Flavorful seasoned beef is piled high on a bun creating a quick and easy meal your whole family will love. You don't have to be from Iowa to enjoy the classic Loose Meat Sandwich!
This simple recipe is similar in style to a Sloppy Joes, but a bit less saucy. These sandwiches are perfect for a no-fuss meal or feeding a crowd.
What is a Loose Meat Sandwich
These are commonly known as a Loose Meat Sandwich, served at popular eateries like Canteen Lunch in the Alley. However, locals will often refer to it as a Maid-Rite sandwich instead, after the popular Maid-Rite restaurant chain, or simply as a Tavern Sandwich, where they are also frequently served.
Primarily consisting of finely crumbled seasoned ground beef and chopped onions, a Loose Meat Sandwich is eaten like a messy hamburger. Traditionally this sandwich is served on cheap hamburger buns with dill pickles and yellow mustard. However, I have it on good authority that ketchup and sometimes even cheese is added by locals.
I guess it is one of those things like the classic Wisconsin bratwurst. It is claimed that it is only authentically served with mustard, but I don't know anyone in Wisconsin who actually adheres to that. Myself included... Beer Brat Sauce is where it is at folks! But, I am getting sidetracked...
Loose Meat Sandwich vs Sloppy Joe
So is a Loose Meat Sandwich just another name for homemade Sloppy Joes? No. The major difference between a Loose Meat Sandwich and a Sloppy Joe is the absence of a tomato-based sauce. Well, really a sauce of any kind. Rather than swimming in a seasoned sauce, a loose meat sandwich is simply dry crumbles of flavored ground beef served like a loose hamburger. However, if you are really craving a wet sloppy Joe that tastes like a burger, I got you covered! Check out my Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes recipe, I promise you'll love it!
Roseanne's Loose Meat Sandwich
Though regionally popular in Iowa since the 1920s, Loose Meat Sandwiches owe much of their national fame to the TV show Roseanne. The sitcom featured Loose Meat Sandwiches at Roseanne and Jackie's restaurant, The Landford Lunchbox. However, the restaurant was not completely Hollywood fiction, Roseanne and then-husband Tom Arnold opened their own real-life restaurant, 'Roseanne and Tom's Big Food Diner' serving none other than Loose Meat Sandwiches.
Ingredients Needed
- Ground Beef - Fattier beef, like ground chuck, will carry more flavor but you can use lean ground beef if you want to save on calories.
- Butter - You can substitute olive oil or even bacon grease.
- Onion - I like using yellow onions best.
- Beef broth
- Worcestershire sauce
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Brown Sugar
How to Make It
Making your own Loose Meat Sandwiches is incredibly simple and doesn't require much time. Brown ground beef in a large skillet, or saute pan, often with a little extra fat to assist with the browning, then the fat is drained, and onions and seasonings are added. If you want the extra richness of the fat, you are welcome to keep it in the skillet, but draining it is certainly healthier and still flavorful.
I enhance the rich flavor of the beef by adding Worcestershire sauce and beef broth, plus a touch of sweetness and tang from brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. Though initially soupy, simply continue cooking the beef mixture until all of the liquid has evaporated. The flavor will soak into the beef.
Once the ground beef mixture has thickened up it is ready to serve. Pile meat on hamburger buns with your favorite toppings. Pickles and mustard are the traditional choices, but if you are looking to be unconventional add some Cheddar cheese or hot sauce.
What to serve with these sandwiches?
A simple meal like this is best paired with traditional sides that you would often see at a burger joint. I would recommend any of the following:
- French fries
- Onion rings
- Steak fries
- Potato chips
- Sweet potato fries
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Loose Meat Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground Beef
- 2 tablespoons Butter (oil or bacon grease can be substituted)
- ½ Onion (diced)
- 2 cups Beef broth
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
Serving
- Pickles
- Mustard
- 8 Hamburger buns
Instructions
- Melt butter in saute pan over medium heat and add ground beef.
- Cook the beef until it browns and is no longer pink, breaking it up into small crumbles as it cooks.
- Drain fat from the pan and add onions, beef broth, Worcestershire, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until all liquid has evaporated.
- Use a slotted spoon to serve onto hamburger buns with dill pickles and mustard.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published May 30, 2018 on FoxValleyFoodie.com.
Trish
My mama grew up in Muscatine, Iowa on the banks of the Mississippe River. My grandmother was a TERRIBLE COOK!!!!!!!!!! Whenever my mom, and my sister and I visited my grandmother, we ALWAYS went for Maid Rites a couple of times. And they were always awesome. I watched when the cook was cooking the Maid Rite Sandwich meat and saw that he put what looked like black/brown (burnt?) syrup in the pot with the meat and other seasonings. Since I was kind of a cheeky nosy little girl I asked the cook what the thick icky black stuff was that he put in with the meat. He told me that it was root beer syrup. He probably thought that I would forget, but I never did. I told my mother and she put a can of root beer in whenever she cooked Maid Rites after that (if you use a can of root beer with two pounds of ground beef you have to cook the meat until most of the liquid in the root beer cooks off (you could probably buy root beer flavoring in the spice section of the supermarket so you wouldn't have to cook so long, but I just love the smell of Maid Rites cooking anyway). My family has always loved these loose meat sandwhiches. There are just so many condiments that you can put on them other than Just mustard and pickles. Since I was little and my mom made these, we always wrapped the bottom half of the sandwich in wax paper so that the loose meat wouldn't fall out the bottom of the kid's sandwiches. I still wrap mine. The recipe has been handed down to children, grandchildren and probably will be handed down to great-grandchildren. Wonderful memories and delicious sandwiches.
Donna Marie Rogers
Would like to try, but wondering where the high level of potassium comes from? My husband has kidney disease, and this sounded perfect since there's no tomato in it, but this has a lot of potassium and I'm not sure what I could leave out to bring it down. Thanks!
Jan G
My husband, who is a picky eater ate 3 sandwiches. He did not want mustard and pickle, he chose horseradish sauce. I just ate mine plain. We will be adding this to the rotation for quick weeknight meals...thank you.
Pam
Love this version, sometimes better than traditional sloppy joes. But add 2 Tbsp good soy sauce and 2 tsp of yellow mustard.omit the salt
Ryan dougherty
delicious!! Definitely on the dinner rotation
Phebe Snyder
These are excellent! I have made them twice now, recipe exactly as written. The pickle and mustard are the icing on the cake. Even though I don’t choose pickles and mustard on my hamburger-they really compliment the flavors of this dish. These sandwiches are a hit with my husband as well.
Second time I made them I doubled the recipe. Served them as our first meal when the family started gathering for Christmas Holidays.
I do have a question. Have you made them in an instant pot? Was wondering about cooking time and release instructions?
Thank you and thanks again for the fun and tasty recipe.
Kelly
My husband made these tonight after watching a rerun of Roseanne he searched for a recipe and came up with this one. I didn’t think I would be crazy about them considering we never had a loose meat sandwich in NY or NJ but we loved them! We added pickles, mustard and cheese and they kind of reminded us of a McDonalds cheeseburger. We will definitely make these again!
Thad
Well I was born and raised in the hometown of the original Made-Rite sandwich shop. The owner added root beer to the mix, it gave it the sweet flavor that it's known for. I don't know what the original seasoning mix consisted of but root beer was one of the ingredients. If you step foot in one of the restaurants chances are that you will find a root beer on the drink menu.
mike v
just had loose meat and onions and celery with sharp cheader cheese with the leftovers i will put on pickles and mustard but only have spicy brown mustard
Lynn
Try wrapping them in sandwich or wax paper and steaming them before serving. That’s how the taverns that I had were served. Makes all the difference!
Carmen Rudkins
During the years1955 to 1957 I worked at the Tastee Inn and Out in Sioux City, Iowa and we served loose meat burgers and they were so good. I have been looking for the recipe so will try yours and then let you know what I think. Thanks!
Lynn
I love that place! Best loose meat sandwich I ever had
Glo
Tastee inn and out is a little different recipe. Been going there for years!
Corey palmer
This is my second time making this great dish. And as a single guy I love the leftovers they taste maybe even better!
Heath Jarvis
The Lanford Lunchbox from the Roseanne TV show was based on a real restaurant in Ottumwa, Iowa called "The Canteen". Ottumwa is just a few miles from Tom Arnold's home town of Eldon, Iowa.
The Canteen opened (depending on who you ask) somewhere between 1928 and 1936. Their t-shirts say 1936, but others say it opened earlier than that. It is located in an alley in Ottumwa. Several years ago, when Ottumwa built a parking garage on the same block as the Canteen, they basically built AROUND the restaurant, to preserve its history.
The Canteen serves loose meat burgers, loose meat cheeseburgers (they use Cheez Whiz and it is awesome), and homemade pies. You can buy a bag of chips or a candy bar, but most people are satisfied with the sandwiches and pies.
This is one of my all-time favorite sandwiches, and your recipe is VERY close to what I get in Iowa!
Sara
I’m a born and raised ottumwa Iowan and love the canteen definitely a hometown favorite!
marjorie Austin
This was delicious! Thank you so much
Lydia Rose
Must have something to do with the flavor of ground beef. I have never heard of "loose meat burgers" before , but I have been fixing a version of this for umpteen years.
Being from the Southwest, New Mexico to be exact, I add salt, chopped onion, garlic and jalapenos. Cook it up, put it in a flour tortilla, top with cheese, a little extra fresh onion and salsa......roll it up......and wala....you got yourself a burrito!
Tracee
I use ground Bison instead of ground beef. I’m a Texan who loves loose meat sandwiches!
Clifford streckenbach
Excellent keep up the great recipes