Dill Pickle Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese is the best of both sandwich worlds when sloppy joes and grilled cheese meet. Taken to level 11 with dill pickles!
Want something more traditional? Don’t miss our Homemade Sloppy Joes – so easy and a million times better than Manwich!
Dill Pickle Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese
Over here, anything with dill pickles gets our attention. Close attention. Sometimes gazing off into space, deep in thought of how good it’s going to taste. Dill Pickle Dip and Hot Pastrami Flatbread are both made often. By request. And this sloppy joe grilled cheese sandwich is about to join them. 3 is not a crowd!
There are just no words to tell you how much we all loved these sandwiches. Not only do you have the sloppy joe mixture. But you make grilled cheese with it? AND you add dill pickles. I faint.
Ingredients Needed
If you’ve got leftover sloppy joe meat, this sandwich comes together in minutes.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- For the sloppy Joes – Olive oil, lean ground beef, diced onion, garlic powder, ketchup, yellow mustard, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Dill pickles – Diced very small.
- Texas Toast – This bread is thick and sturdy. See note below.
- Cheese – I use shredded cheddar cheese.
- Unsalted butter – Softened for the bread.
Best Bread To Use
While there are no particular rules here, I do highly recommend using Texas Toast. It’s thick and sturdy with a firm crust. Regular sandwich bread will just fall apart, and something dense like sourdough is too tough.
How to Make Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese
This grilled cheese sandwich is super easy to make in just a few steps.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- In a large non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add in the ground beef and onions; cook until the onions are softened and no pink remains in the beef, about 3 minutes. Drain off all the grease.
- Stir in garlic powder, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Mix well. Season with the salt and pepper. Stir in the dill pickles and mix to combine. Transfer sloppy joe mixture to a bowl and set aside; cover to keep warm.
- Wipe out your skillet and return pan to medium heat. Spread butter over one side of a slice of bread. Place butter side down into the skillet, top with a little cheese, generous amount of sloppy joe mixture, and additional cheese, and finish with another buttered slice of bread, butter side up.
- Cook in the skillet until lightly browned on the bottom, about 1-2 minutes, and flip over. Press down to flatten slightly, so the cheese can melt. Continue cooking until the other side has browned and the cheese has melted, another 1-2 minutes or so. Repeat with remaining sandwiches. Serve right away with potato chips or dill pickles on the side.
Video: Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese
More Classic Sandwich Recipes:
- Reuben Sandwich
- Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Italian Grinder Sub
- Tuna Melt
- Muffuletta Sandwich
- Oven Grilled Cheese
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Dill Pickle Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion , diced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup diced dill pickle
- 8 slices Texas Toast bread (or any thick/sturdy bread of your choice)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a large non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add in the ground beef and onions; cook until the onions are softened and no pink remains in the beef, about 3 minutes. Drain off all the grease.
- Stir in garlic powder, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Mix well. Season with the salt and pepper. Stir in the dill pickles and mix to combine. Transfer sloppy joe mixture to a bowl and set aside; cover to keep warm.
- Wipe out your skillet and return pan to medium heat. Spread butter over one side of a slice of bread. Place butter side down into the skillet, top with a little cheese, generous amount of sloppy joe mixture, and additional cheese, and finish with another buttered slice of bread, butter side up.
- Cook in the skillet until lightly browned on the bottom, about 1-2 minutes, and flip over. Press down to flatten slightly, so the cheese can melt. Continue cooking until the other side has browned and the cheese has melted, another 1-2 minutes or so. Repeat with remaining sandwiches. Serve right away with potato chips or dill pickles on the side.
Found this recipe 6 months ago and it’s part of our monthly rotation. Absolutely amazing!
There’s got to be a way to make this in a casserole dish vs making each sandwich separately, because this would be a great family dinner meal when all the kids and grandkids come over!
Wow! Just fantastic! Thank you!
This was amazing. We used elk burger instead of hamburger. This is a winner!
This was delicious! I didn’t have any dill pickles so I used a teaspoon of relish. I also used ground turkey instead of beef (I add a little beef bouillon). Awesome recipe. Thanks
SUPER DELICIOUS!!!
I made this, and we can’t get enough of it!
Drooling now thinking about it.
Omg !!!! Really there are no words !!!!
This recipe is divine. I could not get over how good this sandwich is. The pickles make it, imo. All of the ingredients really do compliment each other. Highly recommend.
I ate four of them.
Definitely a five star sandwich. Delicious
It’s a melt, not a grilled cheese……….
Uuum…ok? Then call it a melt if that makes you happier.
Hahahaha. Don’t sweat the small stuff….right? It looks delish…..
Bwaaahaaaaa great comeback.
Can’t wait to try it
Could I use bbq sauce in place of ketchup?
You could. It will obviously result in a completely different taste.
How was the bbq? Quite curious
If you don’t have brown sugar what can I substitute?
Hm. There really isn’t a good sub. Do you happen to have molasses? You can make brown sugar by mixing in 1/4 teaspoon with 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar. If not, you could just leave it out all together. The difference will be negligible.
Mix molasses with sugar to get your brown sugar
This. Is. Everything. I mean, it’s my midwest, homestyle comfort classics in a single grilled cheese. YUM!
Agree! It sounds just like a maid rite but with pickles and cheese.
Made these a few days ago. I am like the pickle queen. I could polish off a jar of spears myself..no joke, I have done it. It’s even more fun with a friend, except the pickles disappear quicker :(. Very tastey! Perfect timing too, I was getting tired of the same ole Manwich do up.
so could my other half. use to buy the big big jars. now we are back down to the small ones. going to make this week. I shared in my recipe group of over 700 on facebook. everyone is sharing and trying. cannot wait.
Just made this tonight, my hubby loved it but picked out the pickles lol. Other than that he loved it. Thank you for this great recipe
My daughter has become particularly choosey about what she eats. She doesn’t like soup, no longer likes grilled cheese, won’t eat things that are mixed or “look weird”. When this hit the table tonight I got a wary eyed, ” I don’t think I’m gonna like this…” But after the first bite, there was an enthusiastic “YUMMO!!” and then it was all gone. We all loved it!
YAY!
Awesome! I remember Haley groaned and Trevor pouted the first time this graced my table, but one bite in and they were hooked. This is one of Paul’s favorites…I make it all the time :D
Hi, This looks very yummy and mouth watering. definitely i will try and let u know. you have described it really good anyone can follow it . thanks for a wonderful recipe.
This recipe is kind of like everything wonderful and savory in the world had a baby. This is a must make for sure.
Erin – ekcantcook.blogspot.com
Dear Amy.
How do I love you? Let me count the ways:
This sandwich.
That’s how much.
I need to incorporate dill pickles into my life more, obviously. It’s been too long since I’ve had a jar of them in my fridge!
You are making me drool! This is what I want for breakfast! And alls I have is a smoothie. Boohoo. Saving this for laters.
SHUT YOUR FACE. I’m freaking.
Wow–this sounds like a Sloppy Joe I would thoroughly enjoy. I don’t think I’ve ever craved a Sloppy Joe, in fact, until this very moment, gazing at that picture . . .
Oh. Dear. Your name? This sandwich has my name, and probably Paul’s written ALL over it. Great idea.
That is whats for supper ,and I was wondering what would be good to cook.
Great, enjoy!