Sloppy Joe Sauce that will become your new favorite! It’s homemade and so easy you can forget about the canned stuff! You’ll never want to go back after trying this recipe!
I have a thing for sloppy joes– like a big thing. You might even call it love. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about their tomato-y, sweet, and tangy goodness that keeps me falling for them again and again.
This sloppy joe sauce recipe is one that I’ve had in my recipe box for a long, long time and I’m so excited to share it with you.
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Why This Recipe Works
Sloppy joes are super simple in both the way they are prepared and eaten, but the tricky part comes in balancing the flavors. Sloppy joe sauce should be sweet and tangy but still let the flavor of the meat shine through. This recipe has a perfect blend of those sweet and tangy flavors and depth from the addition of diced green chiles and Worcestershire sauce.
What’s the Difference Between Manwich and Sloppy Joes?
Manwich is the marketed version of sloppy joe sauce you can find in the grocery store. It’s meant to make Sloppy Joes easy to make, but they are easy to make even without a can of sauce! Sloppy joes are simply ground beef (or turkey) simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce, served on hamburger buns.
How To Make Homemade Sloppy Joe Sauce
Step 1.) Choose your Meat
This sloppy joe sauce works well with both ground beef and turkey. I’m not a huge fan of ground chicken, so I’ve never tried it, but if you do and it turns out well, let me know!
Step 2.) Make the Sauce
The sauce includes brown sugar, chili powder, mustard, onion, vinegar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, and my secret ingredient, diced green chilies. After you brown the meat just add all the sauce ingredients to the pan and let simmer!
Step 3.) Simmer WELL
The longer you can simmer the sauce, the better! I’m usually making sloppy joes because I’m in a time crunch and need something quick, but if you have the time, let it simmer away to let all the flavors develop and meld together. Or use the slow cooker method below.
Step 4.) Toast Them Buns!
Brush buns with melted butter and place face up under the broiler for just a minute (watch closely!). The toasted, buttered buns hold the sloppy joe sauce better and add texture and flavor.
Can You Make Sloppy Joes In a Crock Pot?
If you’d like to make this recipe in the slow cooker, brown the meat with the onion, drain off the fat, and stir with the remaining sloppy joe sauce ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on high for at least an hour or low for 2 hours. It can be left in there longer if you’d like.
Cooking For a Crowd? Make Sloppy Joes!
Sloppy joes make a great meal for any size crowd because they are budget-friendly and super easy to make. The best way to make them for a crowd is using the slow cooker method above. For more fun, create a sloppy joe bar using the topping suggestions below.
Need to know how much to make? When cooking for a crowd, it can be hard to figure out how much food to purchase– especially meat! This recipe makes six good-sized sandwiches so if you need to make sloppy joes for 50, you’ll need to multiply the recipe by 8 and buy 8 pounds of ground meat. One good rule of thumb is is to estimate about 2 and a half ounces of raw meat per person when dealing with ground meat.
How To Serve Sloppy Joes
Want to make this sloppy joe recipe super special? Make a sloppy joe bar! It’s the perfect way to dress up these basic sandwiches and makes a fun and easy dinner for a crowd. Here are some of my favorite toppings:
- Thinly sliced red onion
- Dill pickle chips
- Yellow Pepper rings
- Crispy bacon slices
- French-fried onions (like those you put on green bean casserole)
- Fresh Cole Slaw
- Sliced Cheese- cheddar, pepper jack, muenster, American
- Sour Cream
- Potato Chips or Fritos
How Did Sloppy Joes Get Their Name?
Sloppy Joes originated in Sioux City, Iowa by a cook named Joe in the 1930’s. Loose-meat sandwiches like Sloppy Joes were a popular staple at casual lunch-counter restaurants and were known to be sloppy and messy to eat. Albeit, super tasty! (Wikipedia)
Other Ways to Use Sloppy Joe Sauce
Don’t feel like you have to be bound to a hamburger bun! This Sloppy Joe Sauce Recipe can be used for many things. The sauce is slightly sweet and is similar to a BBQ sauce. It’s great served over a baked potato or even used as a topping for “Nachos.” Or make a “Sloppy Dog” and top a hot dog with it like you would a chili dog.
The Best Sloppy Joe Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- 4 ounces canned diced green chiles
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoon Worchestershire Sauce
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 4 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add hamburger and onion, cooking and crumbling the meat until no longer pink.
- Remove meat from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels or bags to drain off the excess fat.
- Once drained, put the meat back into the skillet and add all remaining ingredients. Stir until combined and let simmer 10-15 minutes or until slighlty thickened.
- Serve on toasted hamburger buns with a slice of cheese if you'd like.
I made this tonight for my family and we all loved it! This is the 2nd time now. 1st time we did the skillet directions, this time, i used the crock pot (on low) for 2 hrs following the directions, and we all love this recipe! Thank you!
I made a vegan version tonight with beefless ground and vegan Worcestershire sauce. It was great!
Made this tonight for my family. It was amazing. I had to sub the tomato sauce for tomato paste and some water since I had ran out of sauce. I also used the ground Turkey. My 7 yr old son which loves his veggies more than meat had 4 sandwiches. My daughter was trying to catch up to him but couldn’t lol. I’d say it was a hit!
Just made this tonight! My wife and I both loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
The flavor is great! There is way too much left over sauce though. Like if I used all of it it would be more like soup.
That’s odd. I wonder if you used a 16 ounce can of tomato sauce instead of 8oz? That’s about all I can think of that could cause it to have too much sauce.
I made this tonight for my family and we all loved it! This is the 2nd time now. 1st time we did the skillet directions, this time, i used the crock pot (on low) for 2 hrs following the directions, and we all love this recipe! Thank you!
This was the best sloppy joe recipe I’ve tried. Enjoyed it so much will make for our cross country ski trip as an after ski dinner. Will include a side of baked cauliflower and red wine.
I made this yesterday for the NBA playoffs for my BF and me.It was really easy and tasted really good.It is a fast recipe or like Heather said on her web site,the longer you cook it the better,so you have flexibility.I pretty much followed directions except for a couple of minor things.I added some sweet red peppers( less then a half) and garlic cloves and a little garlic powder.I put in a little butter and oil(very little, and sauteed the peppers for a couple minutes(cut it the way you want,I made them small like the onions) put in onions for a few minutes,I can’t remember when I added the garlic then or with the hamburger a few minutes later.I didn’t have to drain the meat,it wan’t greasy.I bought 85?15 fat since that was all they had except for 90/10 and it needs some fat,I think.I added a little red pepper,black pepper and a little smoked paprika.I did everything else the same.I had put in about 11/4 lbs meat so I added a touch more,vinegar,ketchup and mustard(not much).I might put in more onion next time.It was really tasty.If I make sloppy Joes again,this will be my go to recipe.My BF really liked it and ate 3sanwhices.Not sure if he liked it because he didn’t have to cook and make dinner.He does most of the cooking when I come over.Thank you so much for your recipe,Heather