Classic Sloppy Joes in 20 minutes with a homemade tomato gravy and bell peppers on hamburger buns that have won 3 sloppy joe competitions!
Classic Comfort Food recipes like Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Ultimate Beef Stew and Slow Cooker Chili are popular because they’re family favorites that bring back happy food memories!
Ultimate Sloppy Joes are a quick meal made without the 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 Sloppy Joe.
These are called Ultimate Sloppy Joes (also known as a Loose Meat Sandwich is some parts), 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 competition 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. You will not see a single kid refuse these Sloppy Joes during any weeknight dinners.
These are the best Sloppy Joes. They’re so good that the base of this recipe made led us to create 25 more Sloppy Joe recipes! There are so many delicious meals, from Philly Cheese Steak, Bacon Cheeseburger, to Pizza too, so if you love these Classic Sloppy Joes you should definitely try out more (another favorite is the Bacon, Beer and Cheese Sloppy Joes)!
How to Make Ultimate 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.
- Step One: Cook the beef until it begins to get a yummy brown crust on the edges. To get a good sear on the meat use high heat instead of medium heat or even medium-high heat, this will create a nice crust giving it a texture more like hamburgers.
- Step Two: After excess oil is drained, add in the butter and chopped onion and green peppers.
- Step Three: After a couple of minutes of browning, drop the heat to medium, add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the meat mixture, and cook until ready to eat!
- Step Four: Spoon beef mixture onto toasted buns. Make sure to toast your bun before adding the filling. If you don’t your bun it may get too soggy, too quickly (psst, you could also butter it to make it even more delicious).
More Sloppy Joe Sandwiches
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
If you look at the back of the store bought sauce, many of the ingredients are similar, though this recipe is not exactly like a homemade version of the canned Sloppy Joes. 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.
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Key Ingredients in Ultimate Sloppy Joes
- Beef: Lean ground beef is the best for this recipe. High fat ground beef will cook down too much so compensate if need be. This recipe calls for one pound ground beef, but you can double everything to make more!
- Ketchup: Your favorite kind will do.
- Mustard: Classic American yellow mustard will do the trick.
- Bell Peppers: This recipe calls for green peepers, but you can use the less bitter red, orange, or even yellow bell peppers (also called capsicum). You can also leave it out, but remember you are removing probably a half cup or more of ingredients, so it will be saucier.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is white sugar with molasses added. You can even raw granulated sugar if preferred.
- Garlic: You can mince one or two cloves garlic, or use pre-minced garlic cloves.
- Onion: We’re using a medium onion in this recipe.
Variations on Ultimate Sloppy Joes
- 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!
- Smokey Joes: Add a half cup of your favorite BBQ sauce to make this sandwich sizzle with an incredible depth of flavor!
- Cheese: 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.
- 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.
- Leftovers: If you would like to use leftovers you may have in another recipe, just use the method found in Ground Philly Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese and you’ll be in heaven!
Alternative Cooking Methods for Ultimate Sloppy Joes
- Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes: Add the ingredients (minus the buns) to the crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours. Stir before serving and scoop onto your toasted hamburger bun.
- 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 buns). Add the lid and set the pressure to high for ten minutes. Release the pressure naturally for five minutes, open the top and scooped onto toasted hamburger buns.
How to Serve Sloppy Joes
Homemade Sloppy Joes are all about comfort food flavors so you’ll love serving them with Onion Rings, Potato Wedges, Sweet Potato Fries or Roasted Potatoes along with some healthier Roasted Vegetables.
More Yummy Sandwiches
How to Store Ultimate Sloppy Joes
- 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 the Ultimate Sloppy Joes 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 Sloppy Joes filling for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
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 coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- 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.
- 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 excess liquid and add the butter, onions and bell pepper to the pan.
- 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.
- 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.
- Serve on toasted hamburger buns.
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Photos used in a previous version of this post.
I made this for our monthly bourbon-tasting club and it was a hit! I like to make easy meals that will feed a crowd (20 people), this will be on my rotation for sure! Thank you!
You’re welcome Catherine and thanks for the five star review.
This is a family favorite. I have made it 10 or so times already!! Simply the best!
Family favorite here too, Genger.
My FAV sloppy joe recipe!
One of mine too!
I loved the flavor but the meat was too dry. I followed the instructions to the tee. I don’t know where the water you mention was supposed to come from but there was none.
Did you use ketchup or tomato sauce? Lean beef or turkey or? Did you add veggies which give off liquid as well? We have tons of sloppy joe recipes on the site (a favorite around here). Click here to check them out: https://dinnerthendessert.com/sloppy-joe-recipes/
Had the same question! Though the meat wasn’t dry in ours, there was simply no “75% water” to evaporate.
YUMMY! I love MANWICH canned sloppy Joe mix but will no longer use it because of the ingredients. I was skeptical that this would/could be as good as said while I was making it. But once I tasted it, I was hooked! I will be making this again and again!
So glad you tried the recipe and thank you for the five star review!
This is simple to fix and the taste is great. I have several sloppy Joe recipes pinned, but I plan to use this one frequently because it’s so good.
These are delicious, I’ve made them several times now. Could you please tell me what serving size the nutrition information is for ?
Our nutrition values are created by a nutrition calculator. Feel free to use your own nutrition calculators with the recipe ingredients. Serving sizes become an issue because people will have ingredients of different sizes. Packaged products are weighed and measured at the time of creation which makes their measurements accurate. The only way to accurately know the measurements of meals is to weigh and divide.
This was so delicious! I added cream cheese and bell pepper and it was like a sloppy Joe meats philly cheeseburger. And then added freshly shredded mozzarella cheese on top! The entire family gobbled it up.
I would have gobbled it up too! Thank you Daya for the five star review!
Delicious! Thank you for this recipe. I only added a splash of washyoursister sauce and it’s perfect!
Was delicious!! Added a little Worcestershire sauce
Sounds great! Thanks Diana for the five star review!
This was a good basic recipe. We like ours a bite spicier, so I added a jalapeño, a tablespoon of Chili sauce, and chipotle peppers
That IS spicier Donna!
This recipe was fabulous! I made enough for 20 servings. It was gone in 10 minutes! Guests loved it ! I didn’t make any changes but did cut down the brown sugar a little. Great !
So glad everyone enjoyed the Sloppy Joes. Thank you Deidre for the 5 stars.
I liked the recipe, I’m diabetic so it was a little too sweet for me. Next time I’ll use less brown sugar, I also added a little Cumin to the recipe. It gave it a little kick more of flavor.
I made this for dinner for my family, which includes my boyfriend, my almost 2 year old daughter, and my grandmother. The sauce was so good, I added a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. I also added some pre frozen Pilsbury biscuits you cook in the oven, big note to myself add the biscuits after, I also added some shredded cheese on top. Everyone loved it!
I make ALMOST the same recipe. I use salted butter and do not add salt separately, I used 1/2 tsp jarred mince garlic in place of the garlic clove, and I add 1/2 stalk of chopped celery to the chopped onions and green pepper; and I add 1/4 C sodium free beef broth to the ketchup. Everything else is identical. I have adopted charring the meat first from your recipe which adds to the depth of flavor. Thanks!
This recipe is amazing. I did add about a half cup of water for the brown sugar to dissolve. I did not use peppers because I have picky kids. It turned out really good with a pickle and Velveeta cheese on it. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
A pickle and velveeta cheese?!!! That’s a new one for me :). Thanks for taking time to let us know how you prepared your sloppy joes. We have a LOT of Sloppy Joe recipes on the site. I hope you’ll check them out and let us know what you think!
Didn’t show rating 5 stars
Excellent! My first time making sloppy joes, and they were delicious. I know, I won’t find a better recipe than this one.
Love the detailed recipe instructions. Seems simple enough for my small kids to love! Definitely keeping this for my go to sloppy joe recipe! Thanks!
My whole family loved these sloppy joes. It was a quick, easy recipe and I will be making them again!
Excellent & easy!
Excellent! My adult kids ate it all! It’s a huge favorite in this household!
Absolutely delicious!! I added red bell peppers just for looks. Yummy!
I have to make 6lbs of beef into sloppy joes. I’d like to try this recipe and assume I’ll just multiple everything by 6.
To serve, do you think I can reheat/keep it warm in a crockpot? Any suggestions on time if so? Thank you!
Here’s an option to consider.
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes: Add the ingredients (minus the buns) to the crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours. Stir before serving and scoop onto your toasted hamburger bun.
adjusted recipe to feed 60 people and they all said that was the best sloppy joe they had tasted!!!
Made this tonight with ground turkey and it was delicious. It reminded me of the way my mom used to make them. We really enjoyed them!
Awesome. Added some cowboy candy and it was bomb. My grandsons loved it. Not a morsel left
Used this recipe when I realized I didn’t have the packet of sloppy Joe seasoning. I didn’t have bell pepper but I had just about all of the rest of the ingredients. I have to say this was DELICIOUS!! I will never use a packet again!! It was a hit with the family! Thank you!!
I liked the recipe but found it was too sweet. I added about 4 oz of tomato sauce to cut the sweetness. Next time, I will just use less brown sugar and substitute some of the ketchup with water or tomato sauce.
Great flavor! A little dry for me but just added more catsup. My hubby told m how much he liked it. Thanks for sharing. ?
Always used canned sloppy joes till I found this recipe a few months ago, and now it’s all I’ll use!! Whole family loves it!
I always used canned sloppy Joe sauce until I found this recipe. I usually use 1/2-1 lb more beef and a can of tomato paste. If needed, I add beef broth to thin it out.
So good!
This sloppy Joe recipe is fantastic!! My husband was blown away- said it was fantastic! Thanks for sharing! It’s all I’ll use moving forward; period!
First time making this. It turned out well and my husband loved it. I used ground chicken instead of beef. I also used some mini peppers because that was what I had. My only issue is that the recipe is for 6 people. They must have very small portions or used slider rolls. There was just enough for 4 people. Will make again.
Great recipe! I followed your directions and made no changes. I can totally understand why this recipe has won blue ribbons ;o)
This will now be my “go to” recipe for Sloppy Joes. We really liked it a lot.
Thank you
Yummy sloppy joes! I love that the beef is charred at first – that adds a nice texture to the meat. I added a few tbsps of water to my ketchup measuring cup since my sauce was kinda thick. Thanks for the great recipe.
Easy and good recipe!!!!
Loved it!! Used only 1 T brown sugar and 8 oz tomato sauce with a few T water instead of catsup. Also added chili powder and smoked paprika .
My new go-to for sloppy joes – made this last night for dinner. So quick and easy and soooo good!!!
I followed the recipe exactly but didn’t feel like it was very saucy. I added 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce and 10 oz tomato sauce and it came out delicious! Husband loved it too. Toasted buns were the finishing touch. Will definitely use this recipe in the future.
This is so tasty, so easy and quick. Definite go to when not sure what to do with ground meat during warmer mo that. Love it! Thank you for sharing!
I just made your sloppy joe’s and they are THE best. I will be savings this recipe. Thank you.
Very good and so easy….
I have been searching forever for the perfect sloppy joe recipe and I finally found it. Thank you so much! I did exactly what you said to do except I puréed the onion and bell pepper in the food processor to hide them from my kids. Muahahaha!
Soooo good! I made these today and will definitely make again! I didn’t have a green pepper, so I substituted a red one indyead’
This was so easy and every kitchen has these ingredients! I added a little paprika and chili powder too and it was sooo good! Everyone had seconds! 🙂
Awesomeness. The whole family loved it!! Super easy to make too