Homemade Sloppy Joes
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Hands down THE BEST sloppy joes made from scratch! So saucy, so hearty. Serve in hamburger buns for a quick dinner!
Let’s just say that sloppy joes aren’t just kid-friendly. They are 100% a family-favorite for EVERYONE including all grown-ups. I mean, saucy, tender ground beef goodness with a hint of sweetness served on toasted brioche buns? Yes, sign me up!
You can of course swap out the beef for turkey or pork, and you can use any buns you desire – hamburger buns, pretzel buns, hot dog buns. You name it. I also like to serve mine with some pickles but you can keep them as is. It’s all good here.
TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE
WHAT KIND OF BREAD DO I USE?
Feel free to choose your favorite kind of buns, and be sure to toast them for the best results possible. I know a lot of people love a pretzel bun but I am partial to a brioche bun.
WHAT DO YOU SERVE THESE WITH?
Frozen (reheated, of course) fries, tots and/or onion rings!
DO I HAVE TO USE GROUND BEEF?
Not at all! Ground pork or ground turkey can be used instead of ground beef.
IS THIS FREEZER-FRIENDLY?
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop (adding a tablespoon of water as needed).
Homemade Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef, 90/10
- 1 small sweet onion, diced
- 1 small green bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ cups beef stock
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Add onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, paprika, chili powder and cayenne pepper until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in beef stock, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Stir in ketchup, Dijon, Worcestershire and brown sugar; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and flavors have blended, about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Made this tonight. This was so so good!!!
I’ve cooked this numerous times since finding this recipe absolutely outstanding I usually use elk or venison Burger with a little more garlic and cayenne .
Daddy said “Don’t lose that recipe” !! It’s definitely damn delicious !!
Absolutely awesome! Had to print it out to put in volume 2 of our recipe book.
Excellent recipe made with venison.Â
I will definitely be making this once a week from now on! My husband who is a sloppy Joe fan and picky says it’s every bit as good as what his mom use to make. I made it exactly as recipe shown.Â
This was incredible!! Had to make a quick diy ketchup when I discovered mid-cooking that I was just about out (used tomato paste, water, apple cider vinegar, and sugar), but otherwise followed the recipe. The balance of flavors was awesome. Definitely a keeper!
Keeper recipe! By far, the BEST one I’ve tried. My search is over 🙂
I add finely shredded cabbage to my sauce, the last few minutes. Stretches the recipe and adds a great texture.
Love this recipe and I even cut back on worcestershire, mustard, and ketchup because my husband doesn’t like them. Still tasted great. We both had seconds!
I make my Shepards pie with sloppy Joe! My kids love it!!! Layer of sloppy Joe then corn layer then add layer mashed potatoes covered with salt, pepper and cheese and bake for 30 minutes!Â
My husband has been diagnosed with CKD so I am making almost everything from scratch so I can control the amount of sodium in our meals. This is way better than the canned stuff. Two thumbs up from us!Â
I looked at several recipes before choosing this one. Instead of using beef, I used lentils! I am a vegetarian. I sauteed finely chopped carrot, celery, onion, and then added garlic. I toasted the spices before i added the remaining ingredients. I cooked the lentils in vegetable stock, with half the amount of water (I use the paste stock, here I used roasted veggies) until they were half way done. I added the lentils to the sauce with the stock they cooked in. I let them simmer in the sauce until soft. This really thickened the mixture. I used barbecue sauce instead of ketchup. It was delicious, but a bit sweet for me. I added more tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, and Worchestshire sauce. I will making this to take to cook outs, as an option for vegetarians.
I followed the recipe to a tee and we loved it. I wish I had added the pickles at the end but forgot about that part, which is odd because I love pickles. The only thing I had to change was I started using the largest cast iron skillet we have but it still wasn’t deep enough and I ended up pouring it into a larger, non-stick skillet that could handle the recipe without it spilling over every time I went to stir it. I’m definitely keeping this recipe.Â
I’ve made a few different recipes of sloppy joes but this one will be my go to. I don’t have to try anymore recipes and add my spin on them bc this is delicious. Thanks for sharing!!!
This was delicious! I doubled it for a larger get together with family and it was a hit. We ended up serving the sandwiches open face with a fork and found it a lot easier to eat that way. It was nice and filling too – many people in my family usually go for seconds but one was enough with this. Leftovers are delicious as well. Even the people who claim to dislike sloppy joes (and ketchup) thought this was tasty. I would definitely make this again! A previous commenter suggested serving it over roasted bell pepper, which sounds amazing too, so I might try it that way next time.
Delish as usual – I have learned that if it’s from DD, I can count on it being a great recipe. Super easy and the family loved it. Served in roasted bell pepper halves for the low carb-ers and it was a win there, too!
excellent, substitute Venison for beef and 1 TBSP dry mustard for Dijon…
didn’t have peppers, used jalapeños in a jar, diced fine.  added a bit more brown sugar, used Hawaiian buns, yummy!
My husband said best he’s ever had. Winner again.
Glad u didn’t put “The Best” in ur title. I would’ve passed u up. This is actually the best . Teaching a young person how to look up recipes and cook them. Told this person to automatically pass over anything that says “the Best”. He made followed ur recipe and four people are really happy and full. Thank you.
Damn Delicious Does It Again!
This recipe is quick, easy, and tastes so much better than the canned Sloppy Joe mix we used when I was growing up! This is not the only recipe of yours I’ve tried. Your recipes are well written, concise, but most of all flavorful. Please keep up writing your amazing recipes. You are appreciated!
It was AMAZING & will definitely be adding it to our normal rotation! Thank you for sharing!
My kids are picky as a penguin looking for a pebble; And I quote, “perfect daddy, can we have this every night!!” Thanks guys!!!
I tried this tonight for diner. The recipe’s a keeper, nice blend of flavors.
Yummy! Maybe did not need quite as much ketchup, but this is really good!
The recipe is delicious, but for some reason mine were too saucy and runny..even when cooking muck longer then recommended to remedy. Next time I’ll add a half pound more meat..
Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve tried many… this one is the best I’ve found. Good job girl.
We loved this recipe, I was concerned it might be to sweet. I was wrong, it was perfect. Than You!
Delicious! My picky husband loved it!Â
Loved these!
Made a double batch for a tailgate yesterday and they were a huge hit. I opted to add extra beef stock and simmer for a couple hours after cooking had commenced. Followed main ingredients but tweaked to add a little extra cayenne, some cumin & tsp of black pepper.Â
Sounds delicious! Will make!
Thank you for an awesome recipe, Jack & I loved it!!!
These sloppy joes were a huge hit! They are soooo good and super easy to make. They’re even better left over. We used the brioche buns and topped with pickles as the recipe suggested and they were super yummy! Highly recommend this recipe!
I have made these sloppy Joes exactly as written several times. Husband says they are the best sloppy Joes he has ever eaten.
The recipe is written out in my personal cookbook so I will never lose it
Looks so good – hard to find a good sloppy joe recipe but this looks like it . Â Thanks sandy
Thanks for this! I made these for dinner tonight because we had buns on hand – they were well received. I used just one lb of beef and added some red lentils at the point of simmering. Will make again!
Could the new ‘imitation ground beef’ sold at Costco be substituted for the animal protein for us vegetarians? Would there be any adjustments to the recipe needed?
Thank you!
These were so delicious! Thank you so much.
I used to make something just like this for my kids! Many years ago. Looks good.