Saucy, beefy, and so satisfying. We’re convinced this is the BEST recipe for a homemade Sloppy Joe. Ground beef in a hearty tomato sauce served on toasted hamburger buns is a great idea for lunch or dinner. Everyone needs a great and nostalgic recipe for Sloppy Joes and THIS. IS. IT.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Helpful Reader Review
“Soooo yummy! Took me years to find a sloppy joe recipe like the one I remember from childhood. This is it. Thank you!” – Kathy ★★★★★
This delicious Sloppy Joe recipe is a simple and inexpensive way to make a budget-friendly family dinner. The tender and juicy ground beef is sautéed with green peppers and onions, then cooked in a hearty and flavorful tomato sauce – it’s hard to stop at just one sandwich, which is why I often double the recipe.
Having some go-to ground beef recipes, such as Cheeseburger Sliders, Taco Salad, or Sloppy Joes, will make dinner time a breeze. If you have some ground beef in the freezer and need an easy meal idea, this is a must-try.
Sloppy Joes Video
This is one of my children’s favorite recipes – it’s so satisfying, and they both agree it’s better than any other sloppy joe they have tried. I just love that my son helped me cook it in the video, and my daughter got in on the taste test because these sandwiches are irresistible.
Ingredients for the Best Sloppy Joes
- Ground Beef – use lean ground beef (85-90% lean). If using a higher fat content, you will need to skim off the extra fat once the beef is cooked so you don’t end up with greasy sloppy joes. You can sub the beef with ground chicken or turkey if you prefer.
- Bell pepper – we used green, but you can substitute a different color in a pinch. If you like things spicy, add some jalapenos along with the green peppers. If you aren’t a fan of bell pepper, you can substitute 1 grated carrot (about 1/2 cup).
- Onion & Garlic – these aromatics add great flavor and disappear into the sauce, so picky eaters won’t complain.
- Homemade Sauce – just a few simple pantry ingredients will make a sauce that’s better than any store-bought sauce. The combination of tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, yellow mustard, and Worcestershire hits all the right flavor notes: sweet, savory, and tangy.
How to Make Sloppy Joes
- Make sauce – In a bowl, combine tomato sauce, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, and brown sugar.
Natasha’s tip if you love it spicy
If you prefer a spicy Sloppy Joes, add some hot sauce or sriracha to the sauce.
- Saute beef – In a deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and break up as it is being cooked. Season with salt and pepper. If you see extra fat on the bottom, tilt the pan and spoon it out.
- Sautee veggies – Add in the finely chopped onion and green pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add sauce – Pour in the sauce and once it comes to a light boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add more salt and pepper if needed (see the Sloppy Joe Tasting Guide below to adjust to your taste preferences easily).
- Serve – I highly recommend buttering the buns and toasting them in a skillet for another layer of flavor. Spoon the saucy beef mixture on toasted buns and serve as sandwiches.
To Serve
There are so many different ways to enjoy a sloppy joe. You’ll want to try them all:
- Classic – Serve this with toasted hamburger buns for the classic sloppy joe recipe.
- Grilled Cheese – Add the meat mixture when making a Grilled Cheese for a hearty sandwich.
- Pizza – Add on homemade overnight pizza dough and top with cheese for a sloppy joe pizza.
- Loaded fries– There is nothing better than loaded fries, top your air fryer French fries with cheese and sloppy joe filling.
- Chili dogs – Add the meat sauce to your hot dogs.
- Baked potato – Take a loaded air fryer baked potato to the next level by topping it with this meat sauce.
Can I make Sloppy Joes in a slow cooker?
These EASY sloppy joes are GREAT to make in the crockpot. Once the meat is browned on a skillet, just add it along with all the other ingredients into the crockpot and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
What is the difference between a Sloppy Joe and a Manwich?
This sloppy joe recipe is homemade and made from scratch. Manwich is a pre-made, store-bought sauce used to make sloppy joes.
Make-Ahead and Storage
- Refrigerating – Let the meat sauce cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Freezing – Once the mixture is cooled, add to freezer-friendly containers or freezer bags and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheating – A general rule of thumb is that it’s best to reheat a recipe the same way it was cooked. Warm the meat sauce on the stovetop in a skillet or saucepan until hot. You can microwave, but use a microwave shield to catch messy splatter.
There’s no match for a warm homemade sandwich, from Hamburgers to my famous Philly Cheesesteak. This Sloppy Joe Recipe is definitely at the top of my list. What is your favorite sandwich? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup*
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp yellow mustard, or to taste
- 2-3 tsp brown sugar, or to taste*
For the Sloppy Joes
- 1 Tbsp extra light olive oil, or any high-heat cooking oil
- 1 lb lean ground beef, 85%-90% lean
- ½ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced, or use 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 5 hamburger buns, toasted if desired
Instructions
- Make the Sauce – In a medium bowl, combine the tomato sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and brown sugar, and set it aside.
- Cook the Beef – Place a large skillet or dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add olive oil and ground beef. Saute the beef for about 5 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink, breaking it up with a spatula. If you see extra fat on the bottom, tilt the pan and spoon it out or blot it up with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add vegetables – Stir in the diced peppers and onion. Cook another 5 minutes until the veggies are tender and beef is browned. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds until fragrant, stirring constantly.
- Add the sauce and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 10-15 minutes or until thickened to your liking. Adjust the seasoning taste* and add water if you prefer a looser consistency. Serve on toasted buns for Sloppy Joe Sandwiches.
Notes
- Too sweet? Add a pinch of salt or 1/ 2 tsp apple-cider vinegar
- Too Tangy? Add 1/2 tsp brown sugar or a drizzle of ketchup
- Too Tomato-y? Simmer an extra 5 min to concentrate flavors and caramelize sugars.
- Missing depth? Add extra Worcestershire.
- Too loose? Simmer uncovered 3-5 minutes to thicken
- Too thick? Add a splash of water
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Love Ground Beef Recipes? Try these:
- Slow Cooker Beef Chili
- Meatloaf
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Bolognese Sauce
- Lasagna
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet
Best Sloppy Joes recipe! Have made them several times. So delicious!
Hi Darla! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad this recipe is being enjoyed.
Hello Natasha! I don’t have any regular tomato sauce but I do have a Tomato sauce that is Chili Ready, looks like the only difference is they have Cuimin and Chili Pepper in it. Not sure if that would taste ok?
Hi Amy! I think it could work fine, it will just have a different flavor profile, that of chili.
My husband doesn’t like Sloppy Joe from the can. I was surprised that he came for seconds. Very good. I won’t buy the canned Joe sauce, anymore and everything in the recipe was pantry staples.
Yay great to hear that it was a success! Thanks so much for this review.
Hi Natasha! Well to begin with, I am American living in England and I just can’t go to the store and get everything I need. But I do have a couple of American Grocer’s that I usually can get a few things here and there. So went to the garage to find in my stock a can of Manwich sauce and i didn’t have anyy stinking sauce on the shelf. haha shame on me…oh but wait I thought I’ll just google a recipe for Sloppy Joe’s. As I was searching for one I ran across your recipe and since I have made several of your recipes of course I went with yours. I didn’t make any changes as that is my way to make a new recipe without tweaking it from the start. I didn’t need to add any water at all and just reduced the sauce down to where I wanted it. I also have to admit it was better than the canned. I’m very greatful that I started following you with your recipe and totally enjoy watching your videos! You are so entertaining and adorble! Thank you for your recipe and have saved me a few dollars from now on no more canned Manwich sauce for me. Thank you!!
Hi Sharon! That’s wonderful. I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipes. Thank you for the love and support.
Natasha, I follow you and love your recipes. You’ve stated these are favorite family recipes.
I’ve noticed your recipe for the best sloppy joes copied word for word by another blogger noting it’s her family favorite also.
Is this the norm?
Hi Linda! We sometimes will have a guest recipe on the blog. In the recipe card above, you’ll see it noted that the author of this recipe is Valentina Ablaev.
Adjustments I made: more worcestershire, more mustard (used spicy brown as I had no yellow mustard), medium (not small) onion, more green pepper, 8 oz tomato sauce (not 15), no water and no oil. Added a pinch each of sriracha salt and powdered mustard. Good and fun!
Thank you for sharing, Sharon!
Had planned on manwiches, as my husband and I were both not feeling well, and just wanted super easy dinner, and I’d already started browning the beef, when I discovered there was not a can in the house! No choice at that point but to “from scratch” it, and found this recipe. Luckily, I had the ingredients, it was very easy, and tasty as is. Like others, we like a bit more spice and tang, so I threw in a small splash of cider vinegar and a large dash of cayenne, and now hubs says I have to make it like this every time… we’ll see… thanks for saving my bacon!
Hi Johanna! That’s wonderful. Thank you for the feedback.
Loved the base recipe, to my taste I halved the tomato sauce, dropped in 1/4tsp of chili powder (cause I like the spice) omitted the olive oil and drained the fat from my 80/20 hamburger… so same/same with no modifications right!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Will. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
When we made this, it turned out way soupier than I’d like for a sloppy joe. The taste was also way too tomato-ey. I think if I were to do it again, I’d use 1 small can of tomato paste rather than a 15oz can of tomato sauce.
Hi Melanie, the size of your pan will make a difference in how quickly the sauce cooks down which is why we recommend cooking “until thickened to your liking.”
Hi there, I didn’t have my “normal” ingredients (1 original Manwich & 1 ‘BOLD’ Manwich). Bummed, however, before Manwich, I always made from scratch. I added this to your recipe: I didn’t measure, Horseradish, Some Original Sweet Baby Ray (love this on ribs too), no salt, 1 or 2 shakes of McCormick Steak Seasoning (Great on a lot of food you would not have thought of!). My Sloppy Joe was soupy also, I did have it in a large, deep wok.
Simmered briefly when browned, let it set for a short time, drained but hardly any fat. I did use the other ingredients. (The difference between mine, is no olive oil, no tomato sauce, no water, and no lid to collect more moisture). 😉
Thank you for sharing, Janet. Hope you still enjoyed it.
This was my first time making this recipe. I sautéed my onions, half a red pepper and some celery until they started browning (it added a lot of flavor and sweetness) then added lean ground beef.
After that I followed the recipe as you listed but added more salt. It was so good and such a big hit. Thank you 👏🏼
That’s great to hear, JoAnne! Thank you for the feedback.
This makes much more sense. The recipe instructs to cook the beef quite a long time after the initial browning phase and results in overcooked meat. The proportions of the recipe though, are good.
I always make recipes that I find exactly as written before making any changes. This one is very good, but I made a few adjustments at the end to tailor it to my tastes. I added about 2 tsp of hot pepper flakes, 2 tsp of salt, and 1 Tbsp of rice vinegar for some twang. To me, that made it perfect! I like the fact that it isn’t too sweet like the canned mixes. Will probably omit the olive oil next time since I used 85/15 beef that has enough of its own fat.
Very Bland. Too much trouble to make such a bland sauce. I had to add mustard AND ketchup thickly on the toasted bun to make it palatable. I cannot recommend Natasha’s recipe. I would never make it again.
Hi Helen, we never had that issue before. It was never bland for us it was just right but feel free to add more seasoning according to your preference when you try it next time.
I found this to be a great starting point, but found it to be a bit bland alike a few others. I added some ketchup, Italian seasoning and a bit of chipotle seasoning. End result was excellent
Super easy to prepare I used ground venison also doubled the recipe since venison was in a 2 lb roll. Simmering right now and reducing the sauce.
Hi Greg! So glad you loved the recipe. Thanks for the feedback.
I made tonight and it was a hit. So easy to prepare ahead and just threw together. I followed recipe but added 1 chopped jalapeno. Definitely a keeper!
Hi Cat! I’m so glad you loved this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Not a fan. Like others I found the sauce bland, and unlike others I wanted a higher sauce-to-beef ratio. No herbs or spices should have been a red flag. I would change enough things here that I’m better off starting from a different recipe.
Hi Joe, if a thicker sauce is preferred, you would want to simmer it down longer which will also concentrate the flavors more.
Perhaps Joe, you should write your own recipe and post. If you felt that this recipe was too bland or not satisfying to your taste, enhance it.
Nice that you shared your thoughts, but they came across a bit negative.
Love your recipes! I had 2 unexpected guests for this meal so I added 2 regular (not the tall) cans of Bush’s vegetarian beans I had on hand. There was enough for us all and it was a big hit!
Yay, lovely feedback! So happy to hear that it was a huge hit!
Was so good and east to make
A new favourite for my husband
That’s great to hear, Joyce! Thanks for the lovely review.
Absolutely delicious the flavors are wonderful. I will make it again! Thanks so much.
You’re so welcome! Great to know that you loved this recipe, Helen.
This is OK but a little bland. I added a tbsp. of garlic powder, a teaspoon or so of cumin, and about 1/2 tsp. of chili powder to punch it up. If you want it even spicier I’d add about 1/4 tsp. of cayenne.
Hi there, we never had that issue before. It was never bland for us it was just right but feel free to add more seasoning according to your preference when you try it next time.
It’s ok. It actually tastes just like Manwich so save yourself the trouble and just go buy Manwich instead.
Nope! Who wants high fructose corn syrup, & guar gum, xanthan gum!!! Not me!!!