Top Secret Recipes
version of
Maid-Rite®
Loose Meat Sandwich
by Todd Wilbur


It's been an Iowa tradition since 1926 and one of our long-time requested items at TSR. Even TV comedienne Roseanne and her Iowa native ex-husband Tom Arnold spoke many salivating praises of Maid-Rites when they shared a home together in the state. There are now 83 Maid-Rite stores located throughout Iowa and seven other Midwestern states. Although the sandwich is not much more than a traditional hamburger with the ground beef arranged uncompressed on the bun, the product has a huge cult following. And since the meat is loose, the sandwich is served with a spoon for scooping up the ground beef that will inevitably fall out. This Top Secret Recipe isn't so much about ingredients as it is about technique. You want to be sure to chop the ground beef thoroughly as it cooks so that you get tiny rice-size pieces. Then when you build your sandwich, you firmly press the beef into a 1/2-cup measuring cup. Dump the meat onto the bottom of plain hamburger bun; add your choice of mustard, onions, and pickles; ready a spoon, and dig in.

1 pound ground beef
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash ground black pepper
4 plain hamburger buns
yellow mustard
minced onion
dill pickle slices

1. Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-low heat. As the meat cooks use a wooden spoon (or a potato masher) to chop the meat into fine, rice-size pieces. Drain fat.
2. Add salt and pepper and continue to stir over low heat for 5 more minutes.
3. Build each sandwich by pressing the hot ground beef into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Dump the meat onto the bottom of a plain hamburger bun. Add mustard on the top bun, along with pickles and minced onion if desired. Top off the sandwich, then heat it up in your microwave oven for 10 to 15 seconds to warm the buns. Serve with a spoon as they do in the restaurants.

From: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com

Makes 4 sandwiches.