Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes (Copycat)

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

16 Comments

5 from 5 votes
4 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes have the Carl’s Jr flavor you crave with bacon, smoky bbq sauce, cheese and seared beef on a sesame bun in 30 minutes.

Another winning addition to our always growing collection of Sloppy Joe Recipes! We have been loving recreating our favorite fast food burgers as a twist on Classic Sloppy Joes.

What other Copycat Recipes would you like to see next?

Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes

WESTERN BACON CHEESEBURGER SLOPPY JOES

There’s no doubt about it, Western Bacon Cheeseburgers are one of those classic fast food sandwiches that other chains just can’t rival. They have mastered the charbroiled burger combination with tangy, slightly spicy, bbq sauce, crispy bacon, melty cheese, and freshly fried onion rings.

While we definitely don’t think other fast food joints can match their signature burger, we couldn’t help but try to recreate it ourselves. During our testing, we thought what if we combine it with one of our signature classics, the Sloppy Joe?

Thus the Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joe was born. It has all the flavors you will find at Carl’s Jr, but you don’t have to load up the family in the car when the craving hits. Plus, since it’s homemade, you get to control what ingredients are going in. That’s gotta save some calories, right?

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. We rarely turn down some pre-dinner bacon snacks.

Like our Big Mac Sloppy Joes, we are swapping out our 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 Assemble Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes

  • Coat the bottom bun with some of the bbq sauce.
  • Add two large Onion Rings.
  • Spoon the sloppy joe mixture onto the onion rings
  • Top with American Cheese.
  • Brush the top bun coated with more bbq sauce and place on top.

MORE DELICIOUS SLOPPY JOES RECIPES

HOW TO MAKE WESTERN BACON CHEESEBURGER SLOPPY JOES

  • 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.
  • 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.

Western Bacon Sloppy Joes

VARIATIONS ON WESTERN BACON CHEESEBURGER SLOPPY JOES

  • 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 Joe 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.
  • Sliders: A kid-friendly way to serve your Sloppy Joes is on Hawaiian Rolls. They are the perfect size for smaller hands, fun to eat, and those melt-in-your-mouth rolls are just so yummy!

Western Bacon Jr. Sloppy Ingredients

HOMEMADE BARBEQUE 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.

Here’s an easy bbq sauce recipe for you:

  • 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
  1. Add all the bbq sauce ingredients into a saucepan and whisk until combined. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for 45 minutes.
  2. 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 EASY SANDWICH RECIPES:

HOW TO STORE WESTERN BACON CHEESEBURGER SLOPPY JOES

  • 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.

Western Bacon Sloppy Mixture in Yellow Pan

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Dinner, then Dessert

Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes

Western Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes have Carl's Jr flavor you crave with bacon, smoky bbq sauce, cheese and seared beef on a sesame bun in 30 minutes.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes with BBQ Sauce and Onion Rings
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.
  • 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.

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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Collage photos of Western Bacon Jr. Sloppy Joes sandwich and pan with ingredients

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