The most popular item on the Maid-Rite menu, these Loose Meat Sandwiches taste as good as the Iowa-famous diner classic. This easy ground beef recipe cooks in just 10 minutes!
Not quite as sloppy as a sloppy Joe, but still firmly in the category of “messy,” a Loose Meat Sandwich is the ultimate, all-American road food feast. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to try one at Tastee, Maid-Rite in Muscatine, Iowa, or even at Canteen Lunch in the Alley, you already know what all the fuss is about. If not, well then consider this recipe the next best thing.
Depending on where you are in the Midwest, the sandwich can be called a Nu-Way, Steamer, Big T, loose hamburger sandwich, tavern sandwich, or just a Maid Rite. Since the 1920s, it has been made with sautéed (sometimes steamed) ground beef and onions, served on a bun and dressed up with ketchup, mustard, and pickles.
If you love Sloppy Joes and hamburgers, then you need to add a tavern sandwich to your culinary bucket list.
Loose Meat Sandwich (Maid-Rite Copycat)
The most popular item on the Maid-Rite menu, these Loose Meat Sandwiches taste as good as the Iowa-famous diner classic. This easy ground beef recipe cooks in just 10 minutes!
Prep: 5min
Total: 10min
Yield: 4
Serving Size: 1 sandwich
Nutrition Facts: calories 302 kcal, servingSize 1 sandwich, Carbohydrate 3 g, Protein 20 g, Fat 23 g, Saturated Fat 9 g, Cholesterol 81 mg, Sodium 120 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 2 g
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef ((85/15 recommended, see note 1))
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup onion (finely chopped, plus more for topping (see note 2))
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 hamburger buns (split, for serving)
- Toppings
Instruction:
- In a large skillet, combine beef, water, mustard, and sugar. Simmer over medium heat until the beef is cooked through, about 5 minutes, breaking up clumps of meat with a spoon.
- Drain the fat if desired (I don’t, and it is closer to the original recipe if you don’t, but you can if you want). Stir in onion and season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper).
- Serve meat on buns with toppings on the side such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and pickles.
