Sloppy Joe
intro
Tangy, savory ground beef filling piled on soft butter-toasted buns, this nostalgic American comfort food comes together quickly for messy, satisfying meals.
Ingredients
Steps
Brown the Ground Beef
Heat a large 12-inch cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat (350°F / 175°C). Add the 500 grams of 80/20 ground beef to the pan, breaking it apart into small crumbles with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until the beef is fully browned with no pink remaining, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to a clean plate, leaving 1 tablespoon of rendered beef fat in the skillet.
Sauté Onion and Bell Pepper
Return the skillet with reserved beef fat to medium heat. Add the 150 grams diced yellow onion and 100 grams diced green bell pepper to the pan, stirring to coat in fat. Sauté for 4 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and slightly translucent, then add the 10 grams minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds more, until fragrant.
Cook the Tomato Paste
Stir the 30 grams of tomato paste into the cooked vegetables, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the paste darkens to a deep rust red and coats all the vegetables evenly. This step removes the raw metallic taste from uncooked tomato paste.
Combine the Filling Ingredients
Return the browned ground beef to the skillet, and stir to combine with the vegetable and tomato paste mixture. Add the 240 ml tomato sauce, 25 grams packed brown sugar, 15 ml Worcestershire sauce, 15 grams Dijon mustard, 5 ml apple cider vinegar, 2 grams smoked paprika, 3 grams kosher salt, and 1 gram black pepper. Stir thoroughly until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
Simmer the Sloppy Joe Filling
Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low (275°F / 135°C), cover the skillet partially with a lid to allow steam to escape, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens to a rich, spoon-coating consistency that does not drip excessively off a lifted spoon. Taste and adjust salt or pepper if needed.
Toast the Hamburger Buns
While the filling simmers, melt the 28 grams of unsalted butter in a separate small skillet over medium-low heat. Place the cut sides of the 4 hamburger buns face-down in the melted butter, and toast for 1-2 minutes until golden and slightly crisp. Spoon 1/4 of the warm Sloppy Joe filling onto the bottom half of each toasted bun, then top with the bun lid to serve.
Tips
2.Don’t skip toasting the cut sides of the buns in butter: the crisp, buttery barrier prevents soft bread from turning soggy under the thick, saucy filling, even if sandwiches are assembled a few minutes before serving.
3.Customize the filling to your preference: add 0.5 grams (1/4 teaspoon) cayenne pepper for a subtle spicy kick, or top warm filling with 30 grams (1/4 cup) shredded cheddar for a melty cheesy variation.
OMG this sloppy joe recipe is a GAME CHANGER! I’ve been using the canned sauce for years and never realized how much better homemade tastes. My three kids devoured their servings in 10 minutes flat, and even my picky 7-year-old asked for seconds. Served it with tater tots and dill pickles for our weeknight dinner, total hit. 10/10 will be adding this to our regular rotation!
As a broke college student with minimal cooking skills, this was so easy to pull off! Only had a handful of ingredients I already had in my dorm pantry (well, the shared kitchen pantry lol), took 25 minutes exactly like the recipe said, and it tastes way better than the dining hall slop. Meal prepped 4 servings for the rest of the week, saved me so much money on takeout.
Added a diced jalapeño and a pinch of cayenne to give it a little heat, and WOW. Perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and spicy. My roommates are already begging me to make this for our next football watch party this weekend.
Brought these to my neighborhood block party potluck last weekend and people were coming up to me all night asking for the recipe! I kept the filling warm in a slow cooker and set out a tray of brioche buns, coleslaw, and pickles for people to build their own. Total crowd pleaser, not a single scoop left!
Was skeptical of a sloppy joe recipe that didn’t require a grill, but my wife found this and talked me into making it for our Sunday dinner. I’ll admit, I was wrong! The sauce is perfectly tangy, not too sweet like some recipes I’ve tried. I did brown the ground beef a little extra to get some crispy bits, highly recommend that move.
This recipe is so budget friendly! I got ground beef on sale for $3 a pound, already had all the sauce ingredients at home, and fed my whole family of 4 for under $10 total. Way cheaper than grabbing fast food on a busy weeknight, and tastes 100x better.
I’ve been making sloppy joes for my grandkids for over 40 years, and I have to say, this recipe is almost as good as my old handwritten one! I love that it doesn’t have any weird preservatives like the canned stuff. I added a handful of finely diced bell pepper like I always do, and it turned out perfect.
Made this for a lazy Sunday lunch today and it was SO easy. I even accidentally used ground turkey instead of ground beef because I grabbed the wrong package from the freezer, and it still tasted incredible! No one in my house even noticed the swap.
Served these at our weekly board game night with the guys, and we ate the whole batch while playing Codenames. Perfect messy handheld food that doesn’t require utensils, which is ideal when you’re reaching for game pieces and don’t want to make a mess (well, less of a mess anyway, it is called sloppy joe after all).
I swapped the ground beef for lentils to make it vegan, and used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, and it was so good! The sauce base is so flavorful that the swap worked seamlessly, even my meat-loving partner thought it was great. Will definitely make this vegan version again.
I was worried this would be too bland since it’s such a simple ingredient list, but the balance of flavors is perfect. The little bit of mustard powder and garlic powder makes such a big difference, I don’t know why I never thought to add those to my old sloppy joe recipe.
This saved me on a night I had 30 minutes to get dinner on the table between soccer practice and piano lessons. I threw the ingredients together while the oven preheated for frozen fries, and dinner was ready before the kids even finished complaining about being hungry. 10/10 for busy weeknights.
Grew up eating sloppy joes at every church potluck and family reunion, and this tastes exactly like the ones my aunt used to make! The sauce is that perfect nostalgic sweet-tangy flavor I’ve been chasing for years. Served it on buttered toasted buns, just like she did, and I almost cried when I took the first bite.
Smoked my ground beef for 20 minutes before mixing it with the sauce, and holy cow that took this to a whole new level. The smokiness pairs so well with the tangy tomato sauce, I’ll never make regular stovetop sloppy joes again.
Made this for my husband for our first “married couple Friday night dinner” and he said it’s better than the sloppy joes his mom makes (don’t tell her, though 😂). I added a little scoop of coleslaw on top of each sandwich for crunch, and it was the perfect texture contrast.
I know this is a sloppy joe recipe, but I used the sauce to make chili cheese fries last night and it BANGED. Cooked the beef with the sauce, poured it over crinkle cut fries, loaded it with cheese and jalapeños, and my roommates lost their minds. Versatile as hell, 10/10.
Drizzled a little ranch on my sloppy joe (don’t @ me) and it was the best decision I’ve made all week. The creamy ranch pairs so well with the tangy sauce, I don’t care if it’s “not traditional.” Food is supposed to be fun!
Made a double batch of this on Sunday for meal prep, and it’s held up perfectly all week. I portion it out with a whole wheat bun and a side of roasted veggies for quick work lunches, and it’s way more satisfying than the sad salads I usually bring. No soggy bread, no weird texture, just as good on day 4 as it was fresh.
Tried this recipe last night when I forgot to plan dinner and had a pound of ground beef in the fridge I needed to use. I was missing the mustard powder, so I used a squirt of yellow mustard instead, and it turned out great! My boys ate two sandwiches each, which never happens. So glad I stumbled on this!