Loose Meat Sandwiches

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Not to be confused with sloppy joes! After doing some research and reading many comments by people claiming to know how the meat was made, I concocted my own version of the famous "loose meat" sandwich that originated in the Midwest. Traditionally, the meat was said to have been served on a steamed hamburger bun and dressed only with yellow mustard, diced onion, and dill pickles. Over time, other toppings have been added such as ketchup and cheese while others went a different direction using only A-1 steak sauce and grilled onions.. all of which sounds delicious!

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Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground beef (at least 90/10 ratio)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons beef bouillon granules**
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
  • 2 cups water**
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce (for color), optional
  • 8 Hamburger buns
  • Yellow mustard, Finely diced onion, Hamburger dill slices (or whatever condiments you like)
  • (**You can substitute 2 cups beef broth instead of the bouillon and water, and a little fresh onion for the dried.)

Preparation

Step 1

In a large deep skillet with a cover, add the meat and chop up as fine as possible with the side of a spoon, or a potato masher. Sprinkle the meat with the bouillon, pepper, garlic powder, dried onions, and salt. Pour the water over the meat.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to combine and chopping up any lumps of meat. (The texture needs to be small crumbles) Reduce heat to low, cover the skillet and simmer for 2 hours or more, stirring occasionally and checking the water level. (It should maintain a little in order to steam the meat tender, so add a dab more before it dries out.) Add the Kitchen Bouquet about halfway through the cooking time. The meat should be very tender and moist but not wet. If there is still liquid in the pan, uncover, increase the heat to medium and cook until all of it has cooked out.

A few minutes before serving time, lay the cut side of buns across the top of the meat, cover the skillet, and steam the buns 4-5 minutes.

Assemble the sandwiches with a scoop of the meat on the bun and dress with mustard, diced onions, and dill slices (or whatever you like).

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