Grilled Cheese Burger

This post may contain affiliate links. We only promote products we actually use and truly love!

What’s better than a grilled cheese? A grilled cheese burger (otherwise known as a patty melt), especially when made with sourdough, cheddar cheese, and slathered in homemade chipotle mayo.

If you’ve never had a patty melt before, it’s basically a grilled cheese burger. And what’s not to love about a grilled cheese with a burger inside? Extra cheese, crispy, buttery bread, and a juicy burger. Plus any toppings you want (our favorites are a spicy chipotle aioli and some sliced red onion). We love making this simple grilled cheese burger at home for an easy burger-joint style, date night in. 

Why We Love This Recipe

Key Ingredients

• Burger patties – Store-bought or homemade, either works. However, for best results we always make them homemade because you’ll need to shape the patties to fit the grilled cheese either way. And doing that from scratch is easier than re-shapping a store-bought patty. 
• Grilled cheese ingredients – We prefer sourdough for the bread and cheddar cheese for the best creaminess and flavor. However, make the grilled cheese with whatever type of bread and cheese you enjoy most. If you have any questions about grilled cheeses, check out our post on making a great grilled cheese. 
• Toppings – Thinly sliced red onion and a drizzle of homemade chipotle mayo are our go to patty melt toppings. But get creative here and make your own flavor combination! Other sauces and classic burger toppings work super well too.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make A Grilled Cheese Burger

1. Hand shape the patties – For a grilled cheese burger to work, the burger patty has to fit well on the grilled cheese. This means hand shaping the patties to fit the bread. It won’t be prefect, but getting a rectangular (or at least oval) patty will make this recipe turn out better.
2. Make a grilled cheese – Simple as that. If you don’t know how to do that, check out our post on how to make the perfect grilled cheese.
3. Grill the burgers – Cook the burgers to your desired doneness. A meat thermometer is your friend for getting the perfect cook every time.
4. Combine and top! – Open up your grilled cheese, add your burger, and top with red onion and chipotle mayo, or as desired. 
5. Serve – Serve hot with a side of french fries and a cold beer.

Serving Suggestions

What you serve with your burger is almost as important as the burger itself! Here are some of our favorite ways to turn this recipe into a delicious comforting dinner:

• A burger deserves a beer – Grab a cold beer to go with your patty melt. We like to pair this burger with a light and refreshing beer like a German hefeweizen.
• Make a side – Go with a classic like fries or onion rings. Or change it up with something a little more fun. We love making these burgers for a Sunday football dinner, so we often pair them with creamy buffalo chicken dip or other game day appetizers.
• Get creative – A burger on a grilled cheese is just the start. Play around with adding your favorite condiments and burger toppings to this recipe. Instead of red onion and chipotle mayo, how about some caramelized onions or hot honey? The sky’s the limit.

Give our grilled cheese burger a try when you’re feeling like a greasy, gooey, cheesy, comforting dinner. And let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

Cheers!