Homemade Sloppy Joes are one of my all-time favorite sandwiches. Tender, lean ground beef simmered in a tangy sweet, hearty tomato sauce with just a hint of spice, served on soft pillowy hamburger buns, makes a quick and delicious lunch or dinner.
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One of my favorite childhood memories from elementary school was the sloppy joe sandwiches we were served. The lunch crew knew how popular they were and always made extra, so chubby little boys like me could have seconds.
I know after one bite, you’ll agree this is the best sloppy joes recipe you’ve ever tasted! And if you love messy, delicious sandwiches, make sure to check out my Easy Oven Cooked Pulled Pork Recipe.
My easy sloppy joe recipe is not only delicious but also a budget-friendly family dinner. Your whole family will love it, and I promise you’ll get rave reviews with my simple homemade sloppy joes recipe.
You won’t believe how easy it is to make the sauce for the sloppy joes, and it’s so much better than store-bought sauce.
Ingredients
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Sloppy Joes. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Made with simple ingredients
- lean ground beef
- onion
- ketchup
- tomato paste
- brown sugar
- yellow mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
- salt
- black pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
How to make Sloppy Joes
Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make sloppy joes in your home kitchen.
- Add the ground beef and chopped onions to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook the sloppy joe meat until the ground beef is no longer pink. Stir as it cooks to break up the meat. Drain off any excess grease from the beef.
- Add the ketchup, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and salt to the sloppy joe mixture, and stir to combine.
- Bring the sloppy joes mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.
If you want a healthier version of this classic dish, you can swap out the ground beef for ground turkey or ground chicken. I don’t use green peppers in my recipe, but feel free to include those when you cook the ground beef and onions.
If you want a spicier version, add a little chili powder to kick up the heat.
Toast the hamburger bun before adding the sloppy joe filling, and serve with coleslaw, potato chips, French fries, or tater tots for one of my favorite quick meals.
This is definitely one of my favorite ground beef recipes. Just remember to bring plenty of napkins to your dinner table.
Recipe FAQ’s
One of the stories I’ve heard about Sloppy Joes getting its name goes back to the 1930s and a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa. The story says that a cook named Joe added tomato sauce to his “loose meat” sandwiches. And the rest is history.
Sloppy joes are a popular American sandwich made with ground beef cooked with onions, ketchup, tomato sauce, and seasonings. The mixture is typically served on a hamburger bun.
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Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper to taste
- 4 hamburger buns split
Instructions
- Add the ground beef and chopped onions to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook the mixture until there is no more pink in the ground beef. Stir as it cooks to break up the meat.
- Add the ketchup, water, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and salt to the ground beef mixture and stir to combine.
- Bring the sloppy joes mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.
- Serve the sloppy joes over hamburger buns.
Ofelia G-E says
Thank you again, Chef Dennis, for sharing another fabulous recipe. When I saw this, I knew I had to make it for my husband since I’ve banned his favorite canned Sloppy Joe’s from the house. This recipe was an instant hit and after 22yrs of being on the “Meals Not Allowed” list, I’m looking forward to making this again and again. I didn’t have ketchup after purging the refrigerator, so I made my own which turned out better than store bought. Many Thank You’s!
Chef Dennis Littley says
You are very welcome, ands I’m happy to hear you made your own ketchup, and I’m sure it was better than store bought!
Tricia says
Very easy and tasty (there were no leftovers)! Thank you.
SB says
What can be used instead of Worcestershire sauce? (It’s something I never use, so I don’t buy it.)
Thanks!
Chef Dennis Littley says
Just leave out the worcestershire, it won’t have that much effect on the flavor,
Mike says
Those joes were the bomb !
Next up coconut layer cake : )
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my sloppy joes, its one of my favorite sandwiches.
Marlene says
This is by far the Best Damn Sloppy Joe. The only thing I did was add some sweet bell pepper as I grew up with sloppy Joe having bell pepper in it.
Keep the great recipes coming Chef Dennis.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks for the great review Marlene and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the sloppy joes!
Cathleen says
I have never tried sloppy joes until now, but this is so good, I know that I’m going to be making this on repeat. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Dee says
So good! Homemade sloppy joes are the best. My daughter loved these.
Valentina Ottah says
These were delicious! I hadn’t ever tried sloppy joes before making your recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Madelyn says
This recipe makes delicious sloppy joes. We make a little more than the recipe calls for and make a sloppy Joe pizza sometimes. Delicious!
Kristina says
My daughter loves the sloppy joes served at school but now that it’s summer I needed a recipe that earned her approval. She said these were amazing, even better than the school ones.
Jacqueline Debono says
I have to confess this was my first time making sloppy joes. They aren’t so well known here in Italy! But I have long wanted to try them. So easy, so delicious and so much fun to eat!
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m glad you enjoyed them Jacqueline, it is a delicious sandwich and one of my all time favorites.
Mikayla says
The sloppy joe has been revived in our house because of this recipe. It is so delicious and beats any package mix you could ever buy!
Colleen says
I hadn’t had sloppy Joes since childhood and so glad I found this recipe. They were delicious and we can’t wait to have them again!
Kathryn says
These sloppy joes made such a delicious dinner and they always take me back to my childhood, such a fun recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Jenny Graves says
Count me in on the “sloppy joe wagon”. I’m never falling off this baby. The flavors in your recipe are big and bold and everyone loved it. Yum!