Patty Melt Sliders with Secret Sauce

Patty Melt Sliders - ground beef and cheese with caramelized onions.

Patty Melt Sliders with Secret Sauce

Beef Patty Melt Sliders with Secret Sauce are oven-baked and full of ground beef, caramelized onions, and melted cheese.

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 45

Servings: 12 sliders

Calories: 286kcal

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 pkg. slider buns 12 count
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby Jack or Pepper Jack cheese

Caramelized Onions

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter
2 yellow onions thinly sliced
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Secret Sauce

1/2 cup spicy brown mustard or smoky mustard we love Holmes-Made Smoky Cowboy Mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs. your favorite BBQ sauce

Instructions

Make the Secret Sauce

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard and bbq sauce; reserve.

Make the Caramelized Onions

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbs. butter and 1 Tbs. oil; when the fats are nicely hot, add the sliced onions, tossing to combine. Stir in the vinegar and brown sugar; cook the onions, stirring often, until they are nicely caramelized, approx 15-20 minutes; reserve.

Make the Sliders

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until cooked throughout and no pink remains (160 degrees F internal temperature); drain any fats that may accumulate. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and half of the reserved secret sauce; keep warm.
Slice the slider buns in half, separating the tops from the bottoms. Place the bottom halves of the buns into a greased 9 x 13 pan; spread with the remaining secret sauce, then sprinkle with half of the cheese.
Top the cheese layer with the warm ground beef mixture, then spread the caramelized onions over the beef. Top the beef with the remaining cheese, then add the top buns halves.
In a small saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter; using a silicone brush, brush the butter over the sliders; cover the pan with foil.
Bake the sliders on the center rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until hot throughout. If you like crusty tops, remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of the baking time. Serve at once.

Notes

To keep the sliders warm when serving them, wrap them individually in foil and place them in a slow cooker on the warm setting. Since sliders are small (and people usually eat 2), you can even wrap up two at a time to save foil and make the job quicker.

Sometimes the bottom slider buns can get a little big soggy from the sauce and also from the melted butter. To remedy this, place the bottom buns into the greased baking dish and then into a 350 degree F. oven; bake for 10 minutes to slightly crisp up the buns.

Since sliders are small, I always plan for 2 sliders per female guest and 3 sliders for each male guest.

This recipe is easy to cut in half or to double – it works great either way.

If you’d like to make sliders and freeze them to bake later – go for it. Just remember that you’ll want to bake the sliders from frozen. Thawing the sliders before baking tends to make them soggy.

We usually make these sliders with ground beef (since we raise cattle) but on occasion I’ve made them with ground bison and even ground venison – still delicious. Feel free to make them with any ground meat you prefer!

Nutrition