Homemade Sloppy Joes

4.89 from 9 votes
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These Homemade Sloppy Joes are the perfect quick meal. Elevated flavors and ingredients make these so delicious and not at all like you may remember from your school cafeteria.

Homemade Sloppy Joe next to a skillet of filling and extra sliced rolls.
Featured with this recipe
  1. Ingredients in Homemade Sloppy Joes
  2. Mother Knows Sloppy Joes Best
  3. Where Did the Name Sloppy Joe Come From?
  4. Variations on Sloppy Joes
  5. What Kind of Cheese Tastes Best on a Sloppy Joe?
  6. How to Store Leftovers
  7. Frequently Asked Questions about Homemade Sloppy Joes
  8. Other Quick Dinners with Ground Beef
  9. How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joes
  10. Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe

If it’s been a while since you’ve had good old sloppy joes, you need to try this Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe! This recipe is a tasty twist on the classic meal. Perfect meat mixture, a zesty blend of spices and a tomato sauce to die for, all on a soft brioche bun. I promise you’ll ditch the Manwich canned stuff for good once you try this recipe. Serve with a side of potato chips, homemade French fries or coleslaw for a perfect and simple weeknight supper.

Ingredients in Homemade Sloppy Joes

This simple homemade sloppy joe recipe comes together with just a few simple ingredients, usually things you always have on hand. Here’s what you need:

  • Ground beef – two pounds of ground sirloin or ground turkey or a mixture of both. Brown the meat, then drain well before adding the sauce ingredients.
  • Yellow Onion – chopped
  • Green bell pepper – chopped
  • Tomato soup – one can of condensed tomato soup gives the sauce a rich flavor that’s better than tomato sauce!
  • Ketchup – just a little under one cup ketchup is perfect for this mixture.
  • Yellow mustard – stir in one tablespoon of regular yellow mustard. Nothing fancy.
  • Brown sugar – one tablespoon is all you need to add the perfect balance of sweetness to the tomato mixture.
  • Salt – a quarter teaspoon kosher salt
  • Black pepper
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Hamburger buns – any of your favorite brand will work.
Ingredients to make Homemade Sloppy Joes including rolls, ground beef, onion, green bell peppers, ketchup, tomato soup, mustard, brown sugar and spices.


Mother Knows Sloppy Joes Best

For several summers, our parents served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Heber Valley Girls Camp in Northern Utah. They often called us to fill us in on the different recipes they had at their weekly potluck with the other missionaries. This particular recipe for sloppy joes is the one they raved about again and again. Personally I had been fine with my can of Manwich for years. I think the thing that made me most skeptical of my mom’s recipe was the addition of tomato soup. It sounded really weird to put in homemade sloppy joes but once my mom made them for me, I’m happy to report that I was truly amazed at how tasty these were!

Homemade Sloppy Joe cut in half next to a whole Sloppy Joe.

Where Did the Name Sloppy Joe Come From?

The origin of sloppy joes is debatable. Three main institutions are credited with the invention: a cafe in Sioux City, Iowa, Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, and another aptly-named restaurant called Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Havana Cuba.

It’s actually a pretty interesting story. This article does a great job of tracing the origins from the three places. It seems like the most accepted theory of origin is the “loose meat sandwich” from Iowa. I’m glad the name has changed, though!

Skillet of Homemade Sloppy Joe filling with a wooden spoon.

Variations on Sloppy Joes

  • For an extra kick, add a pinch of red pepper flakes into the sauce.
  • Add a dash of chili powder, garlic powder or a couple of tablespoons Worcestershire sauce for an even richer flavor.
  • Dice a couple of cloves garlic and add in with the onion and pepper mixture.
  • Want to shake it up a bit? Use this recipe to make Sloppy Joe Cups, and it will take them to a whole new level. Yum!

What Kind of Cheese Tastes Best on a Sloppy Joe?

To be fair, not everyone loves cheese on a sloppy joe, but it is delicious, so give it a try! Provolone is a favorite, but cheddar, American, mozzarella, and Swiss cheese are all delicious on sloppy joes.

How to Store Leftovers

Cover leftover meat mixture and store in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can also place it in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to two months. Thaw in the microwave or on the stovetop, pop it on a bun, and serve!

Frequently Asked Questions about Homemade Sloppy Joes

What is the difference between a Manwich and a Sloppy Joe?

Manwich is the marketed version of sloppy joe sauce that you can find in the canned food section of your grocery store. It has a lot of the ingredients in a homemade sauce, but with more preservatives and less fresh ingredients than a sloppy joe sauce made at home.

Can you make sloppy joes with tomato sauce or tomato paste?

A lot of sloppy joe recipes call for tomato sauce or a can of tomato paste mixed with two cups water. However with this recipe you just use a can of condensed tomato soup. It’s the perfect consistency and flavor!

Do you drain the beef before adding sloppy joe sauce?

Yes! Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, then drain fat off the meat, then add sauce ingredients.

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Other Quick Dinners with Ground Beef

How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joes

Homemade Sloppy Joe next to a skillet of filling and extra sliced rolls.

Homemade Sloppy Joes

4.89 from 9 votes
These flavor-packed Homemade Sloppy Joes put the canned version to shame. They're great for a quick weeknight meal or any potluck or picnic.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Video

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Fry ground beef, onion, and green pepper in a large skillet until onions become clear and beef is browned.
    Skillet of browned ground beef with onion and green bell peppers to make Homemade Sloppy Joes.
  • Add tomato soup, ketchup, mustard, sugar, salt, black pepper, and cayenne.
    Skillet with wooden spoon of sauce, cooked ground beef, onion and green bell peppers for Homemade Sloppy Joes.
  • Simmer for at LEAST 30 mintues. The longer you simmer, the better it will be!
    Skillet of Homemade Sloppy Joe filling with a wooden spoon.
  • Spoon mixture onto a bun (we like using a kaiser rolls or ciabatta bun because it doesn't get as soggy). Optional: add a little cheese on top of the hot mix.
    Two Homemade Sloppy Joes with potato chips.

Notes

  • For an extra kick, add a pinch of red pepper flakes into the sauce.
  • Add a dash of chili powder, garlic powder or a couple of tablespoons Worcestershire sauce for an even richer flavor.
  • Dice a couple of cloves garlic and add in with the onion and pepper mixture.
  • Want to shake it up a bit? Use this recipe to make Sloppy Joe Cups, and it will take them to a whole new level. Yum!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 485kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 25gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 775mgPotassium: 775mgFiber: 2gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 409IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 111mgIron: 4mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I did the recipe just the way it’s in here it was great didn’t change it …….I did 6 pounds of hamburger fed 25 people had some left for lunch the next day ..

  2. 4 stars
    How can people give a comment if you don’t do the recipe the way it is I’m gonna do it the way it is and report back ..

    1. Yes! Still brown the beef in a skillet, but then you can put everything in the crockpot for 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low!

  3. 5 stars
    Made this last night, with a couple of changes, I used a homemade BBQ sauce from the farmers market so I nixed the brown sugar and ketchup. I also accidentally used a 23oz can of tomato soup instead, so I let it simmer for about an hour and it got nice and thick, it was crazy good!! My kids may have eaten to whole pan if I would have let them.

  4. Thank you for this recipe. I have made these many times and it is delicious. The mixture also freezes beautifully, if any of your readers freezer cook.

  5. Easiest and best Sloppy Joes:
    1 lb. ground beef
    Chopped onion to taste
    1 c. Ketchup
    1 T. Sugar
    1 T. mustard
    1 T. vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
    Brown burger and onion. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 30 min. Serve.

  6. 5 stars
    I made these for my family while we were out camping and there was nothing left, they scraped the pan clean! The only thing I altered was using a orange bell pepper instead of the green. We put the sloppy joe mixture on sweet Hawaiin rolls. Delicious!

  7. 5 stars
    My first Sloppy Joes, and it was heaven on a bun! Thank you so much for this recipe. I added 250 g blended mushrooms to thickwn the sauce, and used 300 grams ground beef. Sorry for not converting these quantities, I’m not a cup lady . Greetings from Amsterdam, Holland.

    1. Thank you Niki! I’m so glad you liked the recipe. Thank you for your suggestion of adding blended mushrooms – what a great idea!

  8. I tried these as well .. I changed it a little and used a small yellow and a small orange pepper instead of green one . Then i used tomato bisque soup . I also used the dried onions from a packet of beefy onion soup mix that i had sifted out the powdered beef from and kept the onion part and used it in the browning of the meat and peppers.. Also i used a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce .. I also added to the sauce a TBSP and a half of brown sugar and a packet of splenda. Yummy 🙂 Oh and i only used about 1 pounds 7ozs of beef instead of 2lbs made plenty for our family of 4. and some left over..

    1. I made these last night from this recipe. Two things: First, the recipe doesn’t tell you but DO drain the hamburger/onion/green pepper fat from the pan before adding the other ingredients. I didn’t since I follow recipes exactly and it was a fatty mess but still yummy. Second thing, I could NOT find a 15 oz. can of condense tomato soup so I used two 10 3/4 oz. cans of Campbells to make 15 ounces. The sandwiches were superb!