Turkey Melt with Caramelized Onions and Spicy Pumpkin Mayo

Name: Turkey Melt with Caramelized Onions and Spicy Pumpkin Mayo
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon pepper; 2 teaspoon sugar; 2 large onions, sliced; 8 Slices Italian Loaf bread; 4 slices smoked turkey; 4 slices Muenster cheese; 1/4 cup Mayonnaise; 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree; 1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder; pinch of paprika; pinch of salt; 8 teaspoons butter

October 24, 2013 by Tanya Schroeder · 40 Comments · Last updated: December 18, 2021

Sandwiches

Jump to Recipe

This is not your ordinary turkey melt! This sandwich is stuffed with smoked turkey, Muenster cheese,

Caramelized onions and a spicy pumpkin mayo! You may never have ordinary again!

This sandwich is deluxe. I combined smoked turkey, thick slices of Muenster cheese, caramelized onions, and some homemade spicy pumpkin mayo for a beautiful comb nation of flavors and textures in every bite. Each component works perfectly together. You’ll want to save this recipe for your Thanksgiving leftovers! Trust me!

What is a turkey melt?

Similar to its cousin- the grilled cheese sandwich, a melt is a sandwich that is heated and toasted on the outside and filled with melty cheese and meats on the inside. Other ingredients can vary and there are many different types of melts available but this one features cooked turkey (like leftover Thanksgiving turkey) and Muenster cheese for a gooey combination of delicious flavor in every bite.

Ingredients

Butter
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Granulated sugar
Onions
Italian Loaf bread
Smoked turkey
Muenster cheese

For the Spicy Pumpkin Mayo, you will need

Mayonnaise
Pumpkin puree
Ground chipotle chili powder
Paprika
Salt
Butter

For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe cards below.

How to Make Turkey Melt with Caramelized Onions and Spicy Pumpkin Mayo

Prepare the onions for this sandwich by first caramelizing them. To do this you will need to melt the butter in the olive oil, swirling to combine.
Then add in the sliced onions, salt, and pepper.
Cook in a skillet on the stove for about 2 minutes or until the onions begin to soften.
Then stir in the sugar and continue to cook the onions for an additional 20 minutes. Be sure to stir often to prevent the onions from burning.
When caramelized, remove the onions from the heat and set them aside.
May the spicy pumpkin mayo by combining the mayo, pumpkin puree, chili powder, paprika, and salt in a small bowl until well mixed.
Heat a griddle pan to medium heat.
Butter the bottoms of 4 slices of bread and place them onto the griddle pan, buttered side down.
Top each slice with some turkey, sliced cheese, a tablespoon of the pumpkin mayo, and about 1-2 tablespoons of the caramelized onions (you will have to eyeball this as it’s hard to measure exactly). Then add the remaining slice of bread to each sandwich and butter the side facing up.
Cook the sandwich for about 3-5 minutes per side or until a nice golden brown.
Serve warm and enjoy!

How to Caramelize Onions

Here are some recipe tips and answers to questions that you might have about making caramelized onions. This should help you to feel more confident about the long cooking time and help you to see why it’s so important for getting the best results out of your onion.

How do you know when onions are caramelized?

After cooking your onions for about a minute or so you will see them beginning to soften and turn translucent. A lot of recipes will have you cook your onions to this point and then move on to the next step. Sometimes your recipes will say to cook for a few additional minutes until they start to look golden in color. We want you to cook your onions even further past this point to the part where they are so rich and dark in color that the onions look like they are practically breaking down. Note you do not want them to be black/burnt, just a dark-brown color.

How long does it take to caramelize?

the length of time it takes to caramelize the onions will depend on the age of the onion, the type of the onion, how thick your slices were, etc. A lot of variables but for this recipe’s sake we’re looking at about 40-50 minutes in total.

How often should you stir caramelized onions?

When cooking your onions you want them to get as much time with the hot sides and bottom of the skillet as possible so that they can cook evenly. This means stirring often but you don’t have to be there stirring constantly for 40+ minutes, that’d be crazy. you can just stir about once every 5 or 6 minutes and still be good. The point is to avoid the onions from sticking to the pan so long that they begin to burn.

Recipe Tips

Other cheeses like cheddar, Monterey jack, and swiss work well with this sandwich.
You can store your leftover pumpkin mayo in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Check out these other delicious sandwich recipes that are perfect for year-round meals!

Yield: 4 sandwiches