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These Homemade Sloppy Joes are a family-favorite dinner that comes together in under 30 minutes. Made with lean ground beef and a sweet, tangy homemade sauce, they taste infinitely better than anything made with canned sauce.
Easy From-Scratch Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes have long been a staple in homes across the country, and for good reason. What's not to love about a one-pan meal made with inexpensive ingredients that's also picky-eater approved?
While it may be tempting to grab a jar or can of sloppy joe sauce, this recipe proves it's just as easy to make sloppy joes from scratch. And that sweet, tangy homemade sauce delivers superior flavor, while being lower in sodium, fat, and sugar.
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Ingredients for Homemade Sloppy Joes
While this may appear to look like a lot of ingredients, you likely have the building blocks for the sloppy joe sauce already in your pantry.
- Ground Beef: While classically made with ground beef, free to use ground chicken or ground turkey. And because the meat is coated in a rich sauce, this is a great time use leaner options.
- Bell Pepper: Use a orange, yellow, or red bell pepper for sweet undertones.
- Jalapeño: Just a small amount adds the right amount of heat to wake up the flavors. Feel free to decrease or omit if you are really sensitive to spice.
- Tomatoes: Tomato sauce creates the classic saucy consistency of sloppy joe sauce, while the tomato paste helps to thicken the sauce and deepen the flavors.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: For the tangy undertones. Red wine vinegar is a good substitute.
- To Sweeten: I prefer using honey, but maple syrup, molasses, or brown sugar work as well to balance out the tangy, savory notes in the sloppy joe sauce.
- Worcestershire Sauce: For complex, umami flavor.
How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joes
Making sloppy joes with homemade sloppy joe sauce is nearly the same as using a jar of sauce. Cook the beef, add the sauce, simmer, and serve. You will find the full instructions in the recipe card, but the following tips are here to help you achieve perfect results.
- Sauté Ground Beef. Add ground beef, minced onions, diced bell peppers, and minced jalapeño to a large deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until the beef is fully cooked through and the veggies have softened. Drain off fat if needed.
- Add Ingredients for Sloppy Joe Sauce. To the browned meat, add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, minced garlic, vinegar, honey, and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.
- Simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to let the sauce thicken and deepen in flavor.
How to Serve Sloppy Joes
The classic way to serve a Sloppy Joe is to add the sloppy joe mixture to a bun and top with sliced cheddar cheese. Paired with a side of homemade baked fries or air fryer fries, you have the ultimate family-approved meal. Or get creative with one of the options below.
- Ditch the Bun: Serve over Instant Pot baked potatoes, Air Fryer baked potatoes, or Instant Pot sweet potatoes, topping with cheese as desired.
- Add Texture: Top sloppy joes with a scoop of homemade creamy coleslaw.
- Make a Casserole: Spread the sloppy joe mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish, top with cornbread batter, and bake just as you would tamale pie.
- Make Nachos: Top tortilla chips (or potato rounds like those featured in Irish nachos) with sloppy joe mixture and a generous amount of shredded cheese. Bake at 425°F until cheese has melted.
- Swap out Buns for Biscuits: Spoon sloppy joe mixture over homemade biscuits or sweet potato biscuits halves and serve just as you would sausage gravy.
Recipe Modifications
- Gluten-Free: Worcestershire sauce often has sources of gluten. Read labels closely or swap out the Worcestershire sauce for Braggs amino acids. Serve ton gluten-free buns or over baked potato.
- Make it Cheaper: Replace 1 pound of ground meat with a 15-ounce can pinto beans and add to the skillet with the ingredients for the sauce. The beans may sound like an odd addition, but they blend in perfectly with the flavor and texture of the sloppy joes. They also add fiber, lower the fat and cholesterol in the recipe, and save you money.
- Meat-Free Sloppy Joes: Saute the onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño in a bit of olive oil until softened. Add 30-ounces of drained and rinsed pinto beans along with ingredients of sloppy joe sauce and simmer as directed. OR use my recipe for lentil sloppy joes.
More Family-Friendly Ground Beef Recipes
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Homemade Sloppy Joes
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef, or ground turkey or chicken
- 1 small yellow onion, minced
- ½ small jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 1 small red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
For Serving (optional)
- 8 buns
- 8 slices cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat a non-stick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef, minced onion, minced jalapeno, and diced bell pepper to the pan. Sauté, breaking the beef into bite-sized pieces, until the beef is fully browned and the veggies are softened. If needed, remove the pan from the heat, drain off any excess grease, then return the skillet to the stove.
- To the skillet, add 1 cup tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once bubbling, lower the heat to medium-low. Add in the 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Stir well and let simmer for 8-10 minutes just to warm through, thicken, and intensify in flavor.
- Serve on buns with cheese or as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was inspired by Ellie Krieger's recipe and originally shared in 2017.
Very, very good Thanks
You are very welcome!
The only sloppy joe recipe my son has ever liked.... and now he requests it all the time! Fantastic way to get some veggies in that I struggle to get him to eat otherwise. My husband always gives the thumbs up on this one too 🙂
I just love hearing this, Stevie!
Loved the flavour combination. Family thought it was top notch.😊
I love hearing this, Sheila! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment 🙂
Really good!! I have followed your recipes and I love them because they are simple, nutritious and most of all, delicious. This was easy and the method to defrost the ground beef was perfect. Thanks for sharing!
I love hearing you count on my recipes! I appreciate you sharing! Thanks so much!
So very good easy and delicious!
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing, Patricia. I appreciate it.
This was amazing so good. I followed the recipe exactly. I topped it with white American cheese. So easy perfect for a weeknight meal.
Fabulous! So happy to hear you enjoyed, Nicole!