Easy Homemade Sloppy Joes
Updated
Updated
Ditch the canned sloppy Joe sauce! This is the best homemade sloppy Joes recipe, made with real ingredients and the perfect balance of flavors and texture. A quick and easy 20 minute dinner!
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5 STAR REVIEWS
When you’re tired and hungry with mouths to feed, it’s hard to beat a classic like Sloppy Joes! Always a family-friendly option.
I’ve made a lot of versions over the years, but this sloppy joe recipe is by far our favorite. It’s sweet, tangy, rich, with a little zip; the perfect balance of flavors and thick consistency. Nothing fancy, just simple pantry ingredients and just plain tasty. Skip the store-bought canned sauce and make them from scratch. So much better and still so easy!
Possible Variations
- Make it leaner. Use ground turkey instead of beef.
- Try it with BBQ sauce instead of ketchup.
- Too sweet? Cut back on the brown sugar.
- Like it spicier? Stir in some chopped jalapeños.
- Want it richer? Use beef or chicken broth instead of the water.
- Hate vegetables? Omit the onion and bell pepper.
- Top with melty cheese. Fill a hollowed out bun with sloppy Joe meat, top with cheese, and stick it under the broiler for a couple minutes.
- Ditch the bun and top a baked potato with the sloppy Joe mixture! Yummy!
- Need extra? If you’re serving a crowd or want leftovers for the next day, this recipe easily doubles.
Easy Homemade Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion, , diced
- 1/2 small green bell pepper, , diced
- 2 cloves garlic, , minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 toasted buns, , for serving
Instructions
- Warm olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion, and bell pepper; breaking up the meat into crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 5 minutes until beef is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
- Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Drain off grease.
- Stir in tomato paste until thoroughly combined.
- Add in ketchup, water, brown sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir well to combine.
- Gently simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes until mixture has thickened.
- Remove from heat and serve on toasted buns and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
What is the difference between a Sloppy Joe and Manwich?
Manwich is the brand name of a canned seasoned sloppy joe sauce. It came to market in 1969 and was pitched as a quick, easy meal for the entire family, because you simply add it to cooked ground beef in a skillet. I’ve actually never had it, so I can’t compare my recipe to that sauce. But I do know that anything from scratch is going to be better than anything from a can.
Can I Make Sloppy Joes in a crockpot?
Yep! Brown the beef, onion, and bell pepper in a skillet, then add to your crock pot along with all the other ingredients. Cook on LOW for about 4 hours or HIGH for 2. Cooking in the slow cooker will result in a softer texture than sloppy joes made in the skillet, though.
Proper Storage
- Fridge. Store leftover sloppy joe mixture in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer. Make sure the cooked meat mixture is completely cooled, then add to freezer-safe containers (the entire batch or individual portions) and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
These easy Sloppy Joes, along with my Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes, and Chopped Cheeseburgers are requested all the time by my family and a testament to how much we love a loose meat sandwich. Meaty, messy, and delicious in every bite!
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, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Really enjoyed this sloppy Joe! Have not had one for about 40 years!!! I keep chopped up sautéed turkey and beef combination in the freezer and call it “crumble“, which is what I used for the meat. This makes it very easy. Thank you!
I made this and it was delicious plus I made another batch and made a casserole with cheese on top and it delicious to. Thank you
Awesome!!! This sauce is so tasty.
Thanks
It was amazing, so much better then getting out of a can.
So yummy and easy! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe. Made one tiny tweak… used a touch of cayenne powder instead of the chili flakes.
Love this recipe. It reminds me of my childhood
Delicious and Easy and Kids Love it too. I will make it again for sure.
I omitted the tomato paste. I added a 1/4 tsp. Paprika and cumin. Was lovely.
I decided sloppy Joe’s is what’s for dinner for my grandson. He is on his way to visit. I was very happy for the final product. These sloppy Joe’s are amazing.
Thank you for helping me out with a winning dinner for my grandson.
Happy Easter
It’s Awesome
Best sloppy joe recipe I’ve ever made and I have tried many. Make it and enjoy
Very good
It is wonderful to be able to make quick and easy sloppy Joe’s myself! I am no longer dependent on having a can in the pantry!
Definitely better than store bought.
Thanks!
I’m SO GLAD THAT THIS CAME today!
I was wanting to make this in the next few days?????? THANK YOU??
My old recipe is lost!
I’ve made this many times! It’s so simple and so delicious. I always have two! If I didn’t have tomato paste, I just used tomato sauce.
I made this with Beyond meat. It was excellent.
Oh my gosh! It’s 97* here and my central air died, can’t afford to replace it but man, I need some real food! Just made a pot of these sloppies and took a taste. No more Manwich EVER! These will go in the fridge for tonight’s dinner and frankly, I can’t wait.
My go to for sloppy joes! Thanks!
This is my go to recipe now. So easy and so delish! Thanks Amy
Best sloppy joes ever!
Made this tonight and we both loved it! Slowly catching up on the backlog of recipes. I doubled the recipe so lunch tomorrow is covered but now what’s for dinner ???
So so yummy! Made it stevia since I didnt have brown sugar and it was still great!
I made this tonight. It was delicious beyond my expectations. I can say goodbye to the canned sloppy joe sauce. This is a definite winner. And I love that I am the one who controls the ingredients.
This was delicious recipe! I had all the ingredients and easy to put together. This one’s a keeper!
I made this recipe and it’s the best sloppy Joes we’ve ever had. Thanks for the great recipe, love it!
This recipe was so good!
Excellent! I’ve made it several times. Sometimes exactly as written, and sometimes I adjust a bit depending on what I have available. Sometimes I leave out the sugar because my ketchup is quite sweet and especially if I use red and yellow peppers which are sweeter than the green. It’s always delicious!
This is one of the best recipes I have ever found. It is true comfort food I put it on brioche buns that I toast in some garlic butter totally delicious every time thank you so much for providing me with a very easy go to totally loved by all of my family. Side note I have never left a review or message about a recipe before.
So much better than the canned version. Will definitely make again and again!
Mom of 5 boys here – doubled the recipe and they gobbled it up. Best sloppy joes ever. Will be my new go-to. Thank you!
Recipe is full of flavor
It had a very good flavor but I’d recommend leaving out the red pepper flakes for those who do not like heat. My little kids ate it but screamed their mouths burned lol.
This is a great recipe. So much better that the can stuff!
It was amazing. My husband won’t stop talking about it! It has a nice kick to it.
I made this recipe for dinner. I substituted apricot chutney for the brown sugar and used half the amount of mustard and Worcester sauce. I also added a tiny bit of MSG to pull the flavors together. Came out great!
I made this tonight and we loved it! I liked the tanginess from the mustard but it didn’t take over the whole meal. And unlike |Manwich| there is no funky after taste.
Best I’ve ever had! I make mine with ground venison instead of beef.
I have made this recipe several times now. I will say, buying Manwich is a thing of the past! I did however tweak the recipe and used white onion and a whole green pepper.
Best and easiest sloppy joe recipe by far!
Easy and fun to make. Let’s you play with flavors. Family loved it as well.
I doubled this recipe using ground turkey; it is so simple and tasty! I’ll definitely be making this from now on.
Best sloppy joes I’ve ever made and so easy. My new go-to recipe!
This recipe is very tasty and simple to make We also thinned with little water and used for sauce on hot dogs.
I made pretty much exact, but left out the sugar. This is better than Manwich by a long shot.
Big complaint…….too delicious for 4 servings. Is now on permanent rotation. But seriously just double the recipe goes quickly
I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make sloppy joes from scratch, but having made these now, I will never ever buy it from a can again. So easy and so yummy!
My husband loves this recipe
After throwing a FIT because I couldn’t find the two cans of Manwich, the hubby sent me this recipe. This is the Manwich King and says he’d rather me make it scratch from now on. Kids loved it also!!
Easy to make and delicious! Loved it!
This is delicious! Just made it for dinner using ground turkey & yellow bell pepper (because I didn’t have green) & it’s so good. Thanks for a great, simple recipe. :)
So easy and so good!
This was a quick and tasty evening meal for a busy weekday dinner. Served with a few chips and pickles. Simple but delicious.
This is very close to what I make, I also ad 2 T. sweet pickle relish to mine. Yum
These were awesome! Very tasty. I was skeptical when I tasted it right after I added all the ingredients, but once it sat cooking for those 10 minutes……. chef’s kiss! We loved them.
Easy, fast and adaptable! I used jalapeño ketchup and omitted the red pepper flakes. Had a wonderful, deep, rich flavor! Perfect for a cold winter football Sunday!
This is always a hit! I call them adult Sloppy Joe’s because the kids won’t eat them from a package. I tripled the recipe for a bunch of people and it was still delicious!!!
I planned to make sloppy Joe’s and realizes my prebought sauce was no good.. I was so happy to find your recipe. It was so easy and my husband absolutely loved this. Thank you so much for sharing.
Much better than the canned stuff!!!! Thanks so much sharing this delicious recipe.
To people who is not a big fan of sweet. Omit the brown sugar. I found it was sweet enough from the Ketchup.
Can u can this recipe?
We are tough food critics in my house and we absolutely LOVED this recipe and it was sooo easy! I will never buy the can version again.
Next time I will leave out the brown sugar. It was too sweet for my taste. However, the other seasonings were terrific. Great consistency!
This was good but I added a little more salt (my rule of thumbe is 1 tsp. salt for every lb. of ground beef) and brown sugar and a splash of apple cider vinegar. They were tasty!
I don’t usually leave reviews but this recipe was AWESOME! I did as you suggested and added jolapenos and instead if water i used beef broth. Didn’t have fresh garlic so I used garlic salt and didn’t have tomato paste so Googled how to make some and made my own. Anyway….all that to say that it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Just made this, and it was so good. I made just half the recipe the first time, but will make a full recipe the next time.
I made this yesterday, and both of us loved them. I used to use molasses and brown sugar, and vinegar.. Perfect sweet sour taste.