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If you’ve ever thought sloppy joes were bland or boring, this recipe will completely change your mind. After testing version after version, we finally created the best sloppy joe recipe.
It’s rich, savory, a little sweet, and packed with smoky flavor. It’s quick, easy, and made with simple pantry ingredients, making it perfect for busy weeknights. These sloppy joes are messy in the best way—and guaranteed to be a family favorite.
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All these years, I thought sloppy joes were the worst dinner ever. School lunches? Hard pass. Homemade versions? Still not convinced.
But after months of testing, tweaking, and trying again, we finally landed on a version that completely changed my mind.
This one is rich, savory, a little smoky, and just sweet enough. It’s the kind of sloppy joe you actually crave and go back for seconds (and thirds).
Why You’ll Love These Sloppy Joes
- Quick: Ready in about 30 minutes
- Flavor: Sweet, savory, and perfectly balanced
- Easy: Made with simple pantry ingredients
- Homemade is Best: Way better than canned sloppy joe sauce
- Loved by All: Kid-friendly and crowd-approved
What is a Sloppy Joe?
To be clear, a sloppy joe is not just chili slapped on a bun. It’s a saucy mixture of ground beef (or pork), onions, ketchup or tomato sauce, Worcestershire, and seasonings all piled onto a soft hamburger bun.
It dates back to the early 1900s, when a cook named Joe in Sioux City, Iowa supposedly added tomato sauce to his loose meat sandwiches, and just like that, the sloppy joe was born.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For this easy sloppy joe recipe, you’ll need a handful of ingredients. I bet most of these ingredients are in your pantry already! For the sloppy joe meat mixture, you’ll need…
- Butter
- Onion
- Red Bell Pepper
- Garlic
- Ground Beef
Although you can’t have sloppy joes without the meat, the sloppy joe sauce is what really makes this recipe. For the sloppy joe sauce, you’ll need…
- Brown Sugar
- Dijon Mustard
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Liquid Smoke
- Ketchup
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Spices: chili powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper
What makes this sloppy joe sauce so amazing is its blend of sweet and smoky flavors. The sauce has so much depth to it, which you wouldn’t expect for such a simple dinner recipe!
How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joes
I’m not sure we could have made this sloppy joe recipe any easier! Here’s the basic rundown of how to make the best sloppy joes and how to make sloppy joe sauce:
- Melt butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven and cook the onion until soft.
- Add the bell pepper and garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as it cooks.
- Stir in all sauce ingredients and let simmer for 5 minutes (or longer for deeper flavor).
- Spoon onto toasted buns and serve warm.
What Makes This the Best Sloppy Joe Recipe
It all comes down to flavor.
Instead of relying on just ketchup, this sauce is layered with:
- Brown sugar for sweetness
- Worcestershire for depth
- Dijon for tang
- A hint of liquid smoke for that subtle BBQ flavor
It’s rich, balanced, and tastes like it simmered all day even though it comes together fast.
Tips for the Best Sloppy Joes
- Use 80/20 ground beef for the best flavor
- Let it simmer longer for deeper flavor
- Toast the buns so they don’t get soggy
- Make it ahead—it tastes even better the next day
- Double or triple the recipe to feed a crowd
- Add cheese for an extra indulgent version
- Make it kid friendly by breaking up the bun into the bite size pieces and scooping the filling over the top and eat it with a fork
What to Serve With Sloppy Joes?
Sloppy joes are the ultimate comfort food and pair perfectly with classic sides:
- Classic Grilled Corn
- Best Baked Beans
- Macaroni Salad
- Best Potato Salad
- Classic Broccoli Salad with Bacon
Sloppy Joe FAQs
Absolutely! You can use pretty much any ground meat you’d like in these easy sloppy joes. If you’d like to use ground turkey in particular, we recommend making our Healthier Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes instead.
We love the hint of smokiness it adds to this sloppy joe recipe, but you can omit it if you don’t have any on hand.
Manwich is basically a brand of sloppy joes that you can buy at the grocery store. It comes in a can and just needs to be warmed up before serving it on buns. It’s an okay version of a sloppy joe, but making sloppy joes from scratch is far superior in my opinion!
Most definitely. You’ll need to brown the beef first, then you can add everything into the slow cooker and let it cook low and slow for up to three hours. You’ll need to stir it occasionally though! If you have a regular sized slow cooker, we recommend doubling this easy sloppy joe recipe to fill the entire thing.
Storage Tips
Fridge: Store in an airtight container for 4–5 days
Freezer: Let cool completely. Freeze up to 3 months
Reheat: Warm on the stovetop or microwave until heated through
These sloppy joes are everything you want in a quick and easy dinner. They are rich, flavorful, and incredibly satisfying. Whether you’re feeding your family or making a nostalgic comfort meal, this recipe delivers every single time.
More Ground Beef Dinner Recipes:
- Korean Ground Beef and Rice
- Cheesy Ground Beef and Rice Casserole
- Instant Pot Chili
- Ground Beef Tacos
- Instant Pot Ground Beef Burrito Bowls
Watch How This Recipe is Made…
Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- ½ Cup Onion, diced fine
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced fine
- 1 ½ teaspoons Garlic, minced
- 1 Pound Ground Beef, we use 80% lean
- 2 ½ Tablespoons Dark or Light Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- ¾ teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 Cup Ketchup
- ¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 4 Buns, for serving
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven over medium heat and add the butter.3 Tablespoons Butter
- Once melted, quickly add the onion and stir occasionally until translucent.½ Cup Onion
- Add the peppers and garlic and stir occasionally for 1 minute then add the ground beef and break it up with a wooden spoon, stirring it all together.1 Red Bell Pepper, 1 ½ teaspoons Garlic, 1 Pound Ground Beef
- Allow to cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the brown sugar, mustard, worcestershire, liquid smoke, chili powder, and paprika.2 ½ Tablespoons Dark or Light Brown Sugar, 2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard, 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce, ¾ teaspoon Liquid Smoke, 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder, 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Stir for 30 seconds and then add the ketchup and vinegar.1 Cup Ketchup, ¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- Allow to cook for 5 minutes, season to taste and serve or cook up to 1 hour on low and then serve. The longer it cooks the better the flavor.Salt and Pepper
- Scoop onto buns that have been brushed with butter.4 Buns
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Trying this tonight, my daughter insisted we have Sloppy Joes saw your recipe and all I need is buns and red peppers. Read comments from users and most are favorable so here goes. Sounds delicious” I’ll be back “ joeseppi
Hope you love it!
This was absolutely delicious! The hubs and kids agreed that this was the best sloppy joes we’ve ever had!!!!
We are thrilled to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment. Happy weekend!
So, how necessary is the Liquid Smoke??
It gives such a hint of wonderful smokiness but you absolutely can skip it. Thanks for asking!
My mother-in-law (who I believe is related to you somehow, a cousin of a parent, or some such thing…), made these for us last week when we were visiting in Utah. As a lifelong Sloppy Joe fan (the homemade kind, that is), these were the best Sloppy Joes I have ever had! I couldn’t get enough. I begged her for the recipe and she directed me to your blog. Can’t wait to make them again for my own family. Well done!
So, so happy to hear that! Who is your mother in law and how are we related? Can’t wait to hear!
Just made this for dinner and YUM! We used 90% lean ground beef, 2 Tb butter, 2 Tb light brown sugar, forgot the red bell pepper (haha… oops) and let it simmer for an hour uncovered and it was amazing! My husband gives it 2 thumbs up (and so do I)! Also, for anyone deliberating whether or not to buy smoked paprika and/or liquid smoke… BUY them! They are so essential to the BBQ sauce! Which, by the way, is one dang good BBQ sauce. You could just keep it in a bottle in the fridge and put it on everything. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Oh my goodness, what a good idea!! It would be so good over meatballs or even a bbq pork sandwich! Good thinking!
Should the hamburger be drained at any point?
If there’s a whole lot of grease you can, but we don’t usually have too much.
Should the hamburgert be drained at any point?
Made this recipe and would definitely make it again but wit a lot less brown sugar and a little less vinegar. Next time I will add both to taste at the end.
Thanks Mike! It’s definitely an easy recipe to adapt to tastes. Cade likes his more spicy and I like mine sweeter. 🙂
Since it states in the recipe that the longer it cooks the better would it be possible to throw this n the crock pot? I apologize if this has already been asked- I see a lot of comments and am being lazy.
How long would you be willing to keep it in the slow cooker on low?
Hi Bethany,
I’ll add a note to the recipe, that’s such a great idea. I would double it if you have a regular sized crock pot (this freezes really well) and cook it on low for up to 3 hours. Ours still boils on low, so stirring occasionally will be key.
This was very lovely and my whole family loved it. I did cut back the sugar and apple cider vinegar back by half and ketchup to 2/3 c.
Rating didn’t populate so trying again.
Thank you Karen!