner-style patty melt, providing an airy and crisp yet melting exterior. Molly Yeh cooks some peppers alongside the onions, and stirs some caraway seeds into the mayo-mustard, so you won’t miss the rye. The resulting sandwiches are so flavorful and juicy; don’t forget the extra napkins.

Let’s level with each other: Turkey burgers do not have the best reputation. If you’ve eaten one that was dry, you know firsthand how things can go south. But Guy Fieri makes sure that this one is deserving of its place in Flavortown. First of all, a patty melt might be the solution to any turkey burger drama you’ve ever had; once the caramelized onions and cheese are packed in there—plus, it’s griddled—it is simply impossible for the sandwich to be dry. But in addition, Guy makes sure that the meat’s seasoning is on-point so the patty can even stand on its own, with sage and thyme.

In a nod to its Reuben-y cousin, this melt is stuffed full of sauerkraut. (Incidentally, the Reuben rose in popularity alongside the patty melt on the diner sandwich timeline.) And in addition, though Michael Symon leaves the actual type of meat used up to the home cook, we love the suggestion to go with pork, which is a natural partner to the kraut. Another thing we love about this recipe is the simplicity. Going with store-bought kraut means cutting out the onion caramelizing time, so you can be eating in under 20 minutes.

Is it tuna melt meets patty melt? Is it tuna melt meets Reuben? There’s no need to classify this sandwich, which is packed with a superlative tuna salad and sauerkraut and slathered with an addictive homemade Thousand Island dressing. But it’s genius, and it will make any tuna melt devotees, well, melt.

All this iconic sandwich needs to turn it into a complete meal is something fresh and crunchy on the side. Here, that comes in the form of an apple cabbage slaw, whose notes of fresh sweetness cross-check the caramelized onions in the melt. These come together without too much effort; you cook the beef patties in the broiler and then griddle the assembled sandwiches for those crisp, buttery edges.

Kelsey Nixon takes a patty melt and enrolls it in finishing school. By customizing the blend of the meat with ground sirloin and short ribs, she ups the flavor and richness of the patty. A homemade pimiento cheese is an ideal complement, and its fresh chopped onions layer on another dimension to go with the caramelized ones.

This melt gains points for style, with that sexy marble rye. Cheddar stands in for Swiss, and the ground beef gets that extra little kick of seasoning salt. Pour yourself a frosty glass of beer for alongside and get in there.

Rachael Ray gives the patty melt an Italian-inspired flair. Those very thin patties are spiked with fresh rosemary, Fresno chiles, garlic and parsley; baby spinach adds a nice vegetal contrast (and moisture). White bread is a fun change of pace here, and sharp provolone is an oh yeah touch.

Sunny Anderson pairs ground chicken with fresh chorizo, for the perfect mix of supporting character plus extroverted headliner. She swaps in flatbread or naan for the bread, which gives an interesting textural contrast of sturdy crispness to hold in the juicy flavors. It’s unlike any other patty melt on this list, so it’s perfect for when you have the urge but also crave something different.