Ultimate Sloppy Joes

Classic Sloppy Joes in just 20 minutes with a rich homemade tomato gravy, bell peppers and melted cheese on hamburger buns.

Classic comfort food recipes are favorites on the sites including Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Ultimate Beef Stew and Slow Cooker Chili because they’re family favorites that bring back happy food memories and these sloppy joes are the perfect recipe for your favorite family meals.

 ULTIMATE SLOPPY JOES

Ultimate Sloppy Joes made without the Manwich Canned Sauce or the packets of sloppy joe seasoning you may have grown up with. With just a few pantry ingredients you’ll have a whole new appreciation for classic American dinner favorite recipe sloppy joes.

We call these the Ultimate Sloppy Joes, but you may also want to refer to them as Award Winning Sloppy Joes because this recipe has been victorious in three separate sandwich contests including one in college where it beat out over 50 other sloppy joe recipes!

Plus it wins the most important contest of all, the kid contest. Kids LOVE this recipe because it is the perfect combination of sweet and savory flavors topped with cheese. In my ten years of working as a chef, I’ve not had a single kid refuse these sloppy joes.

Take that as a pinky promise from me to you, as a professional chef, these are the best sloppy joes. They’re so good that the base of this recipe made me want to create 25 more sloppy joe recipes!

We’ve have others flavors, from Philly Cheese Steak, Bacon Cheeseburger, to Pizza too so if you love these Classic Sloppy Joes you should definitely try out more (my husband’s favorite is the Bacon, Beer and Cheese Sloppy Joes)!

If you don’t believe me on how good this recipe is, read this review from below:

 I was looking for something quick to make for dinner since I ended up working late. Most of the ingredients I had at home and only had to stop to get some ground beef on my way home. I’ve never been a huge fan of Sloppy Joes but my SO really likes them so I thought “why not”. And boy oh boy am I happy I landed on this recipe. This recipe has permanently changed my mind on what a good sloppy joe is. Thank you so much for sharing this. I can’t wait to make them again!

– Christine

Thanks Christine!

HOW DO YOU MAKE HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOES:

Homemade sloppy joes are made with ground beef, onion and green bell peppers that are simmered in a brown sugar and ketchup gravy until thickened and served on a bun.

I’ve looked at the back of the Manwich cans, and I can’t vouch for this recipe to be like a homemade Manwich sloppy joe, but I can say many of the ingredients are similar. This is also not the same as if you grew up eating sloppy joes made with tomato sauce, but the ketchup in the recipe acts in a similar way.

What to serve with Sloppy Joes:

Homemade Sloppy Joes are all about comfort food flavors so we love serving them with Onion Rings, Potato Wedges, Sweet Potato Fries or Roasted Potatoes with them along with some healthier Roasted Vegetables.

SOME TIPS ABOUT MAKING THE PERFECT SLOPPY JOES:

• Make sure not to cook down the sauce too much, sometimes the sloppy joes can get dry, you’re looking for a consistency where you can see the individual bits of meat, but not dry enough where they don’t cling to each other in sauce.
• Make the sloppy joe recipe a little healthier by swapping ground beef for ground turkey.
• 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 I’d start with some tomato sauce and water in 1/4 cup increments as you gently reheat and taste.
• To get a good sear on the meat use high heat instead of medium high, this will create a nice crust giving it a texture more like hamburgers.
• I personally add in some American 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.
• If you hate green bell pepper feel free to swap it out for a less bitter bell pepper, like red pepper. You can also leave it out, but remember you are removing probably a half cup or more of ingredients, so it will be saucier.
• If you want a bit more savory flavor you can also add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to the sloppy joe meat.
• 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.
• Hamburger Bun: I always make sure to toast my bun before adding the filling. I find if you don’t your bun may get too soggy, too quickly. (psst, I also butter mine, but only because that makes it even more delicious)
• If you would like to use leftovers you may have in another recipe, just use the method found in my  Ground Philly Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese and you’ll be in heaven!

How To Make Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes:

• Add the ingredients (minus the cheese and buns) to the crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours.
• Stir before serving, scoop onto your hamburger bun and top with cheese.

How to Make Instant Pot Sloppy Joes:

• Brown the ground beef in the instant pot on the sauté setting per the instructions then add in the rest of the ingredients (except the cheese and buns).
• Add the lid and set the pressure to high for ten minutes.
• Release the pressure naturally for five minutes, open the top and either mix in the cheese or use it as a topping when scooped onto hamburger buns.

LOOKING FOR MORE SANDWICHES?

• Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches (Crack Chicken)
• Ultimate Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
• Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
• Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches with Horseradish
• Italian Beef Sandwiches

Recipe

Save

Save Print Review

Ultimate Sloppy Joes

5 from 68 votes

• Yield: 6 Servings
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Course: Main Course
• Cuisine: American
• Author: Sabrina Snyder

Classic Sloppy Joes in just 20 minutes with a rich homemade tomato gravy, bell peppers and melted cheese on hamburger buns.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

1. Add the ground beef to a large skillet (this browns very well) on high heat and brown until a deep brown crust appears before breaking the beef apart.

2. Stir the ground beef and brown until a deep crust appears on about 50 or so percent of the beef, and it is cooked through, then remove the beef, drain the fat and add the butter, onions and bell pepper to the pan.

3. Let brown for 1-2 minutes before stirring, then let brown for another 1-2 minutes before stirring again and add the beef back into the pan.

4. Add the garlic, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, to the pan and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 75% of the mixture is above liquid), 3-5 minutes.

5. Served on hamburger buns with cheese or mix the cheese into the sloppy joe meat mixture.

Nutrition Information

Yield: 6 Servings, Amount per serving: 176 calories, Calories: 176g, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 51mg, Sodium: 536mg, Potassium: 386mg, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 250g, Vitamin C: 10.1g, Calcium: 17g, Iron: 2g

All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert.

Keyword: Ultimate Sloppy Joes

Save

Made This Recipe?

Show me what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me at @DinnerthenDessert or hashtag it at #dinnerthendessert.