This Sloppy Joe Recipe is made with browned ground beef and simmered in a tangy tomato sauce. It’s ready in under 30-minutes, inexpensive to make, and kids love it!
This homemade sloppy joe recipe is so much better than anything you could ever get from a can. It’s a classic sandwich that never goes out of style. Serve it on a toasted hamburger bun (our favorite), or even over baked potatoes or roasted spaghetti squash. Yum!
Why are sloppy joes called sloppy joes?
No one seems to know where the name “sloppy joe” came from. According to the internet, a chef named Joe invented them in the ’30s in Sioux City, Iowa. Others say they were invented at the iconic Sloppy Joe Restaurant and Bar in Key West, Florida, a restaurant that now sells about 50,000 sloppy joes a year.
Is sloppy joe and Manwich the same thing?
Sloppy joes can also go by many other names such as Manwich, spoon burgers and slush burgers. Of these, Manwich is the most popular. This name comes from a brand of canned sloppy joe sauce that came about in 1969 by ConAgra Foods and Hunt’s. You may remember the slogan, “A sandwich is a sandwich, but a manwich is a meal.”
It’s a very memorable slogan, but if you want to make a memorable sloppy joe, make it from scratch, not a can!
What is a sloppy joe sandwich made of?
Beef: Use 80/20 ground beef or leaner for this recipe. You could also use another ground meat, like ground turkey.
Sauce: The sloppy joe sauce is a tomato-based sauce with brown sugar for sweetness and Worcestershire for a little zest.
Optional Additions: If you’re trying to add more veggies to your diet try adding shredded carrots, celery, zucchini, spinach or mushrooms to the mixture. Your kids won’t even notice a difference.
How to eat sloppy joes, other than on a bun?
- Sandwich: Serving a sloppy joe on a bun is the classic way to serve them, and our family’s favorite. If you’re serving kids, slider buns are sometimes easier to eat and less messy.
- Other Options: If you’re out of buns or want to try something new, this sloppy joe recipe works great over baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes or roasted spaghetti squash.
How to make this sloppy joes recipe
The full recipe is below, but here’s a quick overview.
- Brown Meat: Brown the ground beef over a medium-high heat with onions, garlic and bell pepper. Drain excess grease.
- Add sauce: Add the sauce ingredients to your skillet, stir to combine all ingredients, and let it simmer.
- Serve: Toast the bun (or plate the baked potato or squash if you’re not using a bun). Add the sloppy joe on top of the bun, pile high and enjoy!
Make-ahead and freezing
The meat will last in the fridge for up to three days and in the freezer for three months. To freeze, store in single-serving containers. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave.
Sloppy Joe Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar, or to taste
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns
Instructions
- In a skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat until meat is browned and crumbling. Cook until no pink remains. Drain grease.
- Add onion, green peppers and garlic. Cook until vegetables are soft
- Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.
- While the sauce is simmering, toast the bun by preheating the oven to broil. Brush the inside of the hamburger buns with butter or olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Broil 1-3 minutes or just until lightly browned.
- Spoon meat over the bread to make a delicious sandwich.
Notes
Easy ground beef meals
- Egg breakfast casserole with ground beef
- Best hamburger seasoning
- Crock pot meatballs
- Stuffed pepper soup
- Spaghetti squash taco boats
- Lasagna soup recipe
Kitchen products we love
One more thing!
Do you want to learn more about beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and get a cheat sheet with 9-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook about beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.
Here are a few other links you may like:
- What everybody ought to know about beef cuts
- Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is It?
- 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
- How We Raise Our Grass Fed Beef
- Bonfire Burger
- Prime Rib Roast with Garlic Herb Butter
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Nice to Meet You!
We're Matt & Jessica, fifth-generation cattle farmers & the owners of Clover Meadows Beef. Good food starts with knowing where it comes from. On our blog, you'll find easy beef recipes, cooking tips, stories of how we raise our cattle, and how to buy farm-fresh beef locally. Our goal is to make cooking beef easy so you feel confident cooking any cut of beef in your home kitchen.