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
I made this last night per the recipe. While the flavor was good it was way too thin and watery. I will try again leaving out the half cup of water and use less tomato sauce. I even cooked it longer in hopes of thickening it some, but to no avail.
This recipe was really good! After making it per instructions, it needed a little more jazz for my tastes. I threw in a dash of powdered mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, and and extra tablespoon of brown sugar. I also simmered it for about 20min longer so it was thicker. Great starter recipe! (My husband ate 3 in one sitting LOL)
Too soupy…far too much tomato sauce. And it does need more than just salt and pepper for seasoning.
Depends on what tomato sauce you use because many sauces cook down well, which is great for this recipe. I add a bit of cheese towards the end to bind it all together. Delicious Valentina! Spot on
Probably the best Sloppy Joe recipe I’ve ever tried. It’s super easy and the family loved them. I’m not a fan of Sloppy Joes but these were really good 😊
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Yvonne!
Meh. Just meh. My hubby and I live sloppy Joes but will not make this again.
Hi Janine, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it. This has been a popular recipe on our site.
My lord people leave such hateful comments 😞 this was one of the easiest I have ever found! I added a little extra brown sugar, some onion powder and a little tomatoe paste just based on some other suggestions in comments and it turned out amazing! Everyone’s tastes are different, bland to one may not be to another, there is so little kindness left out here apparently. I think it was a fabulous recipe and I will absolutely be making again. Thank you!
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review, Anna!
H-m-m…I have read many comments by readers who didn’t care for the recipe for one reason or another, but I’ve not read one that I would consider hateful.
I wanted to add a comment. For those with a negative comment that had an “off taste” that is the Tomato Soup.
I loved this recipe because it was so dang fast. But when I needed to make it for a birthday yesterday this is not the one I grabbed. I looked back and wondered why.
Well, it was because of the “different flavor” people are talking about. And that is the tomato soup that you choose. Make sure you buy a nicer one in a box or just don’t use this recipe if you don’t like tomato soup.
This one is great for kids though. If you are in a hurry and just need to get something on the table.
And then add sugar at the end if needed because tomato soups have that in them.
Enjoy.
The reason peeps say an “off taste” is because it does NOT call for SOUP ! Its tomato SAUCE!! BIIIG difference 🤦♂️
I made this last night and the only change I made was a few splashes of rice vinegar and maybe a little more of sauce ingredients. My guests were very happy with their sandwiches which was served with homemade mac&cheese.
That’s great news! Thank you for sharing, so happy to know that this recipe was a huge hit to your guests!
Oh my goodness, what an awesome combo…sloppy joes and mac n’ cheese. Now there’s some comfort food!
Dull. Sorry but it lacked flavor. I dumped a sloppy joe packet in to save it.
Hi Marvin! I’m sorry to hear that, did you make any substitutions or changes in the ingredients or the process? We enjoy this recipe but you’re welcome to add more seasoning to your preference.
it was ok – I didn’t add the green pepper and did not use all of the sauce so maybe that is why it tasted bland. We are hoping it will have more taste tomorrow.
Hi CJ, I haven’t tried those substitutions, so I can’t speak to that. Substitutions may hinder the recipe outcome. I always suggest making a recipe as written the first time around.
“I always suggest making a recipe as written the first time around.” Excellent advice Natasha and I follow the same advice as well.
Lacked flavor. Added additional spices and tomato paste but even with additions it was bland. Sorry but prefer the canned manwich flavor over this.
Absolutely delicious! So yummy. Made no changes.I’d never made them by scratch before. Scratch is the BEST. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to making this on a regular basis. Love, love your recipes
You are so welcome! Great to hear that you loved our sloppy joe recipe!
Made no changes. Absolutely delicious! So yummy. I’d never made them by scratch before. Scratch is the BEST. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to making this on a regular basis. Love, love your recipes
Thank you, Darla. We appreciate your good comments and feedback!
Appreciate this recipe, we usually add a scoop of vegetable stock and some extra vegetables and serve it over potatoes or rice. So good!
Sound like a delicious combo! Thank you for the review, Ashley. 🙂
It’s a good base recipe.
I cooked it exactly as it came. Tried a bite, and decided it needed a bit more seasoning.
I added some onion and garlic powder, basil, paprika, ground mustard, salt & pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. It’s delicious! Our family likes our herbs and spices. I don’t use a lot, maybe 1/4 tsp each, and 1/2 tsp of the onion powder and salt.
Overall, it’s a sound recipe on it’s own, and easy to put a bit of your own spin on and make your own.
Thank you for the great recipe!
Thank you for the feedback, Summer!
I made this however I left out the green pepper because I didn’t have any available and added another tbsp of brown sugar because I like mine a little sweeter. Great quick recipe and tastes great. Definitely will keep.
Hi Bren, that sounds good. We’re glad that you enjoyed this recipe!
Made this tonight, Since the motto in my kitchen There is no such thing as too much garlic, I added a few more cloves. It is a very tasty recipe. Better than opening that can and almost as quick,
Hi Debra, that’s a good motto and always feel free to adjust the garlic in each recipe that you will try!
Very easy to make. Taste great. My only thought is to leave out some of the sugar next time and have chips and coke on hand. :0)
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Just finished making these!! I used my 12″ skillet and it was too thin for my liking after 10 min simmer time. I just added 20 more min and it thickened up beautifully!! I didn’t read comments until it was simmering longer and was afraid these were going to be bland. Not the case at all!! Delicious!!
Good to know that it worked, Julie!
I just made it and definitely was not my favorite-so disappointed!
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy it. Can you share what you specifically didn’t like about the recipe?