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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.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Ground beef: I prefer a ground beef blend of 85% lean, 15% fat, for the best flavor.
- Onions: Yellow onions, white onions, or even shallots will do. I add them after the meat is cooked so they’re still a bit raw in the beef, just like a traditional Maid-Rite sandwich. Brown them in the skillet before browning the beef if you like them a little softer and milder in flavor.
- Hamburger buns: I love a good quality soft burger bun, toasted, buttered, and ready to go. But you can even make these slightly smaller soft dinner rolls for a buffet-style meal or a tailgate menu.
Step-by-step instructions
- 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 ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Serve meat on buns with toppings on the side, such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and pickles.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Maid-Rite recipe makes 4 delightfully sloppy sandwiches.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Feel free to make the meat up to 3 days in advance, then store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until warm, then pile inside hamburger buns.
- Freezer: Make the loose meat portion, then divvy it up in single-size or family-size servings in freezer-safe containers or zip-top bags. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
- Slow cooker: To make Loose Meat Sandwiches in a slow cooker, brown ground beef in a skillet, then add to a slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except buns to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 3 hours. Serve in buns.
- Optional seasonings: Some cooks swear by a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce to amp up the flavor.
- Take your Maid-Rite over the top: Any burger toppings you like will be a hit atop a Loose Meat Sandwich, too. Try dill pickle slices, red onion, tomato slices, a splash of barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and/or mustard.
Best sides for Maid-Rites
Side Dish Recipes
Homemade French Fries
Salad Recipes
Broccoli Salad Recipe
Slow Cooker Recipes
Crockpot Baked Beans from Scratch
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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!
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 peeled and finely chopped, plus more for topping (see note 2)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 hamburger buns split, for serving
- Toppings such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, for serving
Instructions
- 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 ½ teaspoon pepper).
- Serve meat on buns with toppings on the side such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and pickles.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Ground beef: I prefer a ground beef blend of 85% lean, 15% fat, for the best flavor.
- Onions: Yellow onions, white onions, or even shallots will do. I add them after the meat is cooked so they’re still a bit raw in the beef, just like a traditional Maid-Rite sandwich. Brown them in the skillet before browning the beef if you like them a little softer and milder in flavor.
- Hamburger buns: I love a good quality soft burger bun, toasted, buttered, and ready to go. But you can even make these slightly smaller soft dinner rolls for a buffet-style meal or a tailgate menu.
- Yield: This Maid-Rite recipe makes 4 delightfully sloppy sandwiches.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Feel free to make the meat up to 3 days in advance, then store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until warm, then pile inside hamburger buns.
- Freezer: Make the loose meat portion, then divvy it up in single-size or family-size servings in freezer-safe containers or zip-top bags. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
- Slow cooker: To make Loose Meat Sandwiches in a slow cooker, brown ground beef in a skillet, then add to a slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except buns to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 3 hours. Serve in buns.
- Optional seasonings: Some cooks swear by a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce to amp up the flavor.
- Take your Maid-Rite over the top: Any burger toppings you like will be a hit atop a Loose Meat Sandwich, too. Try dill pickle slices, red onion, tomato slices, a splash of barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and/or mustard.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 sandwichCalories: 302kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 20gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 120mgPotassium: 335mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 2mg
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Grew up with a Maid-Rite down the road, in Bettendorf, Iowa. We don’t have them where I live now but even if we did, apparently things have changed (not for the better). This is a great, comparable sandwich. Won’t be exact but it’s close enough and the food get snarfed down very quickly. I find that I do prefer cooking the mustard in the meat this way, even if that isn’t how the restaurants did it. It allows a subtle mustard flavor without having to douse the bun in cold mustard. My husband doesn’t normally rave about food but he could not shut up about these and said they’re definitely a menu staple. Quick, easy, yummy.
Hi Joy, thank you so much!! You’re right, it’s impossible for me to make an EXACT copycat. But I’m glad you liked this version, I do too. I also genuinely appreciate your use of the verb “snarf” because I do too, and I really feel like not enough people in the world talk about snarfing down food. Maybe it’s a Midwest thing! I’m grateful to you husband too, that’s really always what seals the deal (approval by The Husband). Thanks again, take care, and I appreciate you! -Meggan
Joy , I just moved away from Bettendorf. IA and they closed the old Maid Rite and opened a new one and they are not as good as they used to be, but if you ever go back you have to ask for a wet one. That is as good as the original.
Add in a dash of Root Beer syrup…it tastes amazing! I have always put mustard in the meat…served on buns with mustard and onion. Maid Rite was taken over by another company a few years ago and while the sandwiches are close, they’re not the same. When I was a kid, we used to go to the original Maid-Rite restaurant in Muscatine. There’s nothing like a Maid-Rite and a cold mug of root beer!
Our Maid-rite was in down town Fort Dodge, Iowa. The meat was kept in a big heated box like an old Coke Machine. It was heated and filled in advance of noon lunch. Realy good and realy busy!!
So instead of water you used beef broth?
Yum
They are called Nu Ways in Wichita Kansas. When ever I go home I head to Wichita several times to my Nu Way Sandwich. Yum!
Dale, I use to live in Wichita and YES!!! They’re sandwiches are amazing! I’m sure you’ve tried the root beer! SOOOOO good!
I grew up on Marshalltown, Iowa. I love going to Taylor’s Maid-Rite when I go back. One of the first things I asked my sister after the tornadoes hit a couple of weeks ago was if Taylor’s was okay. I wasn’t the only one. Even the locals said it could have been worse. At least Taylor’s is still standing. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Wow! Talk about easy and good…this was a hit! Thank you Meggan! I will certainly make it again. Oh, I added 1T of dill pickle juice…yum
I remember Maid-Rite when I was a kid in Illinois My daughter lives in Nebraska and every time we drive through Iowa we go past a Maid-Rite restaurant. It just always happens to be closed when we go by, darn it. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Even though I haven’t made it yet 5 stars for helping me bring back my childhood!
we have a Maidrites in Ohio. I’m told the secret ingredient is steaming it in beer. I never make it without it. I still use mustard, salt, pepper and a tad of sugar.
This recipe was easy to make and so delicious 🤤. In MN we have a Maid-Rite in St. Cloud that my husband went to when he was younger. He loved this when I made it for him tonight. Brought back lots of memories he had with his family when they would visit relatives in the St. Cloud area.