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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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I am from Iowa. We had an original Made-Rite
on Main Street. Ate there often & I knew the people that worked there.
I use a stainless steel saucepan. One lb. ground beef 80/20. A little water, sugar, or a little brown sugar, & mustard & about half a diced onion & a little
garlic powder “opt”.
I use a potato masher to get the meat to a fine consistency. Serve on a bun with whatever you like. YUMMO
A GAL FROM WEBSTER CITY, IOWA
Hello…I remember these from Jr high school back in the 70’s. ..I’m so wanting to try this recipe…Would you know how to figure the carb count without the bun.. I’m guessing only a few…I’m on a very strict low diet to control my T2 diabetes. .Thanks so much…
Hi Theresa, happy to help. If you remove the buns, the carbs are 3.5g per serving including 0.6g dietary fiber and 1.9g sugar. Since you are T2 I also grabbed the information without the added 1 teaspoon sugar (in case you want to leave it out). Then it is 2.5g total carbs with 0.6g dietary fiber and 0.9g sugar. If you want any other info, just let me know. I use a nutrition label calculator and I’m not a registered dietician so these numbers might not be perfect, but it’s the best I can do. Thank you! -Meggan
Just to be clear… do you drain off the excess fat after browning the beef? I didn’t see that mentioned anywhere in the recipe.
Hi Wendy, no, I don’t drain off the excess fat here. However, you certainly could if that was your preference. I’ll update the recipe to explain this very clearly. Thanks! -Meggan
I grew up on Taverns or loose meats
Have had everything from Tastes, Maid Rites & the like!
Never put ketchup on a loose meats, just onions & mustered. I also use a little Lip tins Union Soup mix for flavor. Best ever
Yes on this. We no longer live in Iowa but my dad still stops in Marshalltown twice a year for these. I distinctly remember that asking for ketchup in a Maid-Rite establishment was a major faux paus.
This was fantastic! I had a maid rite maybe 15 years ago, and don’t really remember it. I can’t say whether or not this recipe is accurate but I do know that it was delicious and we will definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Cortney! I’m glad you enjoyed it! -Meggan
My father ran the maid-rite in Kewanee Illinois for
50 years starting with the opening in 1926 it was only boiled ground beef salt and pepper I worked there 8 years
Love in the area where maid-rite originated. My mother worked for the company that mixed their chain recipe together. She told me she couldn’t remember exactly what all was in it, but did say they used minced beef, and beef tongue…maybe that’s the secret thought I would let you know, maybe try that see if it gets closer.
The Minnesoda Fountain in Park Rapids, Minnesota has a similar sandwich called the Beefy Burger. Absolutely the best!
I spoke with a Maid-Rite manager and even she was not allowed to know the original recipe. The meat gets delivered to the restaurants in clear plastic bags ready to be heated. While the mustard, chopped onions, etc. are probably on point, a friend once who had never had a Maid-Rite noted that there is clearly some vinegar involved in the recipe.
This is incorrect. I know people that know the recipe so it’s not that no one knows,they’re just not going to tell. I lived right next door to the original owner of the very first Maid rite in Muscatine Iowa’s, Daughter. Saw the Owner often. I recently say the grandchildren (who know the recipe) but they wouldn’t tell me!
Sorry for the confusion, OBVIOUSLY somebody knows, yes. That isn’t what I meant, LOL. I meant no one who knows is telling. But yes, you’re technically right.