BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes

by Sabrina Snyder

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15 Comments

5 from 5 votes
6 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
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BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes put a kid-friendly dinner twist on Cocktail Meatballs with an addicting sauce and tangy topping.

What do you get when you combine my addicting Cocktail Meatballs and my Ultimate Sloppy Joes? The newest Sloppy Joe Recipe that we are absolutely obsessed with!

Sabrina’s BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes Recipe

This recipe combines the best of all worlds. It’s a hearty meal made in under 30 minutes that everyone will love. Plus, you can serve them as a party appetizers, with mini buns or Hawaiian rolls, to eat as sliders. They are easy to transition to a crockpot Sloppy Joe recipe (see below), and you really can’t go wrong customizing them.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes Recipe

BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes put a kid-friendly dinner twist on Cocktail Meatballs with an addicting sauce and tangy topping.
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
stuffed sandwich on plate
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes:

  • 1 pound ground beef , 80/20
  • 1 cup yellow onion , diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup grape jelly
  • 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
  • 6 brioche buns

Cream Cheese Spread:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon onion juice , or finely chopped onion
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper , to taste
  • Hot Sauce , to taste

Instructions

BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes:

  • In a large skillet add the beef and onions, cooking well, breaking it apart but leaving some chunks for 5-6 minutes.
  • Add in the salt and pepper, grape jelly, and bbq sauce, cooking until the sauce starts to evaporate and the mixture becomes "sloppy" (about 5-6 minutes).
  • Spoon the mixture onto the brioche buns topped with cream cheese spread.

Cream Cheese Spread:

  • Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer, or with electric beaters, until smooth. Spread on brioche buns. Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 1 week in refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 710kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 925mg | Potassium: 470mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 571IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 137mg | Iron: 4mg

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About this Recipe

I’m a huge fan of the sweet, tangy and savory flavor of cocktail meatballs. The only downside? While you certainly can eat a whole crockpot of meatballs in one sitting, it’s not technically a “meal”. And unless you make a triple batch, there won’t be enough to feed the rest of your family.

Of course, you could always throw the meatballs in a hoagie, but imagining them as a sandwich brought up thoughts of another family favorite – Sloppy Joes! It’s brilliant actually, you get all the delicious sweet and tangy flavor of the meatballs with so much extra sauce to soak up in a soft brioche bun.

Chef’s Note

When it comes to this recipe, it goes perfect with my Homemade BBQ Sauce, but you can also use any other brand you prefer. You can also swap out your favorite jelly if you aren’t a fan of grape or you want to try a different taste. It’s hard to go wrong with a recipe this easy!

What to Pair With

To round out your meal, serve it with go-to sides, like Onion Rings, potato wedges, or coleslaw. You could even use the coleslaw as a topping for your Sloppy Joes. Yum!

How to Store

  • Serve: Don’t leave the meat filling out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours before storing.
  • Store: Allow mixture to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • Freeze: Seal tightly and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Again, always allow meat to cool down before attempting to store.

Slow Cooker

  • Brown the ground beef with the onions, and drain grease.
  • Add the ingredients (except the buns) to the crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours.
  • Prepare the cream cheese spread while the meat filling cooks. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
  • Stir the ground beef mixture before serving. Scoop onto brioche bun with cream cheese spread.

Variations

  • Meat: Make these a bit lighter by using ground turkey or chicken instead of beef. This recipe uses 80/20 ground beef, but you can also switch to some with less fat content.
  • Chili Sauce: In my original Cocktail Meatballs recipe, I used chili sauce instead of BBQ sauce. Add a few tablespoons or swap out entirely for the BBQ sauce for an exact Cocktail Meatballs Sloppy Joe match.
  • Bacon: Crispy bacon would take these sandwiches to the next level! Crumble cooked bacon into the Sloppy Joe mixture at the end or use strips of crispy bacon as a topping.
  • Cheese: A creamy, white cheddar or Monterey Jack would taste delicious on these Sloppy Joes. For a spicier cheese, try topping with some pepper jack.
  • Casserole: Without breaking them apart, slice a package of Hawaiian Rolls in half (like a bun) and place bottom half in a 9×13 pan. Spread your Sloppy Joe mixture over buns. Top with remaining bun layer. Brush with melted garlic butter and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

More Yummy Sloppy Joe Recipes

collage of stuffed sandwiches with recipe title

Photos used in previous versions of the post:

half open sloppy joe sandwich on a plate
Hands holding up a meat sandwich to the camera
Ground meat in a pan with a jar of jelly on the side

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Made these for dinner this evening. For some reason the sauce didnt really evaporate at all so im left with a soupy consistancy. Not sure what happened. Still delish and will try it again!

    Reply

    1. Did you ground beef release a lot of fat when it was cooked? Next time if that happens, drain some of it out before adding the sauce ingredients. Hope this helps!

      Reply

  3. I have never thought to add grape jelly to sloppy joes. I have been missing out! It adds a delicious flavor!! I need to do it more!

    Reply

  5. This idea is genius! Love those grape jelly meatballs that are always at parties, and now I make them for dinner in sandwich form. So good.

    Reply

  6. Hi Sabrina,
    Really want to try these but, you mentioned a “Tangy Cream Cheese Topping” at first and then it’s never mentioned again? Just curious? In beginning description: “BBQ Grape Sloppy Joes puts a kid friendly dinner twist on cocktail meatballs with an addicting BBQ and grape jelly sauce with a tangy cream cheese topping.”!!
    Thank you, Molly

    Reply

  8. These look amazing!! But where does the tangy cream cheese part come in? I don’t see it listed in the ingredients or instructions.

    Reply