Easy homemade sloppy Joes that will feed a hungry crowd! Sloppy Joes are a little sweet, tomatoey-tang, and I like to kick mine up with a touch of heat! So good, you’ll make the whole family happy with this one!

Homemade Sloppy Joes are the ultimate comfort food.

The first thing that always comes to mind when I hear the words ‘sloppy Joes’ is Mary Kate and Ashley’s movie, It Takes Two – which let’s be honest, if you were a girl born in the mid-’80s or early ’90s was totally your jam. The epic food fight scene that ensues when a bowl of macaroni and cheese ends up on the dad was quite possibly my most favorite scene from the movie—coming in at number two: Ashley’s first experience with a Sloppy Joe sandwich.

I remember asking my mom to make me this magical thing called a Sloppy Joe. And as a grown adult, I think homemade sloppy Joes are still one of the most nostalgic dinners I’ve shared with you to date.

If you’re looking for a homemade alternative (and one that is 1000x better, I might add) to the cans of Manwich you find at the store, look no further, this is it. It’s a meal that stretches because of all the tomatoes, onions, and peppers we use, and you could easily feed a family or 5-6 with this as long as you serve it up with a couple of sides. 

Also: I think it’s crazy that I shared a recipe for meatless sloppy Joes with you before I shared the kind with real 100% meat. How did that even happen?

What do you need to make the best sloppy joes?

• Butter: used to help add a bit of flavor and fat to the sloppy joe filling
• Ground beef: I prefer to use 90-92% lean ground beef here so that the meat doesn’t get too dry during the cooking process. If you have ground beef that has a higher percentage of fat than what I use, you can still use it; you may just want to omit it the butter, or drain the ground beef once you’ve browned the meat, so it’s not super oily.
• Chopped peppers + onions + minced garlic: These are the aromatic ingredients that help flavor the meat and the sauce.
• Seasonings: we’re adding a dash of red pepper flakes and a bit of garlic powder to amp up the flavors in this recipe. If you’re not a fan of heat or are serving little ones, you can easily leave out the red pepper flakes or use less.
• Tomato paste + sauce + ketchup: I find that using a variety of tomato products gives this the best taste at the end. I’ve tried the recipe with all ketchup and all tomato sauce, and unfortunately, neither yielded the same results as the one with a combination of both. This (affiliate link) is the only ketchup I use now – so good.
• Brown sugar: balances out all the salty and tangy ingredients that we use in this recipe
• Worcestershire sauce + apple cider vinegar + mustard: These three ingredients are key, they add complexity to the meat sauce. The Worcestershire gives it umami, and the apple cider and mustard help cut through the richness of the beef.

What kind of buns work best for sloppy joes?

Though you can use just about any kind of buns for sloppy joes, I slightly prefer this recipe with brioche buns. But if you happen to have hamburger or even sandwich buns on hand, those will work as well.

How to make the best sloppy joes?

1. The first step to making sloppy Joes is browning the meat in a little butter until it crumbles. Then, we’ll add in the aromatics – the onions, peppers, tomato paste, and garlic. 
2. Once the onions become translucent, we’ll proceed to the next step by adding all the remaining ingredients (so that’s the tomato paste, tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider, and mustard) along with a big pinch of salt and a splash of water.
3. Then allow the meat mixture to come up to a simmer, lower the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and allow for it to cook through for 20 minutes. This is where all that wonderful flavor forms!
4. To finish the sloppy Joe mixture, remove the lid and allow for the sauce to simmer and thicken until it reaches your desired consistency.

Tips for making the best sloppy joes:

• butter the buns: butter the buns gives them a nicer flavor
• Toast the buns: once you butter them, toast the buns! The butter layer crisps up a little and adds a nice flavor to the sloppy Joe mix.
• You can add stuff to your sloppy joes: Some people add onions and pickles, others add pickled jalapeños, others opt for cheese. And if you melt the cheese, that would most definitely give you bonus points in my book!

Wjat sides can you serve when you make sloppy joes?

• Potato chips
• Pickle spears, these have a cult following (affiliate link)
• Fries
• Broccoli salad
• Sautéed veggies
• Crispy breakfast potatoes
• Steamed broccoli
• Guacamole salad
• Smashed Potatoes

Can I freeze the leftover sloppy joes mixture?

Yes, the sloppy joe mixture is super freezer-friendly. If you’re someone that likes to make dinner a whole lot easier to manage on weeknights, you could even double up on the ingredients in this recipe and freeze half for later when you can’t fathom the thought of having to cook. I like to allow the mixture to cool, then store in an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag. Just defrost the meat mixture in the refrigerator overnight. Serve it up with a few easy to put together sides, and lunch or dinner is all taken care of!

Other recipes to make with ground beef:

• All-purpose meat sauce
• Kofta Pita Sandwiches
• Skillet Chili with Cornbread Crust
• Low Carb Eggplant Lasagna Roll-Ups
• Shepherd’s Pie
• Ground beef stroganoff
• Swedish meatballs
• Weeknight Dan Dan Noodles
• Sweet Onion Mushroom Burgers
• Greek Meatballs

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