Enjoy the irresistible flavors of Waffle House Texas Bacon Patty Melt! This homemade delight packs a hearty punch with a juicy burger patty, perfectly sautéed onions, crispy bacon, and melted cheese all sandwiched between golden, toasted bread. It’s a lunch or dinner game-changer that brings the comfort of Waffle House right into your kitchen. This delicious sandwich is sure to please.
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What Makes the Waffle House Texas Bacon Patty Melt So Good?
Whatever you do, don’t call a patty melt a hamburger on bread. There is science to making a good patty melt, and it is clear that the folks at Waffle House did their homework.
The Waffle House Texas Bacon Patty Melt checks all the correct boxes with its juicy, well-seasoned ground beef patty, sweet caramelized onions, and gooey American cheese. But then they added smoky bacon and thick-cut Texas toast for extra credit.
The result is a genuinely satisfying sandwich with a delicious combination of flavors and textures that may have you eating fewer burgers.
Why You Should Try This Waffle House Texas Patty Melt Recipe
When you want something a bit different, but it still must be easy to make, inexpensive, and tasty, you can’t go wrong with a Bacon Patty Melt. Master the Waffle House Texas Patty Melt, and your family and friends are in for a special treat.
They’ll enjoy a warm sandwich with buttery toasted bread, melty cheese, crispy bacon, and a juicy beef patty.
Waffle House Texas Patty Melt With Bacon Ingredients
To make a homemade patty melt with bacon on Texas toast, you’ll need:
- Bacon
- White onion
- Ground chuck
- Unsalted butter
- Texas Toast-style bread
- American cheese
- Salt – table salt, sea salt, or kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Texas Toast is not a brand of bread but any thick-sliced sandwich bread. Use white bread with extra thick slices, like Sara Lee’s Artisano Bread.
You can use mayonnaise instead of butter to toast the bread.
A dry patty melt is not good, so don’t go leaner than an 85/15 blend for the ground chuck.
How to Make a Waffle House Patty Melt
To cook a Waffle House Patty Melt with bacon:
- Place a flat griddle or a large skillet over medium heat to medium-high heat. Using a two-burner flat griddle will save time since you can prepare all the patty melts at once.
- When the cooking surface is hot, fry the bacon on both sides until crispy, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- While the bacon is cooking, peel and thinly slice the white onion.
- Remove the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain—reserve for later.
- Saute the onions in the remaining bacon grease until soft. Push them off to the side to continue to brown while cooking the patties. Keep an eye on the onions and stir them occasionally.
- Form 4 thin patties using the ground beef. Season the patties heavily with salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.
- Cook the patties to your preference. For medium, cook the patties for four minutes on one side, flip, and three more minutes on the other side.
- While the patties are cooking, heat a heavy-bottom pan over medium heat. Butter one side of each slice of bread with about a teaspoon of butter. Place the bread buttered-side down in the pan and cover each one with a slice of cheese. Heat the bread until golden brown, and the cheese melts. If necessary, toast the bread in batches.
To assemble and serve the patty melt:
- Place a cooked meat patty on one piece of cheese-side-up toasted bread.
- Top the patty with a quarter of the onions and two pieces of bacon. Cover with another cheese-side-down piece of toasted bread.
- Press the sandwich gently, cut it in half, and serve.
Recipe Variations
Sticking to the original Waffle House patty melt recipe is okay, but there are other options. Here are a few suggestions:
- Replace the cheese. American cheese is popular because it melts well, but don’t fear using different types of cheese. Monterey Jack, Swiss cheese, provolone, cheddar cheese, edam cheese, or even blue cheese crumble are all good options.
- Add your favorite BBQ sauce. Adding a few tablespoons of BBQ sauce to the caramelized onion gives your sandwich extra flavor with a hint of sweetness and more smokiness.
- Add more toppings. Pull off the top bread and put a few lettuce leaves and sliced tomato on top of the cooked patty. Then put the top bread back on the sandwich.
- Swap the bread. A reference to Texas Toast is right in the name of this sandwich, but that shouldn’t stop you from using other pieces of bread. Sourdough, rye bread, or wheat toast will add a new element to the sandwich.
- Give it Umami. Mix a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce into the beef for a richer flavor touch.
- Use other meat. Replace the beef patty with grilled chicken or boneless pork chops.
What to Serve It With
Make a complete meal of this classic dish with these sides:
- Potato chips. Although many people prefer French fries, certain sandwiches like clubs, BLTs, and patty melts just taste better with quality potato chips.
- Pickles. Leave those limp pickle spears alone and enjoy a crunchy whole pickle. Feel free to choose your favorite, but half-sour pickles are ideal.
- Coleslaw. Great coleslaw is a refreshing side dish and echos the creamy crunchiness of a patty melt.
- Condiments. Ketchup and mustard are great for a patty melt.
How to Store the Leftovers
By their very nature, patty melts are an ooey-gooey sandwich. That means they can get overly messy after sitting for too long. However, if you must keep leftovers in the fridge overnight, put them in an airtight container.
For longer storage, you can freeze it. Wrap the patty melt in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil or place the wrapped sandwich in a plastic freezer bag. It will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight then let it sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature before reheating it.
What Is the Best Way to Reheat a Texas Patty Melt?
Heating a patty melt is always a compromise between drying out the bread too much and not warming the beef enough. Since it is difficult to separate a patty melt, using a two-step method will give you the best results:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- While the oven is heating, wrap the patty melt in paper towels and microwave it for 20 seconds to warm slightly.
- Remove the paper towels and wrap the patty melt in aluminum foil.
- Place on a baking tray and heat in the hot oven for five minutes. Flip and cook for another five minutes or until hot.
Favorite Sandwich Recipes
- Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwich
- Burger King Chicken Sandwich
- Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich
- Egg Salad Sandwich
- Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Loose Meat Sandwich
- Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich
- Subway Tuna Sandwich
- Turkey Devonshire Sandwich
Popular Burger Recipes
Check out more of my easy sandwich recipes and the best restaurant copycat recipes on CopyKat!
Waffle House Texas Bacon Patty Melt
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon
- 1 large white onion sliced thin
- 1 pound ground chuck
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 8 slices bread thick sliced like Texas Toast
- 8 slices American cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add the bacon slices to the skillet. Cook until crisp, flipping as needed. This usually takes about 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness. Once cooked, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and set aside.
- In the same skillet with the bacon fat (remove some if it’s excessive), add the sliced onions. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, and push the onions to the side of the skillet or griddle.
- Shape the beef into 4 patties. Season both sides of the patties with salt and ground black pepper.
- Place the beef patties in the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes per side for medium doneness. Adjust the time based on your preferred level of doneness.
- While the burgers are cooking, toast the bread. Heat a clean medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Butter each slice of bread on one side. Place the bread butter-side down in the skillet. Lay one slice of American cheese on each bread slice. Heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until the bread is toasted. Remove bread from the skillet.
- Place the burger patties on the bread that has been toasted on top of the cheese.
- Add one-quarter of the grilled onions to the burger patty, place two slices of bacon on top of the grilled onions, and top with the other slice of toasted cheese bread.
- Slice the patty melts in half and serve immediately with your favorite condiments on the side.
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