Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes (Copycat)

by Sabrina Snyder

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16 Comments

5 from 5 votes
4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes brings the smoky, savory flavor of a Carl’s Jr. classic to an easy 30-minute dinner you will love!

Sloppy Joes are a fun way to recreate flavors of your favorite burgers at home! Next time, try making my delicious In-N-Out Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes or my Shake Shack Sloppy Joes!

Assembled loaded ground beef sandwich on a wooden plate
ground beef, sauces, onions, and bacon in a cooking skillet
Assembled loaded beef sandwich held in hands
Recipe Snapshot

Why You’ll Love This Sloppy Joes?

  • Easy to make and loaded with hearty flavors the whole family will enjoy!
  • Fresh and homemade, making it better than takeout!

Sabrina’s Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes Recipe

There’s no doubt about it, Western Bacon Cheeseburgers are one of those classic fast food sandwiches that other chains just can’t rival. While I definitely don’t think other fast food joints can match their signature burger, I couldn’t help but try to recreate it myself. During my testing, I thought what if I combine it with one of my signature classics, the Sloppy Joe? Thus the Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes was born. Perfect for a weeknight dinner when the craving hits, but skip loading the family up in the car and heading to the drive thru.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes (Copycat) Recipe

Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes brings the smoky, savory flavor of a Carl's Jr. classic to an easy 30-minute dinner you will love!
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Assembled loaded ground beef sandwich on a wooden plate
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 6 slices bacon
  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef , (85/15)
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 3/4 cup KC Masterpiece Hickory Flavored BBQ Sauce
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 hamburger buns , sesame seed
  • 4 slices American Cheese

Instructions

  • In a large skillet add the bacon and cook until crispy, but still chewy.
  • Remove from the pan and let cool for 1 minute before chopping finely.
  • Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease.
  • Season ground beef with kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.
  • Add the beef and onions, cooking well until seared, breaking it apart but leaving some chunks for 5-6 minutes.
  • Add in the beef broth, ketchup, bbq sauce, and Worcestershire sauce
  • Cook until the sauce starts to evaporate and the mixture becomes "sloppy", about 5-6 minutes.
  • Coat the bottom bun with some of the BBQ sauce. Add two large Onion Rings (optional). Spoon the sloppy joe mixture onto the onion rings. Top with American Cheese. Brush the top bun with more BBQ sauce and place it on top.

Nutrition

Calories: 710kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 50g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 2188mg | Potassium: 1009mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 359IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 347mg | Iron: 7mg

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Sabrina’s Tips

I like to toast the buns before assembling my burgers because it adds a little crispiness and keeps them from getting too soggy. Or use toasted Hawaiian Rolls. They are a kid-friendly way to serve your Sloppy Joes. They are the perfect size for smaller hands, fun to eat, and those melt-in-your-mouth rolls are just so yummy!

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About this Recipe

This Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes has all the flavors of the iconic burger that Carl’s Jr. has mastered from the charbroiled burger combination with tangy, slightly spicy, BBQ sauce, crispy bacon, melty cheese, and freshly fried onion rings. This recipe puts the bacon directly into the Sloppy Joe mixture, but you can feel free to cook up extra bacon for toppings. Or just to munch on while you are waiting for the meat and sauce to thicken up. My family rarely turn down some pre-dinner bacon snacks.

Pairing Suggestions

Like my Big Mac Sloppy Joes, I am swapping out my regular brioche buns for a sesame seed bun to get it as close to the original as possible. Serve these with Fried Zucchini and Ranch for a full, indulgent Carl’s Jr experience.

How to Store

  • Serve: You can leave this dish at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Allow your meat to come to room temperature. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  • Freeze: You can freeze the sloppy joe mixture for up to 3 months in an air-tight container.

Variations

  • Meat: Instead of ground beef, try using ground turkey or chicken. Make sure you get a version that is unseasoned and has a good fat content.
  • Vegetarian: Beyond Crumbles are a good meat substitute and are actually really tasty. They keep the same consistency of beef when cooking in sauces. Either leave out the bacon or swap for your favorite meatless version.
  • Toppings: While the regular Western Bacon Burger isn’t served with lettuce, pickles, or tomatoes, that doesn’t mean you have to leave them off if you like them.
  • Keto: Wrap this Sloppy Joes in butter lettuce cups if you want a low carb version. Look for keto friendly BBQ sauces. Cook up some extra bacon for toppings if you want even more protein.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

  • If you want to make this dish 100% from scratch, use my favorite Homemade BBQ Sauce recipe. Be aware the classic Carl’s Jr Copycat calls for Hickory Flavored KC Masterpiece, so making a homemade version will vary the authenticity.
  • Ingredients: 1 cup ketchup, 1 cup vinegar, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  • Instructions: Add all the BBQ sauce ingredients into a saucepan and whisk until combined. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 45 minutes. Use 1 cup for this recipe and for topping your Sloppy Joes. The leftovers will last up to 1 week in the fridge in a sealed container.

More Delicious Sloppy Joes

assembled loaded ground beef sandwich held in hands pinterest

These photos were in a previous version of this post

ground beef cooked in sauce in skillet
photo collage of assembled loaded ground beef sandwich pinterest
hands holding loaded ground beef sandwich with onion ring in between
close up of loaded ground beef sandwich with onion ring in between
unmixed ground beef, sauces, and other ingredients in skillet

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. Quick question In the recipe it says 1/4 cup ketchup, then says 1/2 later in comments. Need clarification before I make this.

    Thanks, Janet

    Reply

    1. Thanks for catching that! I stirred the bacon in right before serving. I wanted it to still have some crisp to it. I hope you enjoy it!

      Reply