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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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Silly name silly looking…BUT this (Loose Meat Sanwich) is my new GO TO hamburger meal. The flavor, perfectly unpredictable, and AMAZING! To cook this meal is easier than falling down, you’ll be pleasntly surprised. The flavor, perfectly unpredictable, and AMAZING! I’m confident this will be your new go to for hamburger.
Thank you so much for the comment, callmeBob! 😊 – Meggan
My girlfriend and I both thought this kind of meh. The flavor is dominated by the semi-raw onion and doesn’t taste of much else. Not awful by any means, but I probably won’t bother with it again
Hi Tom, sorry about that. If you try it again, you can brown the onions in the skillet before browning the beef if you like them a little softer and milder in flavor. – Meggan
My husband grew up in the midwest and suggested Maid-Rite sandwiches for dinner. I had never heard of them. I am so glad I found your recipe. He said they tasted just as he remembered them as a child! Thank you! I loved them and will be making them again soon!
You’re welcome, Sarah! I’m glad you both loved them! – Meggan
I’ve been going to Nuway’s here in Wichita, KS with my family since before I was old enough to remember…. I’m 74…and their sandwiches (called Maid-Rites other places) have always been my favorite. These loose meat sandwiches of yours taste just like them!!! I love to throw them together for my husband, son, and me…they’re quick and sooooooo good!!
Thanks for your wonderful recipe!!!!
You’re so welcome, Vicki! I’m so glad you love them! 😊 – Meggan
Meggan, excellent recipe!!! Thank You!!!
For a small party, doubled the recipe n w/some people not into heavy breads used Tortillas. Warmed 1 by 1 on a griddle, sprinkled w/shredded mild cheddar cheese, topped with the Loose Meat Mix and fresh diced Serrano Peppers. Folded an end in, then rolled them up set aside whilst assembling them til the Meat was used up. Then put them tightly in a single layer back on the griddle set on low/med heat toasting the Tortillas rotating them Browning them in 4-side like turns to a light crunchy brown.
For serving put out small condiment containers filled with BBQ Sauce, Low Fat Sour Cream, Honey Mustard and Catsup along with regular Dill and Bread ‘n Butter Pickle Spears and a variety of Corn and Potato Chips. “Whatta Crowd Pleaser!!!”
4th of July nearing Your Fantastic Recipe Will Be On the Menu as per Request by a Number of Friends. “Thank You Again and Have A Wonderful 4th of July Also!!!”
Oh my gosh, this is such a great comment. I love how you were able to adjust for your friends / family. This sounds like a party I’d want to attend! Happy 4th to you my friend 🙂 – Meggan
Oh my goodness. These are so good. I added Ketchup and Worcester suace. Turned out so good. Even my dad liked it. Definitely making it again. It was my first time making them 😋
I’m glad it turned out well for your first time! Thank you for trying the recipe, Michelle 🙂 – Meggan
Only had a real Maid Rite once years ago. All day today I’ve been thinking loose meat sandwich. I didn’t really want to cook, but… Your recipe came up first when I googled “loose meat”. I live alone so I halved the recipe. Didn’t have buns so I used the heels from my sandwich bread. It hit the spot. I can go to bed satisfied. I made another version a couple of years ago. Your recipe was better. Personally I think the buns are too much bread for these. The meat is too loose to pile on like a sloppy Joe. I’ll stick to sandwich bread for these from now on. Yes I will make again. Thanks!
So glad my recipe came up first and that it was such a hit, Linda! 🙂 – Meggan
Do you ship your sandwiches to Georgia? Thanks in advance for your answer.
Tracey Rutherford
Hi Tracey, thank you for writing! Unfortunately, we don’t ship sandwiches, just share the recipes we develop so you can make them in your own home. Sorry about that! I hope you try this recipe. Please let me know if you have any questions about it! – Meggan
I am from marshalltown Iowa and home to Taylors maid rites.The original, sign on the wall read Go around the world but come back for a maid rite. place never had tables or booth’s just a counter and stools.There the best not filled full of additives.
My Mother worked at the Maid Rite Cafe In Belle Plaine, Iowa which is not far from Marshalltown. The one in Belle Plaine closed some years ago and now the one in Cedar Rapids has closed too. There is a shop here in Marion where I live that has a “Loose Meat Sandwich” that is pretty good.
The Maid-Rite sandwich, a “loose meat” sandwich, was created in 1926 by Fred Angell, a butcher from Muscatine, Iowa. Muscatine is located on the Eastern border of Iowa along the Mississippi River.
I live half a mile from the Maid Rite in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Been there probably at least 60 years. Home made pies , loins, rings, and other great things on the menu. People there everyday who have been customers for decades. Great breakfast too. Counter and stools. Looks like it did when I was a kid 60 years ago. Worth a trip to experience an Iowa treasure.
In Missouri, we call it crumbly burger or loose meat.
Thanks, Chris! Take care! – Meggan