How to Make a Frisco Burger

How to Make a Frisco Burger ~ This classic variation of the patty melt will surely please a crowd with its tangy sauce, juicy patty, and two cheeses on grilled sourdough bread.

This post is part of an AWESOME burger grill giveaway hosted by GirlCarnivore but the burger epicness is all my own.

Oh a Frisco Burger. This burger and I have history.

When I was a kid, maybe ten, twelve years old, I wanted to try a patty melt. I had been eyeing that particular item for quite some time on the menu of a local family-run restaurant my family ate at a couple times a month.

The problem was I didn’t like rye bread. I asked my waitress (that’s what they were called back in the 80’s) if I could have it on sourdough bread instead of rye. Snapping her gum, she said ‘Sure thing little miss.’

Talk about delicious! And I thought I created something unique. ‘A patty melt on sourdough’ remained a diner order of mine for years. Then as a teen, my grandparents took me to this nostalgic 50’s era diner near their home in Downey, CA, whose speciality was a Frisco Burger.

That’s when I learned my speciality burger was actually a thing, a very well-known and popular, thing. At least I knew I had good taste in burgers.

For reasons I still don’t know, I never made a patty melt (I like rye bread now) or a Frisco burger until a couple of years ago. Maybe it was one of those things I just preferred eating out in a diner, but who knows. But when the time finally came that I decided to make one at home, I needed to learn how to make a Frisco burger, or more specifically that sauce, which was more than just thousand island dressing.

How to Make a Frisco Burger?

First, you need the patties. For my own dietary purposes, I like to use leaner meat, but as we all know, too lean does not make a burger great. Today, I went with 85% and was pleasantly surprised at how little it rendered.

Next, is the cheese. Both Swiss and American is needed. I am not overly fond of using processed products, but from time to time, they are required. If you want to know how to make a Frisco burger and want to be authentic about it, you’re going to need to use American cheese, cheddar will not do.

Third, the bread. As the name dictates, Frisco is San Francisco and, well, all know that sourdough is the bread of that locale. Pan grilling it in butter is also part of what makes this a delectable burger. Toasting it a toaster (as I have done in the past) will work, but sadly, it does not yield that classic flavor, just fewer calories and fat grams–totally your call.

Frisco Burger Sauce Recipe

Ah the sauce.

Before I explain the sauce, you should know that since I was a kid, I have been dipping my fries in thousand island dressing. Then when I moved to Utah nearly 20 years ago, I discovered they used a pickle-less version of thousand island and called it fry sauce. I know my mayo and ketchup mixtures quite well.

The sauce on a Frisco burger is more than just your every day thousand island. But it is the base.

This sauce ends up being a glorious combination of thousand island dressing, French dressing (side note: which what is mass sold is not actually French dressing, but I will get to that in another post), some ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.

BURGER MONTH

Last year I participated in #BurgerMonth with Girl Carnivore. She assembled a talented group of bloggers to participate and asked us all to create one delicious offering. I made a Chicken Tikka Masala Burger.

I had so much fun, I had to come back for Burger Month 2018.

This year is even more EPIC! The burgers! The Sponsors!

A huge thanks to the #BurgerMonth sponsors:

American Lamb Board, Anolon, Cabot Cheese, Crow Canyon Home, Melissa’s Produce, Microplane, New York Beef Counsil, Red Duck, Spiceologist, Veal Made Easy, and Weber Made Grills.

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Thank you for sharing!