Bacon Brown Sugar Sloppy Joes are the perfect sandwich. You will love the sweet and savory combination of flavors. It will become a favorite!
If you are as obsessed with Sloppy Joes as I am, then this recipe does not disappoint! You are going to love all the tasty variations I have to offer. Try Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes and Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes next time you are craving this savory sandwich.
Sabrina’s Bacon Brown Sugar Sloppy Joes Recipe
I LOVE Sloppy Joes because they’re softer/more tender, easier to eat than hamburgers and I can adjust the filling amount easily per person. PLUS THE SAUCE. Yes, the sauce is so much better than just adding a sauce to your hamburger bun. This keeps the whole sandwich juicy and full of flavor.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound thick sliced bacon , chopped
- 1 cup yellow onion , diced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 red bell pepper , chopped finely
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef , (85/15 fat content)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 4 brioche rolls
- Bacon slices , optional
- brown sugar , optional
Instructions
- In a large skillet cook the bacon on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes or until crispy but still bendable.
- Remove the bacon from the pan and reserve about 2 tablespoons of the oil to cook the onion, garlic and red bell pepper.
- Once softened add in the beef, lower the heat to medium and cook well, breaking it apart but leaving some chunks about the size of a raspberry or small grape (don’t crush the heck out of it, the larger crumbles will help give the sandwich stability).
- Cook until well browned (5-6 minutes), then add in the paprika, tomato paste, tomato sauce and brown sugar.
- Stir well, continue cooking until the sauce starts to evaporate and the mixture becomes “sloppy” (about 5-6 minutes).
- The consistency you are looking for is reduced enough that spoonfuls can be placed on top of each other with the bottom spoonful not spreading more than a half inch or so.
- Add the bacon back in.
- Toast the buns then spoon over the mixture and top with additional bacon and sprinkle of brown sugar (if desired).
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
I love adding cheese to the mixture before serving. Just don’t add the cheese too early, add just early enough to allow it to melt slightly. It’s delicious to add in some American, mozzarella cheese, or cheddar cheese to the filling when it is done. Some people like to top the sandwich with cheese. Either way cheese makes it just a little more awesome.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
All you will need is one package of ground beef and a few ingredients to make delicious Sloppy Joes. It simmers while you prepare the rest of your dinner and if it gets dry you just need to just add a bit of water to loosen the sauce back up again.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Sloppy Joes can be served again the next day if you add a bit of liquid to help create a bit more Sloppy Joe sauce. To avoid more sugar being added, start with some tomato sauce and water in ¼ cup increments as you gently reheat and taste.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Make sure your ingredients are ready ahead of time, don’t let the pan scorch.
- Make sure you drain excess fat from the beef, I use 85/15 to minimize excess fat.
- Don’t let the sauce reduce until dry, stop the cooking when it still looks nice and saucy.
- Sauce will continue to reduce even after you turn off the heat.
Pairing Suggestions
Sloppy Joes are a delicious comfort food. Trying pairing them with even more yummy guilty pleasures like Potato Wedges, Homemade Potato Chips, or some Onion Rings. If you want something lighter, you can also serve it with Easy Cole Slaw.
How to Store
- Serve: These sandwiches are best served fresh once they are assembled. You can keep the filling warm in a slow cooker for up to 4 hours or at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Store: Store filling separately in an air tight container and assemble the sandwiches right before you want to serve. The filling can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Cool the beef mixture completely and place in a sealed container. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Variations
- Meat: Make the Sloppy Joe recipe a little healthier by swapping ground beef for ground turkey.
- Spicy Joes: You can add a tablespoon of red pepper flakes, or hot sauce to give this yummy recipe a good kick!
- More Flavor: If you want a bit more savory flavor you can also add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to the Sloppy Joe meat. A teaspoon onion powder and a dash of chili powder will take it up a notch too!
- Tomato Sauce: If you would like to swap the ketchup for tomato sauce or tomato paste, just play with the rest of the ingredients to increase the sweetness more as the ketchup adds a definite sweet flavor.
Related Recipes
More Delicious Sloppy Joe Recipes
Photos used in previous versions of the post.
Hi, do you drain the beef before adding the tomato sauce?
Make sure you drain excess fat from the beef, I use 85/15 to minimize excess fat.
Once this is made, can it be put in a crock put to keep warm? I would love to take this camping and serve it to about 25 people there and this would be the easiest way to make a larger quantity and keep it warm . Sounds delicious!!!!
Yes! Watch liquid levels so it doesn’t dry out. Enjoy your camping trip!
Love your recipes! Just recently found all of your different sloppy joe ones so I’ve been trying to make a new one each week. However my mother just found out she has really high cholesterol so I was wondering if you think there would be a big difference using ground chicken or turkey.
I’m so glad you’re loving them so much! It will adjust the flavor a little but it’ll still be delicious.
I made these for dinner tonight…..yummy.. Made it exactly as directed as I believe the first time you try a recipe you should try it as is. It was very good. My new go to recipe. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
REALLY difficult to scroll down to actual recipe w/o a hoard of annoying ads :P. A lot of food blogs are like that. I usually won’t go back. Your sloppy Joes look good, but the many ads are too annoying for me.
It does t say whether to add the fried back to the mixture or just save it for a topping
Oops, sorry about that! You’ll want to add the bacon back in at the end. I’ve updated the recipe card.
Yes Yes I just finished making these and the family loved them. I’m lucky, I got to make a couple for work later. I’m sorry, I changed up one thing—my family likes when I cook bacon so I cooked it my way in oven then close to the end when I put the Brown sugar I crumbled the bacon into pieces—and you know what family was happy and full. I usually get my recipes from here on Pinterest..this makes #3 of things I’ve made from ‘Dinner then Dessert recipes. Thank you. I can’t wait to pick out #4 of things to cook on here
So glad you’re loving all of the recipes!!
Oh yum that looks so good, I want one of those for lunch!
I need to try this immediately, it looks so good!
Love that bacon addition! YUM!
Adding bacon is always a good idea!!
Yum! This recipe looks incredible!
This looks so good! Bacon and brown sugar is a combo to die for!
Thanks Dee!
Oh wow these look mouth watering and amazing!!
Thank you Amanda!
This is the best upgrade to a sloppy joe that I’ve ever seen!! Bacon and brown sugar FTW.
Haha, thanks!