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Juicy Burgers, A Midwestern Loose Meat Sandwich Recipe

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These classic Midwestern Loose Meat Sandwiches are simmered in a savory sauce made with spices, beef consomme and Worcestershire sauce. They are cheap, quick and easy. A delicious sandwich with the charm of small town Americana! 

Two Juicy Burgers topped with pickles. onions and ketchup on a plate with onion rings.

Where I live in the Midwest, loose meat sandwiches are a cult classic. Speckled around Missouri you’ll find tiny little locally owned burger joints with such loyal followers that they go back generations. If you’ve never gotten to enjoy a loose meat sandwich ordered standing outside at the pickup window on a nice Spring day, then most of us around here would say you’re missing out! Two Juicy Burgers topped with pickles. onions and ketchup on a plate with onion rings.

Today’s recipe is a copycat version of our favorite loose meat sandwich, the beef burger,  from our favorite little burger joint, the Burger Bar & DariMaid in Carrollton, Missouri. My husband’s family calls these burgers “Juicy Burgers” and they all love them so much that his Grandma uses her connections to get the mix and make them for all 30 plus of us several times a year. Two loose meat sandwiches on a white plate. I’ve been working on this copycat recipe for quite a while and after lots of trial and error I am excited to share with you what my husband deems, the closest juicy burger copycat. Most loose meat sandwiches are in fact pretty loose, I’ve found that the meat just crumbles out of the bun and makes a mess. These loose meat burgers simmer in a sauce that helps them stick together better. A spoonful of ground beef filling for the loose meat sandwiches

I hope that you’ll enjoy this easy skillet dinner as much as we do. I love mine piled high with pickles and chopped onions and smothered in ketchup! 

You might also enjoy these quick and easy weeknight dinners:

A slice of Chili Dog Pizza made with leftover chilii

Chili Dog Pizza

Two Juicy Burgers topped with pickles. onions and ketchup on a plate with onion rings.

Juicy Burgers, A Midwestern Loose Meat Sandwich Recipe

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

These classic Midwestern Loose Meat Sandwiches are simmered in a savory sauce made with spices, beef consomme and Worcestershire sauce.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon minced dried onion
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 (10.5oz) can beef consomme
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the minced onion, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, mustard, and paprika.
  2. Add the flour to the ground beef and stir it in until it's completely dissolved.
  3. Add the consomme and Worcestershire sauce to the ground beef and bring to a simmer.
  4. Serve on hamburger or hotdog buns with pickles and chopped onions, if desired. A spoonful of ground beef filling for the loose meat sandwiches

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a review or a photo! I'd love to hear your feedback!

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classic Midwestern Loose Meat Sandwiches are simmered in a savory sauce made with spices, beef consomme and Worcestershire sauce. They are cheap, quick and easy.

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Kristi

Tuesday 14th of May 2024

In my family ( four generations of Michiganians) we call these Sloppy Joes. I have never heard them called loose meat sandwiches. No matter what you call it they are always a great food for a crowd. Just put the finished food in a crock pot and eat when ever. We started putting them on hard taco shells, Fritos, or Doritos and adding cheese they are delicious that way.

Iris

Monday 29th of January 2024

This is the recipe I have been searching for quite a while now! As a young child in the early 1950s in Southern California, there were many burger places throughout the area serving traditional old fashioned pre-fast food type burgers that were not all the same. It wasn't unusual to find a stand that sold burgers made with loose ground beef instead of patties - although the fixings were the same: ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, and usually there's be Iceberg lettuce, but often it would be shredded and piled up - I liked those - but the rest was the same burger add-ons - they'd be put on a hamburger bun - I really loved those types of burgers because they had more flavor than the patty type, and also weren't as dry. But in Southern California, after a time they disappeared, for the most part, after 1960s you didn't find them much anymore. So I figured they probably had come through some regional style brought into SoCal from some other U.S. area. And looking for it online today I find it is a Midwestern tradition! That is so fun to discover, and I can't wait to try this recipe! I'm sure it's going to be perfect, because the ingredients sound right - we have similar recipes, but they would have a Mexican flavor, which I love of course, but this is the burger recipe I've been looking for!

Amy D

Wednesday 31st of January 2024

I hope that it is exactly what you are looking for and serves you up a big helping of nostalgia, Iris!

Virginia

Saturday 25th of March 2023

Do you drain the grease after you cook the ground beef?

Amy D

Thursday 30th of March 2023

Virginia,

You do not drain the grease off the ground beef for this recipe. You add the flour and seasonings to the ground beef with the fat almost like you're making a gravy. These loose meat sandwiches have more of a substantial sauciness to them than other loose meat sandwiches I've had. We actually really like this, because it helps them to hold together a bit more and keeps the meat from falling out of the bun so easily.

Amy

Jesse

Saturday 17th of September 2022

Hello I made these this evening and oh yeah, they are good! By the way the, coleman's worked just fine. Thanks for sharing these!

Amy D

Saturday 24th of September 2022

Glad you enjoyed them, Jesse! Thanks for sharing your results.

Jesse

Friday 16th of September 2022

I'm doing these Saturday and would like to ask which mustard powder? Something like Coleman's? Thanks I want to get it right.

Amy D

Friday 16th of September 2022

I think that the brand I have at home is McCormick's but yes, Coleman's ground mustard should work great.

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