These Homemade Sloppy Joes are quick, easy, and oh-so-good. No canned food of any kind is needed for this recipe! Just ketchup, brown sugar, lots of flavor, and your favorite kitchen helpers. Sloppy Joes are such a fun treat and the absolutely easiest meal to make -- plus, kids love 'em and adults love 'em, so it's a total win all the way around!
Looking for more ground beef recipes? Try my Easy Ground Beef Tostadas , or these Ground Beef Enchiladas !
Quick and Easy Sloppy Joe Recipe
Lest you think I only eat cupcakes and oatmeal cream pies, here is something not so sweet. I have just recently fallen in love with sloppy Joes. They come together in about 15 minutes with not a whole lot of ingredients, so I make them on nights I didn't plan dinner out very well! I honestly make them just to have a reason to eat pickles, too. I love pickles. (Mom, if you're reading this, did we eat sloppy Joes when I was a kid? I can't remember eating a sloppy Joe until I was in college. Weird, huh?!)
Tips and Tricks on Making the Best Sloppy Joe:
This recipe is sweet, salty, and sloppy. And the pickles totally complete the sandwich. They give that perfect sour and acidic tang to complement the richness of the sweet meat. I don't feel like they are optional, but if you are a true pickle hater, I suppose it could be eaten without them.
Also, don't you dare get lazy and skip toasting the buns. Golden-brown toasted buns change everything (both on this sandwich and in life)! The crisp outside layer prevents the Joe insides from making the bread soggy. Soggy bread is a true crime in my kitchen, so toast the bun. It's such an easy step, and your life *may just be* forever changed.
Why Are They Called Sloppy Joes?
A cook in Sioux City, Iowa, named Joe added tomato sauce to his popular ground beef sandwiches, which he previously called "loose meat" sandwiches, and the sloppy Joe was created, according to legend. Leave it to the Midwest to come up with a messy, meaty sandwich! (I can say that since I hail from the Midwest.)
What Sides Go with Sloppy Joes?
More pickles, of course! Also, potato chips, roasted cauliflower, fries, or sweet potato hash are lovely, hearty options to complement this big-flavor sandwich.
How Do You Thicken Up Sloppy Joes?
Be sure you drain any fat from the cooked ground beef before adding the other ingredients -- this will ensure it doesn't get runny or too sloppy. If it's still thinner than you'd like, you can mix in a small amount of cornstarch or flour (a tablespoon or less at a time) until it reaches the desired consistency.
Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 sandwiches 1x
Description
These Homemade Sloppy Joes are quick, easy, and oh-so-good. No canned food of any kind is needed for this recipe! Just ketchup, brown sugar, lots of flavor, and your favorite kitchen helpers. Sloppy Joes are such a fun treat and the absolutely easiest meal to make -- plus, kids love 'em and adults love 'em, so it's a total win all the way around!
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean hamburger or ground elk
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ to ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 to 6 hamburger buns
- Butter, at room temperature
- Pickles for serving, optional (but not really optional)
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook the meat over medium heat until cooked through and no longer pink. If using hamburger, drain off any extra fat.
- Return the pan to medium heat, and add your ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate.
- This recipe depends a lot on your taste. If the meat seems dry, add more ketchup. If it isn't sweet enough, add a little more sugar. If it needs more salt, add a little more mustard. (Don't be shy of the mustard, even if you don't like it normally. It adds the acid and salt that this dish needs, and the dish doesn't taste mustardy at all.) If it seems bland, give it another shake of garlic and onion powder. Taste and adjust as needed.
- For the buns:
- While the meat is browning, place a baking sheet in the oven, and preheat the sheet and the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter the inside of the top and bottom of the bun. When the meat is almost done and your oven is hot, put the buns, butter side down, on the hot pan. Close the oven and allow the buns to toast until they are golden-brown, 4 to 8 minutes.
- When the buns are golden on buttered side, remove them from the oven. Place the meat mixture and pickles on top of the bun, and grab the napkins.
Notes
- You can sub other types of sweeteners, like coconut sugar, for the brown sugar. I have also had great luck using maple syrup.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: easy sloppy joe recipe, best sloppy joe recipe, homemade sloppy joe recipe, sloppy joe recipe sauce, how to make sloppy joes
More Easy Ground Beef Recipes:
- Skillet Taco Pasta made with ground beef
- Easy Korean Ground Beef and Rice
- Homemade Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Ground Beef Enchiladas
This post was originally published in 2012, and has been updated and rephotographed in October 2019.
You will love having this sloppy Joe recipe in your back pocket for busy days when you need a hearty, warm meal that comes together fast!
Heather McKay
Another absolute winner!! I tripled your recipe for my big family and it was gobbled up happily with gusto! So delicious and tangy, this is a clear winner and has a permanent spot in my "keeper" recipe binder. Thank you 🙂
★★★★★
Melissa
Girl you're killing it with the recipes and the reviews!! Thank you so much!
Molly McCann
Hi Melissa,
I’m a native Siouxlander and ran across your recipe for Sloppy Joes.
We from NW Iowa giggle at Eastern Iowans as they refer to Loose Meats as Maid Rites but since you mentioned that they originate from Sioux City… well… we of course, claim bragging rights, lol.
Anyway, I’ve got 5 brothers and 4 sisters and I believe we all “doctor-up” our loose meats a bit differently, (no wrong answer really). Mine goes like this:
Parboil the hamburger until pink is gone. (Healthier that way too).
Drain ‘most” of liquid but leave a bit so it won’t be too dry.
Squirt ketchup & mustard, salt & pepper into your beef mixture. Continue to taste-test until it’s how you like it.
My preference is a big soft bun, (steamed if possible), with this sandwich but you’re SPOT ON with the dill pickles.
I like mine with onions so I’ll either parboil or add them later.
In the end, as long as you don’t buy the trade mark, “Sloppy Joes,” out of a can, your Sioux City Loose Meats are as individual as the cook who makes’m.
Melissa
I love this so much! Thank you for taking the time to write back, it was so fun!
deb c
Tonight he declared this to be your very best recipe....coming from a guy who has hated sloppy joes for decades but loves them now!
★★★★★
deb c
Oh how I love this recipe!!!!!! The craving hit, so I threw it all together in a matter of minutes and now I am a happy camper! 🙂 🙂 🙂
★★★★★
Steph
Love this recipe! It’s become a family favourite - so yummy. My toddler loves it.
★★★★★
Melissa
Yay! So glad that you liked them Steph, and thank you for leaving a comment and review, so appreciated!
Kelly McCarthy
can you make this in the crockpot?
Melissa
Yep, I like the cook the meat on the stove top first through.
deb c
These are really good!! I mean really, really good!! Good-bye Manwich....Adios! And toasting the buns on bake in the oven....BRILLIANT! I have always been the place under the broiler, turn my back for a split second and burn the beejeebies outa things type of toaster. I can hardly wait for backpacking season, these sloppy joes will definitely be on the trail with me....gourmet eating at its best! These were excellent without the pickles....wasn't up to the 50 mile round trip to the store which may or may not have the good ones in stock. Placed good pickles on the "when I go to the city" shopping list. Thanks for sharing a great recipe! 🙂
crystal
Yes, you ate them as a kid. Manwich was what the name brand was called, only they were called 'sloppy mamas' at our house because I was as messy as the kids.
Just Me "& My Family
Haha -- I was going to ask you a couple days ago if you had a recipe for homemade Sloppy Joes -- guess you read my mind 🙂