These Loose Meat Sandwiches are the ones I talked about at the end of my video yesterday.
This is one of those recipes you just have to try. Martha Staton emailed me when I shared a special email address with my subscribers and asked if I had the recipe to Maid-Rite or Alley Canteen burgers like she grew up on in Iowa. But wouldn’t you know, I have never stepped foot in Iowa and had no idea what she was talking about. The way she carried on about how good they were got me to doing some research right quick like, though! I found the basic jist of the recipe and then decided what cooking method would be the best way to duplicate it, then added a little of my own seasonings.
And they were so good. Unlike anything I’ve ever had before. So good that I could see how a chain with a similar burger would become the stuff of legends. So good that after one bite my husband said “What IS THIS? This is amazing!”. So good that I made them again the following day when Mama came to visit and then she made them the following day at her house. So good that I called Jyl and started carrying on about how good they were. So the next day she just had to make them since I had gone on and on about them. Her family had the same reaction. So Jyl called her Mama and went on and on about how good they were and she had to make them the next day…
I’ve lost count of how far this chain reaction has gone between the time I first made these and got around to doing the blog post but I only mentioned them in a video a little over a week ago and I’ve made them three times myself for various and assorted people to try :).
My Mama is behind, though. She’s only made them once.
Before I even had a chance to bring it to you this recipe has already spread across my network of friends and family like a runny nose at a daycare center.
I wish I could describe this flavor to you but there isn’t anything at all that I can compare it to and it doesn’t taste like any of the ingredients added in, they just blend and meld to create a brand new flavor all their own. The one thing I would say is that they taste absolutely nothing like a sloppy joe. The closest thing I could compare them to would be something in the family of a Krystal hamburger, but they taste even better than that. It’s more like the Krystal’s older, beautiful sister who won all of the pageants and homecoming queen while Krystal sat home without even a date to the dance.
Note again: I have no idea what a Maid-Rite or Alley Canteen sandwiches taste like so I’m not saying these taste like them. I am saying they taste wonderful.
Obviously, I’m here to tell you that you need to make them. But just as important as that, you need to tell your friends and family that they need to make them, too :). Speaking of which, if you know anyone that might enjoy SouthernPlate, I would greatly appreciate it if you could send them my way. That helps me more than you could ever know and your recommendation holds more weight than any other form of advertisement.
You’ll need: Garlic Powder, Brown Sugar, Onion, Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce, some variety of LEAN Ground beef, Cider Vinegar, Seasoned Salt, Accent*, Black Pepper, and 2 chicken and 2 beef bouillon cubes* (even though only one of each is pictured).
It is very important to start with a lean beef so you don’t have a lot of meat grease when cooking. All beef prices are sheer madness nowadays so there isn’t much of a difference in buying ground chuck or lean ground beef. Just don’t use regular ground beef because there will be far too much grease and you will regret it when you go to serve up these puppies.
*About Accent and Bouillon Cubes – I have been made aware on many occasions that some folks equate using these ingredients to building a playground next to a nuclear reactor while it is experiencing a complete meltdown. If you don’t want to use these, don’t. I would substitute salt for the Accent and just go rogue and substitute what you’d like in place of the bouillon cubes, you’re on your own there because I wouldn’t use anything else.
And you need some of these because they are the absolute perfect vessel for our loose meat sandwiches.
It is very important that you use Hawaiian sweet rolls for this. If you use a regular hamburger bun, it’s going to fall to pieces and be a big old mess, plus it won’t have that flavor in the bun that these rolls have.
Jyl’s stubborn daughter (waves and smiles to Erin) didn’t believe me and insisted on trying it on a bun. After that, she had one on a Hawaiian roll like I told her to in the first place and admitted that it was an entirely different experience.
Chop up your onions kindly fine.
I know, my onions are not chopped fine but this is about as far as I get before my brain is ready to move onto the next step.
Finely chopped is a relative phrase.
Add onions and beef to a large skillet. Pour in water.
What? Pour in water?
Yes, pour in water. Trust me on this.
Now start mooshing up the ground beef with the water. You’ll notice that with the added water the ground beef gets really, really fine. That is what we want. This is how we make hot dog chili and it is perfect for this meat as well. You’re going to end up with very fine granules of tender beef and the water cooks out.
You want to put that over medium high heat and cook it until the meat is done and there is no more pinkness.
It will get done pretty quick in this case because all of that water is cooking it at the same time the heat is.
Now add everything else.
Return this to the stovetop and stir it really, really well. Cook over medium to medium high heat, stirring often, until the liquid cooks down as pictured below. This part may will take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes. Just find something to read and hang out around the stove.
Or even better, let your kids do this part while you go put your feet up.
This is our finished loose meat, all ready for sandwiches.
Using a spoon, strain out some of the meat and press it into a pile on top of the center of a cut Hawaiian Sweet Roll.
They are absolutely sublime when topped with mustard.
One of my daughters friend had one and insisted on hot sauce and said the same thing about hot sauce.
My son claims they are crowned best with ketchup.
My husband insists that purity is best and has them as they are, nothing added, just on the roll.
Katy likes them best that way, too, as long as I pick the pieces of “potato” out of them.
No, there aren’t any potatoes in them but if I told her that was onions she wouldn’t have tried them so we go with potato. Besides, she called it a potato first. All I did was nod.
Either way, this is one of those recipes your family is going to remember and talk about for generations to come.
“My Grandma/Mama/Dad/Uncle/Sister/Neighbor/Pastor’s Wife made the best loose meat sandwiches and *I* have his/her recipe…”
So down below, there is a “print” button. Hit that and print this puppy off. Then, if you’re so inclined, share the link to this post on your Facebook or Pin it to your Pinterest or email the link to your friends. There are actually some little buttons at the bottom of the post you can click on for the Facebook, pinterest, twitter, or google plus thing. Just click on whichever one you want and it will open up a little window to make it easy for ya.
I appreciate you coming to visit me today and every day that you do. I would sure appreciate it if you’d invite your friends to join us, too!
Gratefully,
Christy Jordan, the loose meat sandwich lover
Ingredients
- 3 pounds LEAN ground beef
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons worcestershire
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 whole onion finely chopped
- 1 +1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon accent *see note in post under ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3 to 4 cups water
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 2 chicken boullion cubes
Instructions
- Put beef and onion in large skillet along with water. Chop up beef really really fine while bringing it to a low boil over medium high heat. Cook, stirring and chopping often, until no longer pink.
- Add everything else and continue lightly boiling, stirring often, until water is cooked down and mixture gets thick.
- Strain beef out and press small mounds of beef onto cut hawaiian sweet rolls. Top with your choice of condiments. Mustard is highly recommended :).
- Makes enough for 24 little sandwiches, which is one pack of Hawaiian rolls. Leftovers freeze well.
“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
~Louisa May Alcott in Little Women
Yum 
I can’t wait to try these!
Let me know what you think!
As a child, this was the all-time favorite meal in the cafeteria. We called them School Boys! I know weird name, not my invention. With so many children not caring for onions, they were chopped, put in water with beef boullion, cooked, then added onion-fused water back to the meat. A cafeteria worker shared recipe, long after her retirement. I eat one with more meat on the side. Love these need to make some now!
Isn’t it funny how some recipes get their name? That is always so interesting to me!
I had these on my school lunch tray in the school cafeteria in elementary school. It was everyone’s favorite including mine. In Md.(Vs.& D.C.) it would be called “The BEEF Burger” nd came with corn and Taylor tots. Delicious. I don’t remember onion being cooked in it cuz alot of kids wouldn’t of ate it .
how would you make this using 20 lbs hamburger? Just multipy ingredients x 7?
For a class reunion, we decided to duplicate foods from the school cafeteria’s for hour first night. Almost every recipe I found for school boy sandwiches had ground bread in it.
Original Maid-Rite also used 1/2 cup of root beer. Later on some other locations started using Coke in place of root beer. Fred Angell, the inventor, would never allow ketchup on his burgers. Just mustard and pickle.
The root beer could be used with the Worcestershire to soak overnight or used in the cooking process.
That is neat to know! Thanks for the history!! One of these days I am going to have to make my way up there so I can try the original!
Original sandwiches were made of only bull meat because it was cheaper and was the most lean. The leaner the better to make the good ones! Right now 93/7 makes the best today.
My daughter worked in a Maid-Rite in the early 1990’s, I helped her open several times. There are NO spices in a Maid-Rite, Just hamburger and water that is on a steam table and cooks slowly for hours. The hamburger meat is moved around until it is of a finer consistency.
I, too, heard that root beer was originally used.
I was born and raised in NW Missouri on the Iowa line. Our big treat was Maid-Rite. They were really good, but not nearly as good as these. I’ve made this a half dozen times and followed the Recipe as written. Hawaiian rolls make them even better…I make a 3lb batch we have a meal on them then freeze the rest and I swear they are better after being frozen for a few weeks.
Oh my goodness, I am so glad you like the recipe Billy! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know.
What about cheese? would you put cheese on them…. if so what kind? (american, cheddar, swiss …. you get the idea.)
I don’t like cheese on my burgers so I’m afraid I’m no help there. I like to taste the meat 🙂 If you prefer cheese, use your favorite 🙂
the Iowa traditional answer is Cheez Whiz. I grew up on these. YUM!
Thanks for letting us know!
These sound yummy. Gonna try these with ground venison.
Ooooh! Heavenly!
Is that 3/4 cup of water or 3 to 4 cups of water?
Thanks.
3-4, you need a good bit 🙂
Thanks. Appreciate your help. I think these look yummy!
I updated the language to say “3 to 4” so it would be clearer. Thanks for pointing that out!
I am SO excited to try this! And I love reading your posts….it is just like having a conversation with a real person. Does that even make sense??
I will have to look for Accent (I have bouillon).
Excited to share!
Hmm…I’m usually not a fan of “loose meat” but I AM a fan of Krystal!!! So I may just have to give these a try 🙂
I’ll take mine with mustard and pickles 🙂
I saw a food show where they went to a restaurant in Iowa and had one of these sandwiches. Made me want to get in the car and drive there that minute. Now I don’t have to! This is going on my grocery list today!
I imagine I’d feel the same way had I seen that show. They sure know their stuff!
Original loose meat burger diner is in Ottumwa, Iowa, in an alley, got there thru a parking garage, was sure we were in the wrong place. We were doing some shopping for antiques in What Cheer, Iowa, staying in Ottumwa and visiting surrounding area, went on line to find a place to eat and followed directions to this wonderful canteen in the alley. Walking in front door, horse-shaped counter with stools, seats about 12 – 14 people, cooking burger meat right there in front of you, served in a sandwich paper (no plate) did provide a spoon, served on a bun, loose meat (no additives), catsup, mustard, melted cheddar cheese spread and dill pickles. There were four of us and we were expecting a restaurant, but was enjoying the best burger we had ever had within 5 minutes of stepping in the door!! This little place opened in about 1924 or 34, was on Food Network in about 2008 (?) Has been wrote up by every major paper, visitors from all over the place. I came home and have made this several times. Use 94% lean beef, use velveeta. My 7 year old grand daughter loves slopping joes, but has decided looe meat is just as good!
LOL< I would have wondered if I was in the wrong place as well...but those little treasures do seem to serve the best food!!!
Oddly enough, I recently researched this online. I found people get pretty opinionated on how they should be. I would tend to make the “purist ” version first and adjust according to my own preferences. I did read where ketchup is frowned upon. The instigation that made me curious about loose meat sandwiches came from Roseanne when she had a diner on her old show.
Hey, so excited to try! My son doesn’t care for sloppy joe’s, so hopefully these will suit him! 🙂
I’m sorta bummed, though, as I was just in Iowa last Saturday, and saw a sign for a Made Rite and didn’t stop! Oh well, next time….
Thanks, Christy! Love following you!!
Hey Bobbie!!! Do you go there on a regular basis? I had never heard of Maid or Made Rite until I got that email last week but you know if I ever see one now I’m stopping 🙂
Thanks for being here, I sure do appreciate you!
Christy, I am glad you figured this out! I can’t wait to try them. I also think they would make a great little fund raiser for the youth group at the church bazaar.
And I think you are absolutely brilliant and SO RIGHT!
Forgvie my laziness…what 1-3 ingredients could I pour into that meat to make some loose burgers?! =) Like isn’t there a marinade to do the work of all the other ingredients? My kids love “Sandwich Wednesdays”, but I am not prepaerd. Your pizza, meatball, and philly subs have worked out nicely though…
This seems like an awful lot, especially compared to my usual recipes, but it is really just “add this, dash of that, spoon of this” and it comes together. Much easier than the recipe looks so don’t let it fool ya :).
You can always make up your own version to suit your needs.
I think I read somewhere that Kyrstal and White Castle (Krystal cousin from up north) steam their burgers so I can see the similarity.
There are White Castles in Nashville but not in North Alabama, can you believe that?
This recipe sounds really good. I grew up near White Castle and really do not like them. For some reason they taste like ground liver (ick) to me) but these sound way better than the traditional (if there is such a thing) sloppy Joes either from scratch or that canned starter.
White Castle started in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, and then branched out to Minneapolis. Later the headquarters was moved Columbus, Ohio.
First time I had these was in a town in Iowa. I asked where I could get some lunch and was directed to a cafe that sold loose meat sandwiches. If I remember correctly, the loose meat was pure ground beef. The “pan” for cooking was stainless steel about 12 inches deep and 4 feet long by about 12-18 inches wide. As the beef cooked, it was macerated by the fry cook using a large stainless turner, by hand, and gradually moved to one end of the pan for dishing out on a hamburger bun–I have seen white bead used as well. Served with onion and pickles. As the cooked meat was moved to one side, another 10 pounds plus of hamburger was deposited on the other end to start cooking. The pan was hot!
Wow! they have big cast iron pans kinda like that in Dollywood and everything they cook on them smells wonderful. I think I need a pan about that size. 🙂 I love it when the locals steer ya to their favorite places!
So glad to see ya introducing these to folks who haven’t been to the Midwest. When I was a little kid in the 60’s we would drive (five kids in the car) from California to Iowa and we looked forward to getting to my aunt’s place so we could all hit Maid-Rite.
Christy, your next stop might need to be in Nebraska for Runzas. Sandwich involving cabbage, onions and ground beef. There’s a fast food place selling them there. Regional food!
Our country is so homogenized now that it feels special when ya run into a regional food!
~GULP~ That sandwich sounds like heaven to me! I’m going to have to look it up next! And you are so right, I’d have to stop once (or thirty times) to get one if I was in the area.
So happy to have a recipe to try for these sandwiches! I enjoyed Maid Rite when I lived in Iowa and Runza when I lived in Omaha! Now, I live in Illinois, so I only get them when I visit! I look forward to seeing how these compare!
Dear Jordan,
Reading your post today made my heart happy. I received the best laughter reading all the reactions from your family on to your relatives and then to your friends!
There is a big difference between Maidrite and Alley Canteen. (Roseanne Barr did experience the Alley Canteen and did try to duplicate it.)
Some People ( I have been told) that have moved from Ottumwa have called and had the Canteen frozen and flown to them.
Truly enjoyed reading all the Postings for your Loose Meat Sandwich Recipe.
I have a recipe for Runza. I will e-mail it to you. Bye For Now.
They did add some water but just to keep it steamy and the meat loose. It wasn’t at all soupy.
I added it for different reasons, mainly to cook the meat and to break it up into tiny little granules. It also helps the flavors to spread throughout.
As a kid, my parents would take us to a little joint called Ed’s Hotdogs in Headland, Alabama. The chili that they made was cooked in water and was very soft and fine like this looks to be. All they added on those hotdogs was mustard and the buns were steamed soft. They were to die for. This recipe made me think about those hotdogs. I have to try this!
OMG Christy you are soooo funny! I love reading your stories!! The line about your family and friends and it spreading faster than a runny nose at a day care center is too funny!!! I loved it! Thanks for making me laugh out loud. 🙂 U are wonderful to all of us and a comfort too! And yes “THE RECIPE” sounds Yummy!! I will try it for sure and let u know what we think; but I’m sure it will be a keeper! 🙂 Thanks again and have a great day!
Christy,
I have just read this recipe and asked my husband if he had ever heard of a Maid-rite sandwich and his reply was ” No, but it sounds like it would be kin to a Crystal.” This sounds so very “delish” and I can’t wait to try it. A big thank you to that lady in Iowa for putting you on this and a big thank you to you for sharing it. By the way, wasn’t there at one time a brand of bread called Maid-rite?
Thanks for a great post!!!!!
We had these in Hannibal Missouri several years ago while on vacation. They are so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Potato, hahaha! When my now 13 year-old son was about 4, he thought black beans were “choco-beans.” I just rolled with it and he gobbled them up thinking they were chocolate. To this day my family calls them “choco-beans.”
HAH!! LOVE IT!
Hi Christie! Thank you for that recipe I can’t wait to make them. What is that funny tool you are using on the meat? Seems I read about that before but I can’t remember the name or where to get one… So it makes breaking up the meat easier?
Thank you for the input!
Hey! That thing is AWESOME. I own two. Pampered Chef sells them, also amazon ( here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NC8PW3W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00NC8PW3W&linkCode=as2&tag=soutplat-20&linkId=QV6W4JN2NZPOUQRT ) But last time I bought some (I keep giving them away to family members who visit) I got them at Wal Mart. It’s specially designed to chop and stir beef and you will LOVE IT!
I was going to ask about it, too. I saw one by the Hamburger Helper section at WalMart not long ago and wondered if it was worth it to add to all of the kitchen “stuff” I already have. Sounds like I should try it!
Oh Rene, you’ll LOVE IT!! Promise!
Until they get one a potato masher works great too
Great idea Marsha!!! Thanks for sharing!
I can’t wait to try these, perfect for the weekend when the grand babies come over !
I am highly allergic to MSG (Accent) which is included in so many foods–many broths, stocks & bouillon cubes as well as flavored chips, sausages. etc. Campbells now puts out many products without it including their Healthy Request line of soups (wish they had more flavors like golden mushroom) and Swanson stocks & broths are “No MSG” I have to be really careful in reading ingredients on everything I buy and ask about everything I choose when eating out. For years I didn’t know what was making me so sick, then when I discovered the cause I couldn’t believe how many products use it.
I substitute a litle bit of lemon juice in my recipes that call for Accent. Since MSG serves as a flavor enhancer I have found that the lemon juice works the same.
Thanks so much for such inspirational articles and for your great recipes. I recently learned that one of your children is in class at Christian school with my cousin’s son.
I’m glad you have educated yourself so much on your allergy, you are very wise and responsible to do so! It is amazing how many people have serious allergies who haven’t learned as much as you. When I don’t have accent, I use a little salt in it’s place, since monosodium glutamate and sodium chloride are so closely related, but I’m happy to hear your lemon juice substitution works well, too!
Thank you for being here Carolina. Oh wow, I love your name!
This looks delicious, except we don’t care for really salty foods and it seems to have a lot of salt for 3 lbs of meat. Seasoned Salt, 2 kinds of Bouillon, Worcestershire, Soy sauce. Can this be made with low salt ingredients?
You can make it anyway you like. Your version won’t taste like my version but I bet it will be awfully good :).
Keep in mind that the salt to meat ratio isn’t as much as you’d think and a great deal of it remains in the liquid, which you strain out.
The original MaidRite started in Muscatine, Iowa in 1926 and is only found in Iowa. They are steam cooked and you can order them dry or wet meaning dry no juice and wet with some of the juice. Your recipe is pretty darn close, the true recipe is a secret. They do grate the onion into the raw meat, that is what gives them some of their flavor. You can get them with mustard, pickle and finely chopped onion but never with ketchup! I have lived in Iowa most of my life, when living elsewhere a MaidR4ite was the one thing I missed most. We do have a MaidRite Shop here in this little town where I live. They always give you a spoon along with your order to scoop up what falls out of the bun.
This is the first time I have ever participated in anything like this, but, you are right Beulah! Mustard, pickle, and onion only. The best is at Taylor’s MaidRite in Marshalltown, Iowa. I now live an hour away, and we do have a MaidRite in town, but make the drive back to Marshalltown for my fix. Ha!
How to freeze? Just the meat, or the made up sandwich? Something tells me just the meat. It is just me so I would need to freeze. Thanks, Christie!
I freeze just the meat. I put it in quart size zipper seal bags and just reheat it in the microwave (out of the bag). 😀 hope you enjoy it, Sharon!
My Daddy use to make Scrambled Hamburgers (this was his name for them) with hamburger meat, onions, salt & pepper. I put ketchup on mine. They were that simple but they we’re delicious!!
I am so glad to hear that I am not the only on that lets my kids call food whatever they want. My younger two love asparagus pasta, the only thing is they think they are eating “big green beans”. Who am I to tell them differently.
Wow, these look and sound great. I have sloppy Joes on the menu for Friday night, but I might try these instead. Three pounds of meat sounds like a lot, but maybe I could just freeze what we don’t use for later.
These look really good, I might make them for a work pot-luck next week.
I tried something new from Costco when I made pot roast this weekend and it was great – “Better than Bouillon”. Really good meat flavor, low sodium, comes in a jar, almost like a paste you dissolve in water. I would say it made the best gravy we’ve ever had!
Apparently it comes in chicken flavor also. If you don’t want to risk buying a big jar at Costco, try a small jar if you can find it. I think it is a great substitute for bouillon cubes!
Thanks Christy for the stories and your positive attitude, can’t wait for your new cookbook!
This does look a lot like the hot dog sauce I make. Never tried adding water to boil the meat. Will try these. Now…if any of you have a Fresh Market grocery store nearby, I have to tell you about their ground chuck. It is very good. This month they have it $2.99 a lb on Tuesdays only. It has been this way I know since September. I’m hoping they continue. Fresh Market is in a town about 45 miles away from me, but luckily my daughter works in that town and I send her to buy our ground chuck. It is so much better than what I had been buying at Kroger.
I love Fresh Market!! They expanded to Illinois and I’m thankful. I shopped there frequently when we lived in North Carolina and I was head over heels when they built in our town.