Step away from the canned sauce and give these homemade sloppy joes a try! They’re truly the best version of a childhood favorite!
As we head into the upcoming holiday season, I’ve been thinking about family-friendly meals. You know, those meals that your kids always want to eat. In our house, this Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese is number one on our list… with these sloppy joes being number 2! With two little ones myself, I know ALL too well how frustrating it is to cook a meal and have them promptly turn up their noses and say it’s “gross”. *facepalm*
I’ve always been a fan of classic sloppy joes. There’s something so innately satisfying about the sweet and savory combination and messiness of it all! And I know you all love them too, since I’ve been getting a lot of requests for sloppy joe recipes.
I’ve made a LOT of sloppy joe recipes lately, trying to come up with the perfect one. Some were too sweet, others too spicy. Well guys, I finally got it. The perfect balance. This sloppy joe recipe is sweet, tangy, zesty and savory, with the perfect texture and consistency.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOES
Homemade sloppy joes are incredibly easy to make, and come together in one skillet in about 20 minutes or so. Browned beef is mixed with onion and green pepper and simmered in a sweetened tomato/ketchup sauce. The secret is in finding the right seasoning for the sauce!
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANWICH AND SLOPPY JOES?
Technically Manwich is a pre-made sauce that’s used to make sloppy joes. I’m not sure exactly what’s in it, and have never tried it myself, so I can’t say that my recipe tastes similar or not. Manwich is marketed as a easy way to make sloppy joes… but in reality, homemade sloppy joes are JUST as easy to make!
HOW DID SLOPPY JOES GET THEIR NAME?
From what I can glean from the good ol’ internet, a cook named Joe in a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa added a tomato sauce to a loose meat sandwich. It must have been a favorite and took off!
WHAT CAN I DO WITH SLOPPY JOE MEAT?
Number one, slap some on a toasted bun!! After that, here are some of my favorite things to do:
- Spoon some over some crispy waffle fries. Bonus points if you also melt some cheese over the fries before adding the sloppy joe meat!
- Add some to a grilled cheese.
- Roll up in crescent roll dough and bake at 375 F degrees for about 12-15 minutes. Cheese makes a great addition to these as well!
- Add some on top of a burger.
CAN YOU MAKE SLOPPY JOES IN A CROCKPOT?
You can! Just brown the beef and add all the remaining ingredients (no buns though), and cook on LOW for about 4-6 hours, or HIGH for 2-3 hours. This will have a softer texture than skillet sloppy joes though.
PRO TIPS FOR MAKING HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOES:
- Before you get started, toast your buns. Toasting the bun makes ALL the difference, and only takes a few minutes. Crank up the heat under the skillet to high, and add a drizzle of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the buns, then place the buns cut side up on a cooling rack after they’re toasted.
- Watch the sauce so that it doesn’t reduce too much. When too much of the sauce reduces, it gives you a dry sloppy joe mixture. Everyone likes theirs a little differently, but for me, I cook it down so that I can see the bits of meat, and when I drag my spoon through the sauce, it leaves a trail where the sauce is parted. If the sauce immediately flows back into that trail, it’s too liquid-y. I want a few seconds before the sauce covers the trail, which gives me a saucy consistency that’s not too liquid.
- Choose your favorite type of bun. I usually go for either a pretzel bun (like I did in these Beer and Chorizo Sloppy Joes!), or a brioche bun.
SHOP THE RECIPE:
- Skillet – I like to use either stainless steel or cast iron for this, as they both give a great sear!
- Wooden plate – I love these for sandwiches!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/3 green bell pepper, minced
- 1/2 large yellow onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar (or less, if you prefer)
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 3/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- dash of hot sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Heat butter and oil in large skillet over MED/MED-HIGH heat. Add beef and brown, breaking apart into crumbles as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Transfer to colander to drain.
- Add onion and bell pepper to same skillet and cook 2-3 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds or so, until fragrant. Add beef back to the skillet and add tomato paste. Stir well.
- Add ketchup, water, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, red pepper flakes (if using), and black pepper. Stir well to combine.
- Cook over MED heat for 10-15 minutes, until mixture has thickened to your liking. Remove from heat and serve over toasted buns.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
- Cool the mixture completely, then add to freezer containers and freeze for up to 4 months.
- Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Ashley Horton says
I love this recipe. Didn’t use tomato paste since we didn’t have any in the house, added a little more ketchup and extra garlic just because I love garlic. It turned out amazing!!!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Melissa D. says
I made this recipe for the Best Homemade Sloppy Joes along with Food.com’s 40 Minute Hamburger buns recipe by Marie for the first time and it was a fantastic yummy dinner! (the buns recipe makes 12 buns but I used half for buns and allowed the other half of the dough to rise and baked a small 9″ loaf.) The leftovers the next day were even better and I highly recommend doubling the recipe to actually have leftovers! I really appreciate recipes that make a smaller volume because we don’t like a lot of leftover food but this one made just enough for 2 people for a dinner and then a smaller lunch portion. We aren’t large portion eaters. I did not use the pepper flakes but subbed some cayenne pepper because we like things a little spicier here at home.
Patti W. says
Just made these the other day. Outstanding! We used 4.5 lbs of beef, as I was hoping to have it last for 3 days…it only lasted 2. I added extra peppers and onions. I added 3 jalapenos (seeded) and 1 can green chiles for an extra kick. I don’t like too spicy. This was mildly good for my taste. 2 of my sons, besides using a toasted bun, also used corn tortillas! Thanks so much for sharing.
Karen Thomas says
My son loves them. I haven’t made these from scratch in a long time. Tried Manwich but we don’t the cinnamon in the product.
L York says
This is SO DELICIOUS!!! We love it! This went straight into our family favorite recipe binder. Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe.
mary jo says
Made this recipe and LOVED IT!!! Froze well too. I made the recipe as written but used a red pepper as that’s all I had. DELICIOUS!
Joan Husby says
i do wish you had more of a left margin in your page. the share and save stuff runs right over your stuff. some of us do enlarge….. I do appreciate from scratch recipes…. Couldnt really try it since my peppers seem to be missing… why must people but hot stuff in everything…. But easy enough to leave out since I make it myself
The Chunky Chef says
I understand your frustration, as I myself, actually enlarge my text (bad eyes). I’m currently redesigning the website for 2021 and I’ll pass this along to my web designer. I’m confused what you think is hot in this recipe though. The green bell peppers don’t add any heat, and anything spicy is optional (to counteract the sweetness).
Me says
Grump!
Michelle says
My kids HATE Manwich. So I set out to find something different. They absolutely love this recipe. First time I misread the chili powder and it was spicey. But they thought it was amazing.
When we make it, we make 12 times the amount then freeze it for quick dinners. This next week, I will experiment canning it to see how it turns out.
Question though…. can tomato sauce be used in place of the ketchup? I am not a fan of ketchup in general so was hoping to use something else if possible.
MJ says
Way to spicy and doesnt taste like sloppy joes
The Chunky Chef says
Well everyone does have different tastes, but are you positive you followed the correct measurements? With the spicy element being optional (the red pepper flakes), I’m surprised it was so spicy.
Sarah says
I’ve made these twice now… they are amazing!! I didn’t use green pepper (bc I didn’t have one), and added a jalapeño with the onion mix. So easy and quick! I’ve also subbed ground turkey and they are still great
Nataylia C. Ketchum says
We ran out of our go to sloppy joe mix. We decided to use this one. I don’t think I will ever by sloppy joe mix again unless I’m in a real pinch for time. This was excellent. I only enhanced the recipe by adding Bbq sauce.
Ally says
This recipe is the best! It tasted so delicious definitely will be making it again
Susan says
Pandemic raging my teens wanted something comforting so asked for sloppy joes. Didn’t have tomato paste or a packet for the sauce but good ol’ Google lead me straight to you and boy howdy and I so glad it did!
This was an amazing recipe that was not overly tomatoey, sweet or acidic.
We used leftover taco meat and chopped up meatballs from spaghetti the other night, no extra salt, 2 tsp molasses instead of brown sugar and a bit less ketchup, plus everything else you suggested. My kids could NOT get enough!
Definite keeper! Thank you =]
Mary says
Perfect sloppy Joe’s, not sweet just perfect! Thank you
Susan says
This is exactly the recipe I was searching for. The sloppy joes tasted just the way I’d hoped they would! Definitely a keeper!
Carla Willetto says
Made a double batch and it turned out great! My 2 teens snarfed it up. Some caveats: 1) decided to half the brown sugar and it was plenty sweet enough. 2) I am considering decreasing the large amt of ketchup and replace it with plain tomato sauce. There was a noticeable vinegar taste/aroma and the ketchup was the main source that I could determine. I used reduced sugar/reduced sodium ketchup…again it was plenty sweet. 3) One kid is not a fan of chunks of onion/bell pepper, so I gave those items a ride in the food processor before using them. Kids asked me to make it again. Very yummy.
E says
Really good, and so much better than canned sauce. My sons, husband, and mother loved it!
Diane Elmore says
This is the second time I’ve made it. It’s so good, not overly sweet.
Julie says
I seldom leave reviews, however, this sloppy joe recipe is our favorite. I always try to make stuff like this a day ahead of time to allow flavors to meld, but this one doesn’t require that. Delish!
Joan says
Just made this recipe and it is yummo! I doubled so that I could freeze half for later. I used a Red pepper instead of Green and I left out the hot sauce and red pepper flakes, I didn’t want it to be spicy. It’s absolutely delicious. Thank You!
Aisha says
After a conversation at work, I was suddenly craving sloppy joes ….which I haven’t had in years….since I stopped using prepackaged sauces or sides. Anyway, I googled sloppy joes and came across this recipe.
I left out the bell pepper because I didn’t have any.y measurements of ingredients are never precise, but other than adding a bit of smoked paprika and more water, pretty much followed the recipe as is….oh I also used spicy brown mustard because that’s what was open in the fridge.
These came out AMAZING. Gave me all the flavor I missed from childhood without the artificial twang you get from the canned stuff.
Will definitely make again
Ryan says
Honestly this is a very legit recipe for super easy sloppy joes. Well done!