The Best Venison Patty Melt Recipe
As great dinner sandwiches go, it is hard to beat a great patty melt recipe: ground meat, cheese and caramelized onions griddled on rye bread until they become crisp, oozing packages of salty-sweet delight. This recipe is about as traditional as you can get – but of course I used VENISON! Between the butter and the onions and the cheese, the sandwiches are decadent. Undercook the burger patties slightly before assembly, so they finish while you’re griddling the sandwiches at the end.WHAT IS A PATTY MELT?What is a patty melt? Is it a burger or a sandwich? It's really a bit of both. A patty melt is a sandwich similar to a cheeseburger, but it looks a bit different from the standard burger in that rye bread takes the place of a hamburger bun. There is also a specific set of toppings generally used in a patty melt. The cheese is typically Swiss, although Provolone is a great option as well. Sautéed onions are a must! While actually caramelizing onions can be a very long, slow process that may take an hour or more of constant stirring over low heat, you can get the job done with this recipe in just 15 minutes.HOW TO MAKE A PATTY MELTOne thing you'll appreciate about this patty melt recipe if you're not a fan of washing the dishes (is anyone?), is that the whole sandwich comes together in one skillet. First you use the cast iron skillet to cook the onions, then the burgers, then you toast the bread and melt the cheese right there in the same pan. Pretty darn convenient, and the sandwich is damn tasty, too.SAUTE THE ONIONSYou'll need to start things off by peeling and slicing the onion. Then, melt two tablespoons of the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions to the melted butter and cook them for about 15 minutes, until they are soft and brown, but not too brown (turn down the heat if they start to burn). Stir the brown sugar into the onions and cook them for another 5 minutes, then remove them from the skillet.COOK THE VENISON BURGERSForm the ground venison into 2 patties and season them with Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Cook the burgers over medium heat for 3 minutes, then turn them over and cook them for another 3 minutes until they are medium rare and still pink inside. Remember that we are dealing with lean venison so we don't want to overcook it and end up with dry meat.IT'S TIME TO BUILD YOUR TASTY PATTY MELT!Melt the remaining butter in the pan, then add 2 slices of bread. Cover each slice of bread with a slice of Swiss cheese and a burger patty, then add half the onions to each burger. Finish the sandwiches off with another slice of cheese and the remaining bread. Check the bottom slice of bread on each sandwich. if it looks toasted, flip the sandwich over and cook it until the other bread slice is toasted and the cheese is melted. Cut the sandwiches in half to make for less messy eating.French fries and potato chips are great sides for a patty melt just as they are with any burger. (Or sandwich.) MORE GREAT GROUND VENISON RECIPESI hope this Venison Patty Melt Recipe and my other venison recipes will give you inspiration and motivation you need to get excited about eating some of that deer, elk, antelope, or moose you have in your freezer. You might want to check out some of our family favorites, like my Venison Cheeseburger Sliders or my Venison Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese.If you are headed our way for North Dakota deer season, check out the North Dakota Game & Fish Department website. And if you want me to come along with you as your camp cook, photographer, or butcher, you can find out more details here.CONNECT WITH ME AND JOIN OUR WILD GAME COOKING COMMUNITYIf you make this Venison Patty Melt recipe, I’d love for you to join our community and connect with me so we can all see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #wildgameandfishDid you enjoy this Venison Patty Melt Recipe? Be sure to leave a 5-star rating RIGHT HERE!
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 1 large yellow onion, cut in half and sliced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 pound ground venison (deer, antelope, elk, or moose)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 slices Swiss or Provolone cheese (or similar)
- 8 slices pumpernickel rye bread
Instructions
- In a large cast iron skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Throw in the sliced onions and cook slowly until the onions are golden brown and soft, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir the brown sugar into the onions and cook them for another 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together the ground venison, Worcestershire and some salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties.
- When the onions are caramelized, transfer them to a plate. Then using the same skillet, melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the patties to the skillet and cook them for about 3 minutes on each side until medium rare in the middle. Transfer them to the same plate with the onions.
- Assemble the patty melts this way: Slice of bread, slice of cheese, a quarter of the cooked onions, venison burger patty, another slice of cheese and another slice of bread.
- Using the same large skillet over medium heat, melt yet another 2 tablespoons of the butter and grill two of the sandwiches until golden brown. Remove the sandwiches and add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet. Add the remaining two sandwiches to the skillet, flipping them to the other side. Cook until golden brown and crisp, and until the cheese is melted. Transfer to a cutting board and slice in half and serve immediately!
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