Saucy, beefy, and so satisfying. We’re convinced this is the best recipe for homemade Sloppy Joes. Ground beef in a hearty tomato sauce, served on toasted hamburger buns, is a great option for lunch or dinner. Everyone needs a great and nostalgic Sloppy Joe recipe and THIS. IS. IT.
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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 ★★★★★
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.
The Best Sloppy Joe Recipe
This delicious Sloppy Joe recipe is a simple and inexpensive way to make a budget-friendly family dinner. It’s essentially a loose meat sandwich with 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 Ground Beef Stir Fry, Goulash, 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 Joe Ingredients
- 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 any color. If you like things spicy, add jalapenos. You can also substitute with 1 grated carrot (about 1/2 cup).
- Onion & Garlic – these aromatics add great flavor to the sauce.
- Homemade Sauce – just a few simple pantry ingredients create a sauce better than any store-bought version. Combining 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 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 and to keep the buns from getting soggy. Spoon the saucy beef mixture on toasted buns and serve as sandwiches.
What to Serve with Sloppy Joes
Complete the meal by pairing it with crunchy potato chips and dill pickle spears. My kids especially love this combination. It’s also delicious served with a side of creamy potato salad, coleslaw, or macaroni salad. Baked Mac and Cheese is another great option, especially for birthday parties.
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.
How to Use Leftover Sloppy Joe Filling
There are so many different ways to enjoy leftover sloppy joe filling. Here are some great ideas for sloppy joes without the bun:
- Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese – Add the meat mixture when making a Grilled Cheese
- Sloppy Joe Sliders – substitute meat sauce in my cheeseburger sliders.
- Sloppy Joe Pizza – Add on sourdough pizza or overnight pizza dough and top with cheese..
- Loaded fries – top your air fryer French fries with cheese and sloppy joe filling.
- Sloppy Joe Hot Dogs – Add the meat sauce to your hot dogs.
- Baked potato – fill baked potatos, or air fryer baked potatos with meat sauce.
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
- Refrigerating – Cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.
- Freezing – transfer the cooled meat sauce to freezer-friendly containers or freezer bags and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheating – It’s best to reheat a recipe the same way it was cooked. Warm the meat sauce in a pan over the stovetop until hot. You can microwave, but cover to catch messy splatter.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Easy Ground Beef Recipes
- Slow Cooker Beef Chili
- Meatloaf
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Bolognese Sauce
- Lasagna
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet
- Beef Burritos
We love this recipe on a bun and coleslaw on top of the sloppy joe!! Goes together so well!!
Very good recipe in stock form. The only thing I do different is use the whole green pepper. I like mine on toasted hamburger buns with Duke’s Mayo.
If the recipe needs a lot of adjustments I wouldn’t call it the best sloppy Joe’s. I’m actually surprised at the reviews, I guess people never had a good sloppy Joe’s before. I couldnt remember which blogger recipe I used before but it was spot on and amazing, I figured it had to be one of the ones I follow. Unfortunately it was not Natasha’s. I had to triple the sugar, add smoked paprika and ketchup to make it decent enough to enjoy and still it was missing something. Maybe my taste palette is more advanced than most but this was a huge miss.
HI Diana, This is normally a very popular recipe. I’m sorry to hear it didn’t meet the mark for you.
You tripled the sugar in order to meet the demands of your ‘more advanced palette’? I’m guessing you’re American? Did you deep fry it too and add extra E numbers?
i like
Delicious. I like a sweeter sauce so I added additional brown sugar to taste. Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome, Kathy!
I gave it a try and it is delicious, but of course I adjusted the seasonings a bit. I added a 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp chipotle chile pepper and then at the very end to brighten things up, a 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar which really brought it all together with a dash of salt. But I’m definitely saving this and making it again. I think it would also be great as a combo with mac n cheese.
Use chili sauce instead of tomato sauce and 😋
Everything you touch become Gold Natacha! 8 of my 28 recipes I made on rotation is your dish. I want to adopt you forever ! 🙂
Thank you so much! I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying them.
Absolutely delicious. I added a slice of bacon to the recipe. It was so good!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Excellent recipe. I put on brioche or pretzel buns, lightly toasted. Heaven on a cold day.
This is almost identical to my famous sloppy joes! I suggest the addition of 1 TB balsamic vinegar and a little bit of ketchup. I don’t use mustard. But otherwise it’s the exact same! I’m loving the recipes on this site!
9° here today! I’m not going out. I had everything so this was a no-brainer. Easy peasy! Very good.
Wow! That’s quite chilly – stay warm! This recipe is perfect for a cozy evening at home & the cherry on tope when you have everything on hand!
Kind of a dumb question but does the nutrition info include the buns? Thank you.
Hi Megan, it does yes.
Thank you! Making these tomorrow and I’m sure they’ll be great 🙂
Hi Megan! I hope you love them. Come back and report.
Recommend adding a Tablespoon of chili powder to this.
When you say 15 oz can of tomato sauce, what do you mean? What kind of sauce?
Hi Ginny! It was canned tomato sauce purchased in the store. The can was 15 ounces.
I made this I used two pounds of hamburger meat and only had one 10 ounce can of tomato sauce so I also used 3 cans of well drained petite tomatoes with green peppers. I added a little more A1 sauce than the recipe called for and plenty of salt and pepper. I felt like it turned out pretty good. My husband ate 2 servings on buns, and I am trying to cut down on carbs and ate mine in a bowl with Mexican Melting Cheese and chopped green olives. I will make it again and maybe add some different spices. I am no chef but felt this was easy to make, only required chopping up two different vegetables, uses ingredients that most keep on hand and turned out well.
BEST Sloppy Joe Recipe, EVER! This is the perfect combination of savory, tangy, and a little bit sweet. Every bite tastes superb due to the flavor and tenderness of the ground beef. It’s cooked, at all times, just right: thick enough to stay on the bun but not too heavy. It’s fun, a nostalgic meal for sure, and so quick and easy to make yet packed with so much flavor. Whether for the family dinner, a BBQ, or just a random evening- this recipe is sure to be a hit!
The sloppy Joe recipe is the best! I love sloppy Joe’s now…well all your recipes are great!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Beverly!
I’ve been using your recipes for years and I just realized you live in Idaho as well! Small world. Love all your recipes. 🩵
Thank you, Katie! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes.
This is the most comforting food made out of savory and tangy sauce with perfectly seasoned ground beef; this Sloppy Joe recipe is a game-changer! Each bite is made irresistible by the sweetness of ketchup, richness of spices, and slight heat. Whether on a soft bun or with fries, this sloppy joe is pure satisfaction. It is quick and easy to prepare, perfect for weeknights or casual gatherings. Trust me, this one will be a family favorite!