This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy
Homemade sloppy joes are nearly as easy as using the canned sauce, but they taste oh so much better! Kids and adults both love this sloppy joe recipe with my sweet and tangy sauce. Pile on some pickles and serve alongside some potato chips.
I’m a sloppy joe fanatic. I make them just about every week for either lunch or dinner and I’ll probably never get tired of it.
These saucy little sandwiches are perfect for busy moms who just want to get something on the table quickly, but don’t want to rely on a can of sauce with questionable ingredients. Our sloppy joe sauce is beyond simple to whip up, it tastes better than the canned stuff, and it’s a huuuuuuge hit with the family thanks to the sweet, savory, tangy goodness going on.
My kids have grown up eating this sloppy joes recipe and it’s really stood the test of time. I have no doubt that they’ll be all grown up and making these for their own kids one day! <3
You’ll find us serving these sloppy joes with a side of cucumber salad on busy weeknights. When we’re serving these to a big crowd, they go great with our cheesy funeral potatoes or some crock pot corn on the cob.
Our sloppy joe casserole (made with crispy tater tots!!) is another family favorite!
Expert Tips
Sauce: Taste the sauce as you add the seasoning. You might like things a bit sweeter (add more brown sugar), more spicy (a bit more chili powder), or extra tangy (another splash of vinegar). You really can’t mess this one up!
Beef: We like to use a lean ground beef and we always drain off any excess grease after cooking. This recipe will also work well with ground turkey or plant based meat substitutes.
Serving: We usually serve this on buttered and toasted buns, but my kids also love this one piled on top of a serving of our mac and cheese casserole.
Ingredient Notes:
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate and member of other qualifying programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
For the ground beef mixture:
Ground Beef – We keep it traditional with ground beef more often than not, but this recipe also works well with ground turkey or plant based ground beef substitutes, like Beyond or Impossible.
Onion & Bell Pepper – I like to cook the ground beef with onion and bell pepper to add a little texture and flavor. These are easily left out for picky eaters.
Garlic – Some minced garlic will also add flavor to the ground beef when cooking!
For the homemade sloppy joe sauce:
Ketchup & Mustard – The base of this sloppy joe sauce starts with a mixture of ketchup and mustard. So simple, but flavorful! We’ll enhance it with a few other ingredients…
Vinegar – Distilled white vinegar is best here but ACV works great too. It’ll add the tangy flavor to the sauce.
Brown Sugar – The best sloppy joe sauce is savory and sweet! We sweeten this sauce up with brown sugar. You won’t need a lot, as the ketchup is already sweet.
Tomato Paste – It’s basically concentrated tomato flavor and a little bit goes a long way! Tomato paste will definitely add some tomato vibes to the sauce. We buy it in a tube and keep it in the fridge to add a pop of concentrated tomato flavor to dishes.
Worcestershire Sauce – This savory sauce is one of our favorites for all kinds of recipes. You don’t need much of it either.
Seasoning – Nothing major here, just some salt, pepper, and chili powder!
Serving- Keep it traditional and serve these on a buttery toasted bun, or serve this over your mac and cheese or as a dip for chips!
What We Love About This HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOE Recipe:
- Flavor: Sure, the canned stuff is tasty, but homemade is always better! This simple sauce recipe has lots of savory, sweet, tangy flavor that makes the perfect sloppy joes!
- Versatile: There are lots of great toppings and sides that go well with sloppy joe sandwiches and just about everyone loves them. These are perfect for weeknight dinner recipes with whatever sides you like!
How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joes:
Sauce: Whisk together ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a small bowl or mason jar until smooth and combined.
Ground Beef: Brown a pound of ground beef in a large skillet, breaking it up as it cooks. When the meat is about halfway cooked through (you should still have lots of pink throughout), add in some chopped onion, bell pepper, and garlic.
Continue cooking and stirring until the meat is cooked through and the veggies have softened. Drain off the fat.
Helpful Tip!
If you have picky kids (or a picky husband, like I do) you can 100% omit the onions and peppers. Anytime I make this for dinner (meaning my husband is home to eat it), I leave the onions out. If I make this for lunch while he’s at work, I leave the onions in. Totally works both ways!
Sloppy Joe Sauce: Pour all of that sweet and tangy homemade sloppy joe sauce right over the meat and stir it all up. Simmer this mixture for about 5 minutes.
Serve: Spoon the homemade sloppy joe mixture onto your sandwich rolls and top them however you like. We prefer dill pickle slices or some dill pickle slaw, but you can even just serve them plain as is!
So easy and always a kid-pleaser! These go great with a pile of potato chips on the side too. See below for more serving suggestions!
FAQ’s:
Absolutely! Heat a couple teaspoons of oil in the skillet, add your ground turkey or chicken, and cook just like you would beef.
Any leftover sloppy joe mixture can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
Yep! You can freeze the beef sloppy joe mixture no problem. Just place it into a freezer safe container or bag and it’ll stay good for up to a couple of months. Thaw before reheating.
MORE FAMILY FRIENDLY RECIPES!
- Potato Soup: The kids love topping their soup off with extra cheese and bacon and I love how easy it is to throw this in the crockpot.
- Fried Tacos: We eat soft tacos about once a week, but everyone cheers when they see me making their beloved fried tacos!
- French Dip: This sandwich is beyond easy to make in the crockpot and the kids are happy to eat the leftovers for days!
- Crockpot BBQ Chicken: If there is one thing my whole family loves, it’s BBQ!
- Air Fryer Boneless Pork Chops: A quick, easy, mess free way to prepare pork chops!
Homemade Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ sweet onion minced
- 1/2 bell pepper minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar more or less to taste
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 4 sandwich rolls
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks.
- When beef is partially cooked through, add the onion, pepper, and garlic to the pan and continue cooking and stirring until meat is fully cooked and vegetables have softened. Drain grease and return to the pan.
- Add the ketchup, mustard, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, salt, and pepper to a small bowl and whisk well to combine.
- Pour the sauce over the ground beef and stir to coat.
- Simmer the meat mixture for 5-10 minutes to thicken up as much as you'd like before spooning onto sandwich rolls.
Stacey says
It is good!
Viki Wickstrom says
Can I leave Wortschshire Sauce out of this recipe?
Karly says
Sure – the sauce just won’t have quite the same flavor.
Teresa D Nichols says
I am always looking for recipes that I can make ahead and freeze but I am a novice cook and afraid to experiment. If I was to double or triple this recipe of just the sauce (without meat) would I be able to freeze it?
Karly says
I haven’t tried this before, but I think it would probably work fine.
Kathi says
This sounds like a good recipe and I will have to try it. The recipe I use is from Alton Brown and the only difference is that he uses 3 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle relish along with the 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon chili powder. It does not use any bell pepper(which my family are not fans of) nor vinegar. My friends and family all think it tastes very close to Manwich – which I can’t use because of the MSG in it. But I will try your recipe – just leaving out the bell pepper. Thanks for sharing it.
Karly says
Tough competition against the Alton Brown recipe, I’m sure, but I hope you love it just as much! I like the way the vinegar balances out some of that sweetness. 🙂
Shari Giarraputo says
I made these last night for my family. My family loved it. Just enough for a family of three. I had enough for one more. But I made tater tots on the side with coleslaw. I omitted the pepper and left the onion in. My family also fears peppers and onions. But I compromise by really mincing the onion. Half the time I put onions in and they don’t know. I also used ground chicken. Great recipe.
Karly says
So glad to hear you enjoyed these! 🙂
Pamela M Dunsirn says
Thank you for the recipe. These are absolutely awesome!!!!
Sabrina says
I love them too, but have kinda forgotten about them, and I’ve always only defaulted to using the sloppy joe spice packets, so love that these are home made, thank you!
Kathleen says
I LOVE Sloppy Joes! I could eat these 7 days a week. With onions!! <3
Fran says
Is there anything that can be done to lower the sodium? It’s awfully high.
Karly says
Use reduced sodium ketchup and omit the salt.
Mary says
This is basically thesame recipe I’ve always used except I use Apple cider vinegar. We make sloppy Joe grilled cheese sandwiches. So good!
Linda says
Will it be just as good without the vinegar?
Karly says
Sloppy joes are sweet and tangy – the vinegar adds the tang. I don’t think I’d like them as much without the vinegar.
John Craig says
My sloppy joes are better, they are made with corned beef, large onion chopped, 2 pounds of hamburger, a mixture of flour, liquid brown sugar and chili powder and ketchup and simmer for 30 minutes!
Brenda Wierenga says
Hi can I have the exact measurements please thank you
Dru says
This is almost the same recipe that I copied out of a magazine nearly 65 years ago. I made it for our friends a couple weeks ago for lunch when we got together to do some canning. Yummy as always! It has been a favorite for all these years. Always a big hit when the morning moms in the neighborhood got together and the question always was “What are you doing with your hamburger for dinner tonight?” I did not use Worcestershire sauce in mine and it was great.
cynthia says
I made this dish for dinner and it was a hit. It was well loved by my entire family..The sloppy Joes were delicious..I will definitely make again.
Karly says
So glad to hear that!
Karen says
This is so ironic! I was just thinking about sloppy joes tomorrow for dinner, then I check my email and this recipe shows up! I am actually allergic to an ingredient in Worstershire sauce, is there anything I could sub in it’s place or would leaving it out affect the taste? They look delicious!! And P.S. I pretty much eat tacos every week too, or your cream cheese enchiladas ?
Karly says
Have you ever tried fish sauce? It sounds strange, but it adds a similar savory flavor. Otherwise, just leave it out. I think it’ll be fine without it!
Gregory Anderson says
Quick sub in my kitchen would be soy sauce or steak sauce (generic Heinz 57? A-1?). If you want to play around I’d try molasses, vinegar, garlic powder, a pinch of salt – slightly heated to meld flavor, then use or cool.
Karen, could you be reacting to the anchovies which are dissolved in the barrels of sauce when they make Worcestershire. The anchovies release a chemical which jumps up and slaps us in the face, and we cry “ooh mommy!” Sorry, Umami.
Some folks I know substitute WS for fish-sauce as they cannot find the latter in markets in their area.
Now I have a reason for making that recipe of burger buns I’ve been putting off. And I’m liking the idea of fusion foods with this sloppy joe mix — sloppy jose tacos, sloppy juan burrito, sloppy guiseppe pizza… thank you Karly. You just keep knocking it right out of the park.
Karen says
Yes, Gregory, it is the anchovies I’m allergic to! Thanks for the thoughts! I made these last week and just omitted the WS and they were still great! ?
Sherry Nawrocki says
Karen, there are several anchovy free Worcestershire sauces. Just search for “vegetarian worcestershire”.
Nancy Sikes says
I can’t imagine sloppy Joe’s without onions! Put onions & peppers in food processor & grind them up before putting in with meat. This will take care of the texture issue and you can still have the lovely added flavor.
Kelly | Foodtasia says
I adored Sloppy Joes as a kid but haven’t had them in years. We only ever had the jarred sauce, but this looks so easy and so delicious! It’s time to introduce my kids to Sloppy Joes!