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.
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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 ★★★★★
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
Made this for the first time and it was delicious – sooo much better than anything store-bought!
Homemade is best! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was a pretty good recipe… I definitely had to add more seasonings though ! A lot more of pretty much everything besides the onion and pepper.. And I also added onion powder
Thank you for the feedback, Dominique.
This is the first of Natasha’s recipes I would tweak next time. I would not add as much brown sugar and I would add some tomato paste to it. I used Contadina sauce and did not need to add any water.
I thought the same thing about sugar. Tomato paste is a good idea.
Delicious, my husband loved it. I tried others but this one was just right.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Cheryl!
These were the best sloppy Joes that I have ever had! I used a teaspoon of honey instead of brown sugar.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Added 1/4 cup brown sugar and can of tomato paste. Delicious ❤️❤️❤️
Nice, thank a lot for sharing!
I kept adding ingredients because was definitely unimpressive. I guess my tastebuds are different than yours I should’ve bought a can of manwhich.
Absolutely. I wasn’t impressed either. I used 2 lbs. of ground beef, and it was still way to watery and bland.
I’ve been making sloppy joes for years, but this was my first time using this recipe. Absolutely delicious, big hit with my husband and daughter! I did add a bit more brown sugar but that’s just personal preference. Thanks for my new go-to recipe for sloppy joes!
Hello Cathy, thank you for the nice feedback and I’m glad you tried this recipe and loved it!
Hello Natasha!
So, my father in law is a retired chef from Hershey PA. This can be very intimidating since we have him over for dinner quite often-
This Sloppy-joe recipe was a hit! for him and ME! LOL
Wow! That’s so great! I’m so glad it was a hit, Dawn!
I will be honest that I LOVE a lot of flavour, like spice and tang, so that is to say that not everyone does. So when I tried this recipe, because everything I have made from Natasha’s kitchen has been delicious, I didn’t realize how important the tomato sauce you use is.
Mine was straight tomato and no additives, so I tasted everything as I was cooking and thought, if I had went with a different tomato sauce it would have oomphed it up. All I added was more mustard, (there is my tang ! ) some herbs and a sprinkle of beef base, since I didn’t have any Worcestershire sauce.
My kids had three full helpings of this and regardless of the small things I changed, I think this recipe as a base and add to each own individual preference, is perfect. Thanks again for a meal I think I will be demanded to make often !
Hi Sara! That is great to hear. So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for the excellent review.
Too thin and not flavorful. Too much garlic, as well. I had to doctor the sauce a lot, and it was still disappointing overall. I will not use this recipe again.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t like the recipe. We’ve always used the same exact recipe and we’ve always had great results.
I think how much garlic you use is a personal preference and if you don’t like much garlic, you should not add as much. My family loves garlic and the amount is great for us. We could have added even more and it would have still been perfect. Season to your taste. Also, the longer it cooks, the more it will thicken up. This recipe was great. There is no need to leave rude negative reviews especially if the problem is that someone is trying to cook that has no idea how to cook to their own preference. Sorry to put this in here Natasha. I am not trying to argue with people in the reviews but I felt that it needed to be said becauseit is common sense and that was extremely rude. This is an excellent recipe Natasha. It was a big hit with everyone in my house and my 14 year old daughter who loves to cook was even able to follow the directions and make us dinner last night! Thanks so much! for this recipe.
Thank you for that, Colleen. The reality is that we really cannot please everyone but I do appreciate your good comments and thank you so much for thinking of me.
My 5th time making and I love this recipe. I adjust taste for my liking.
Isn’t that’s what all recipes are for!!
Thank you for this recipe, it’s great!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Rodger!
Love all the natural ingredients. This will be my go to family recipe.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Monique!
When browning the ground beef and onion also add a nice splash of vinegar (apple). It really adds nice flavor,
Thank you for sharing with us, Patty.
Truly delicious! I added some locally made pineapple hot sauce. Served in buttered oven toasted buns. Not a fan of Sloppy Joes in the past but I am now. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
That sounds delicious! Thank you for the review. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Absolutely delicious. I used yellow bell peppers instead of green and a little less garlic. I h ave to admit I usually buy Manwich but no more! So, so much better.
So much better! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for the review.
So good and easy. I added 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and served on toasted buns.
Sounds delicious! Thank you for shariing.
Great recipe. Everyone loved it! I will use this recipe again.
Thank you! I’m glad to hear that.
This really is the best! It was so easy and so much better tasting than the store bought canned stuff. I will not buy the canned sloppy joe sauce again.
I’m so happy to hear this was hit, Brooke! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
The ingredients are spot on! Delicious like your many other recipes I have tried.
Thank you Eddie!
Family, including 24 & 22 year old sons loved it! Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. Served with fries.
Great to hear that they loved this recipe, Becky!