Experience the legendary flavors of Steak and Shake’s most beloved sandwich with this perfect copycat Frisco Patty Melt recipe. What sets this patty melt apart from all others is the restaurant’s signature approach: a specially blended beef patty made from multiple cuts, two distinct cheeses for complex flavor, and a unique sauce that combines French dressing, Thousand Island, ketchup, and Worcestershire.
Served on golden, buttered sourdough bread, this sandwich delivers the perfect balance of juicy beef, melted cheese, and tangy sauce that made Steak and Shake famous. Unlike traditional patty melts, this version skips the grilled onions, focusing instead on the pure harmony of premium ingredients.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The secret lies in replicating Steak and Shake’s multi-cut beef blend that creates superior flavor and texture compared to single-cut ground beef. Their combination of round, sirloin, and T-bone creates the perfect fat-to-lean ratio for maximum juiciness and taste. The dual cheese system works brilliantly: Swiss provides nutty complexity while American delivers smooth meltability. The signature sauce combines multiple flavor profiles in one perfect condiment, while the buttered sourdough creates the ideal crispy exterior and soft interior contrast.
Ingredients
Burger Mix:
- Ground round – Provides lean protein base with excellent beefy flavor
- Ground sirloin – Adds premium taste and ideal fat content for juiciness
- Ground chuck – Contributes richness and helps bind the mixture perfectly
Seasoning Mix:
- Salt – Enhances all flavors and helps develop the perfect crust
- Ground black pepper – Adds warm spice and aromatic depth
- Onion salt – Provides savory onion flavor without texture
- Garlic salt – Delivers aromatic garlic taste throughout each bite
Frisco Sauce:
- Thousand Island dressing – Contributes creamy richness and pickle notes
- French salad dressing – Adds tangy sweetness and smooth texture
- Ketchup – Provides sweet tomato base and familiar burger flavor
- Worcestershire sauce – Delivers umami depth and savory complexity
Sandwich Components:
- Sourdough bread – Creates the perfect tangy, sturdy base for grilling
- Softened butter – Essential for achieving golden, crispy bread exterior
- American cheese – Provides smooth, creamy melt and classic burger taste
- Swiss cheese – Delivers nutty, complex cheese flavor that melts beautifully
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prepare the beef mixture: In a medium bowl, combine ground round, ground sirloin, and ground chuck. Mix gently without overworking to maintain a tender texture. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up.
- Create seasoning blend: While meat rests, combine salt, black pepper, onion salt, and garlic salt in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly for even distribution.
- Make Frisco sauce: Combine Thousand Island dressing, French salad dressing, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Whisk until smooth and well blended. Set aside.
- Form meat portions: Remove meat from the refrigerator and form into four loose balls, approximately 4 ounces each. Don’t compress tightly, as they’ll be smashed during cooking.
- Preheat cooking surface: Heat griddle to 375°F or preheat large cast iron pan over medium-high heat until hot.
- Prepare bread: Butter one side of each sourdough slice. If using a griddle, place the bread butter-side down to toast while cooking the burgers. If using a skillet, toast the bread first and set aside.
- Cook the patties: Place meatballs on a hot cooking surface. Immediately press with a spatula to create thin patties with crispy edges. Season tops with seasoning mix. Cook for 2-3 minutes until edges brown.
- Flip and finish: Flip patties when the edges are browned. Season again and immediately top with cheese slices. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes until the cheese melts and the patties are cooked through.
- Assemble sandwiches: Spread Frisco sauce generously on untoasted side of bread. Layer toasted bread, Swiss cheese-topped patty, American cheese-topped patty, and top slice of toasted bread.
- Serve immediately:Â Cut diagonally and serve hot while the cheese is perfectly melted and the bread maintains its crispy texture.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator Storage: Store cooked patties separately from assembled sandwiches for up to 3 days in airtight containers.
- Reheating Method: Reheat patties in a skillet over medium heat. Assemble fresh sandwiches for best texture and flavor.
- Sauce Storage:Â Frisco sauce is kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in a sealed container.
Want more great burgers? Check out these recipes
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- Best Garlic Burger Recipe
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Be sure to take a look a more of my easy recipes with ground beef and the best fast food copycat recipes.
Steak and Shake Frisco Patty Melt – Easy Copycat Recipe
Juicy beef patty with Swiss and American cheese, special sauce, on buttered sourdough bread. Perfect copycat of the famous Steak and Shake melt!
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Servings: 2
Calories: 1606kcal
Ingredients
Burger Mix
- 8 ounces ground round
- 4 ounces ground sirloin
- 4 ounces ground chuck
Seasoning Mix
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Frisco Sauce
- 1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
- 1/2 cup French Salad dressing
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Sandwich Ingredients
- 4 slices sourdough bread
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
- 2 slices American cheese
- 2 slices Swiss cheese
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl combine the ground round, ground sirloin, and ground chuck. Combine and mix. Allow meat to rest about 10 minutes in the refrigerator before forming 4 – 4-ounce balls of meat.
- While the meat is resting combine the salt, black pepper, onion salt, and garlic salt in a small bowl. You will use this burger seasoning on the burger.
- Prepare the Frisco sauce by combining the thousand island dressing, French salad dressing, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.
- Preheat the griddle to 375 degrees, if you do not have a griddle I suggest that you use a large cast iron pan. If you have a large griddle butter 4 pieces of bread on one side, and allow the bread to toast on the griddle while the burger cook. If you do not have a griddle you may want to toast the bread on one side in your skillet before you cook the beef.
- Once the cooking surface had heated up fully place the meatballs onto the skillet. You will need to press the burgers into thin patties. Use a spatula to press the burgers into thin patties. Season with the burger seasoning. These burgers cook very quickly 2 to 3 minutes on the first side. Once the edges begin to brown flip the burgers and season them again. Place the 4 slices of cheese onto the meat patties. They will need to cook for another minute or two before they have cooked through.
- To build the burgers spread the Frisco sauce on the untoasted portion of the bread liberally. Build your burger starting with a piece of the toasted bread, and then place a meat patty topped with Swiss cheese, and then one topped with American cheese, and top with a piece of toasted bread.
Nutrition
Calories: 1606kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 70g | Fat: 103g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Cholesterol: 230mg | Sodium: 3242mg | Potassium: 1053mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 1105IU | Vitamin C: 2.9mg | Calcium: 555mg | Iron: 10.9mg
Way way way too much salt. I made the seasoning mixture as called for, didn’t even add all of it, and it still was too salty. I will definitely make again, but will go lighter on the seasoning or even season all the meat at one time instead of while cooking each side.
I am very sorry you felt my level of suggested seasoning was not to your taste.
Just perfect….I tasted the sauce alone and it doesn’t taste like steak and shake…but my god, you put it on a melt of yours and bam…it becomes the Frisco Melt lol.
Well, that’s the idea 😉
This sauce is half way right and the comment above is half way right. The Frisco sauce is thousand island and French dressing 50/50. There is no ketchup or Worcestershire sauce in the Frisco Melt, they’re is the chili mac sauce. I worked at Steak N Shake for two.years and so has almost every member of my family.
I want both sides of my rye bread toasted in the skillet with butter(although sourdough is a close second), my onions grilled in butter, cheese on the first bread, then burger(salt and pepper yes!)on top of that cheese. Slap those beautiful grilled onions (the more the better) then slap o some more cheese (to hold the onions) top with second bread. When bottom cheese starts to melt, flip that whole baby and grill the other side, until all cheese is melted. If it drips when I take a bite, it’s done! That’s a Patty Melt!!
That sounds like a great way to make a patty melt.
Delicious! Looks fabulous!
I worked at Steak N Shake for years. The meat comes to the store frozen. Frisco sauce is 1000 Island dressing. They have what is called a Frisco Melt and then your regular Patty Melt that is on Rye bread and has grilled onions. The Frisco Melt is on sourdough as noted with American and Swiss. There isn’t any kind of seasoning on the hamburger patties themselves. Not even salt and pepper.
Yes, I’ve had theirs, and a “patty melt without grilled onions “is NOT a real great tasting patty melt”.
Also, their sauce combo was “way too sweet”, with that ketchup added…I think you “nailed it” here copying theirs…But, I just was disappointed in “their way”.(except for the meat mix and sour dough bread:)