The BEST Homemade Sloppy Joes taste delicious and are quick and easy to make using real ingredients in lieu of a store-bought can of sauce!
There aren’t many dinners that you can get on the table faster than whipping up a batch of Sloppy Joes. And while the store-bought sauce that rhymes with San-wich might make this meal even quicker, it’s got some less-than-ideal ingredients. After all, I tend to avoid high fructose corn syrup in my sweets, much less my dinner.
So what’s a Sloppy Joe-lovin’ family to do? Why, put together your own quick and easy, all-natural sauce, of course! It only takes a couple of minutes, it tastes soooo much better (in fact, you get to control how sweet and/or salty you want it), and you don’t have to worry about any unnecessary additives.
I shared my Slow Cooker Chicken Sloppy Joes awhile back, which feature this same sauce, but sometimes you don’t have the forethought (or time) to toss something into the crock pot first thing in the morning. So if you still want an effortless, family-pleasing meal come 5 o’clock, simply brown some ground beef and stir in this homemade sauce. Easy peasy.
There’s really not much more to say about this recipe, folks. Kids adore it, but adults love it, too. It’s so simple but oh-so-good. A side salad, some baked beans, and — of course — some thickly-sliced pickles on top of your Sloppy Joes, and…dinner is served!
Helpful Tips, Tricks, & Equipment
(some affiliate links below)
- If you’re making your own Sloppy Joe sauce in order to avoid processed ingredients, be sure to use all-natural ketchup.
- This Sloppy Joe sauce is intended to be slightly sweet, but it’s really a matter of taste. If you prefer a more savory sauce, feel free to use less brown sugar. Additionally, you may use unrefined sugar (or even a squeeze of honey) in place of the brown sugar, if you wish.
- If you like your Sloppy Joe meat with onions and peppers, you may dice up half an onion and half a bell pepper and cook them in a tablespoon of olive oil until softened (about 5 to 10 minutes) before browning the beef. Remove the onions and peppers from the pot and proceed with the recipe, cooking the meat and then stirring the onions/peppers back in at the same time you add the sauce.
- Along those same lines, if you’d like to make this meal even healthier by packing in some extra veggies unbeknownst to your kids (or your hubby), be sure to check out my How to Get Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies post, which specifically addresses Sloppy Joes.
- My family loves Sloppy Joes so much that I’ve also come up with a zesty Tex-Mex version…olè!
- If, like me, you make a lot of ground beef (or ground turkey) recipes, this tool is pretty darn handy for breaking up your meat.
- Be sure to check out the recipe video below to see just how quick and easy this recipe really is!
Homemade Sloppy Joes taste delicious and are quick and easy to make using real ingredients in lieu of a store-bought can of sauce!
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Hamburger buns
- Sliced pickles
Instructions
- Set a large pot over medium-low heat. Add a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil, and saute the garlic for a minute or two until just fragrant and very light golden brown. Add ground beef, increase heat to medium/medium high, and cook until no longer pink, breaking apart and stirring as meat cooks. Drain grease from meat.
- While meat is browning, make sauce. In a medium bowl, stir together tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, until well combined. Pour over browned meat, stir, and simmer for a few minutes until heated through (or longer, if you have time, to allow the flavors to meld).
- Serve on hamburger buns or rolls with sliced pickles on top.
Post originally published on January 13, 2015…back when my two-year-old couldn’t keep her little marker-stained mitts away long enough for me to snap a few pictures.?
♥More sandwiches for supper…
Slow Cooker Honey Balsamic Shredded Beef Sandwiches
Bacon & Blue Cheese Egg Salad Sandwiches
The ULTIMATE Stuffed Cheeseburger Sliders
Caprese Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Those sloppy joes (and the pickle!) look wonderful….. that is pretty much how I make them also and I agree they are better…and better for my family than the canned stuff….. I really think the flavor is much better. Thank you for sharing this. 🙂
Ha, Joy…I can hardly eat a sloppy joe without pickle slices! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the thoughtful comment. Hope your week is off to a wonderful start! 🙂
When my daughter still lived at home sloppy joes were on e of her favs, but we always added shredded sharp cheddar. Yummy!
Oh, I LOVE sharp cheddar on a Sloppy Joe, Gert…makes me wish I had one now! 🙂
did without the brown sugar and ketchup. fantastic
Glad you were able to modify this recipe to your liking, Dave! 🙂
I love sloppy joes, I don’t know why I don’t think of eating them more often. Yours look delicious! And I love that picture of your 2 year old trying to grab the sandwich!
Ha, Aimee…she’s such a stinker, always inserting herself into my food photos and stealing my props! 😉 Soon enough, your cute baby boy will be doing the same! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy these sloppy joes if you have a chance to try them… 🙂
My mom looooves sloppy joes but I hate the overly sweet taste of the canned sauce. I haven’t found a homemade sauce I like yet but I think I just did! Adding this to the list and pinning!
That’s what’s nice about this sauce, Meaghan…you can make it as sweet or savory as you like! I don’t think it’s as sweet as the canned stuff but it does include some brown sugar, so you can certainly cut back on that if you prefer. Hope it’s a hit if you have a chance to try it, and thanks so much for the pin! 🙂
You know what’s funny? I went grocery shopping and almost bought a can of sloppy joe mix because well… its one meal the entire family won’t complain about. But I didn’t buy it because I thought, “I might be able to find a homemade recipe somewhere… And here I have it! I can’t wait to try it. Pinning.
I would love if you linked this up to Totally Terrific Tuesdays which goes LIVE tonight at 9pm CST. Hope to see you there!
Sharon
herorganizedchaos.com
Ha, Sharon…sounds like it was meant to be! My family is the same way in their universal love of all things sloppy joe, and it’s nice to be able to whip some up with regular ingredients from the fridge and pantry! 😉 Hope you enjoy these, thanks so much for the pin, and hopping over to your link party now. 🙂
This is such a great looking sandwich and so easy to put together. I know what you mean about the can version…there’s a whole lot going on in them. My husband likes to add canned chili to his hot dogs on our quick and easy dinner nights. I tease him that it looks like cat food.
Ha, Thao…I may never look at canned chili the same away again (although I have to admit that I agree with you)! Hope this homemade version of sloppy joes passes the test with your husband if you have a chance to try it… 😉
I made these tonight and found the sauce to be so easy and such a great balance of exciting favors. Great recipe– even with onions! Thanks for another winner.
Yay, Carolyn! I’m so glad that y’all enjoyed these…and I will even forgive you for tainting them with onions! Ha. 😉 Hope you’re having a fabulous week and hope to see you all soon!
These were so good and super easy! I used ground venison. Instead of making a sauce and then stirring it in, I just poured all the ingredients straight into the pot. Worked great! My kiddos loved it.
So glad y’all enjoyed these, Stacy! And I’m glad you pointed out that you can measure the sauce ingredients straight on top of the cooked/drained ground beef…I’ve made this recipe that way before as well. 😉 Thanks for the comment and hope you’re having a great week!
I made these tonight and they are so good! My husband and older son might not get any if they don’t get home soon!
Oh, I’m so happy you liked these, Sara! Hopefully your hubby and son didn’t miss out on the yumminess…and if they did, I bet they’ll learn to get home more quickly next time! 😉 Ha.
I don’t have any tomato sauce on hand but I do have canned tomatoes. Do you think that would work instead?
Hi Barbara! I apologize for my delayed reply. I think canned tomatoes would work just fine in lieu of tomato sauce in this recipe, as long as you don’t mind little pieces of tomato in your Sloppy Joes. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I make mine with canned tomatoes and no ketchup. I add a bit of cider vinegar for the tang that ketchup would provide
Sounds yummy, Jenn!
Can’t wait to try this! Have you tried doubling or tripling the recipe? I’ll be feeding a brood next week!
Hi Chelsea! You should be able to double, triple, or multiply exponentially this recipe with no problems. 🙂 Hope your brood enjoys these sandwiches!
The recipe calls for a teaspoon of mustard. Is that liquid or powdered?
Thanks
Nate
Good question, Nate! I use liquid mustard in this recipe, so I just went back and clarified the ingredient list to call for “prepared mustard.” I always indicate ground mustard if I’m talking about the powdered stuff, but I appreciate you letting me know that this recipe wasn’t clear. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
This was so good! Thanks for sharing it!
You’re very welcome, Ashley…I’m happy to hear that it was a hit! 🙂
This is such an easy and great recipe! I used less brown sugar because I don’t like my food to sweet, overall, it was fantastic!! I added onion lettuce tomatoes and cilantro!!! So good!!!
So happy to hear you enjoyed this, Lori! And I’ve never tried cilantro on a sloppy joe…what a great idea!
Made these tonight and the family loved them. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re very welcome, Tracy! I love hearing that your family loved these…and I appreciate you taking the time to come back and let me know! 🙂
How many does one recipe serve?
Hi Julia! Sorry…the yield is in rather small print in the top, left corner of the recipe. This recipe makes about four loaded Sloppy Joe sandwiches. 🙂 Hope that helps, and hope you enjoy!
I just made these recently and they are fantastic. We love sloppy joes but the canned has definitely gone down in terms of quality and amount of ingredients. Glad to find a simple recipe that tastes so wonderful.
I’m thrilled to hear that these were a hit, Katie! It’s hard to go back to the canned stuff after seeing how yummy and easy it is to make your own sauce. Hope your family enjoys this recipe for years to come! 🙂
Now that I am no longer working evenings, I am cooking supper for my family every night! We tried sloppy joes two nights ago and it was amazing! I have beef stroganoff in the crock pot now and it smells heavenly! Going to make cheeseburger macaroni tomorrow. Thank you Samantha, I am so glad I found you!!
What a sweet comment, Kristen…I’m so glad you found me, too! 😉 You are awesome for cooking dinner for your family every night, and I’m thrilled to hear that my recipes are making that job easier. I hope that everything you’ve tried — and plan on trying — is a hit!
This is a great recipe. I’ve never had the canned stuff, my mom always made homemade and so have I. I love trying new recipes, esp if they are quick and easy. My kids loved this recipe. I’m not exaggerating when I say my daughter refuses everything I put in front of her for dinner, (unless it’s cheese pizza) and she devoured these sloppy joes. Thanks for shearing
As a fellow mom of a cheese pizza (and not much else) aficionado, that’s the greatest recipe compliment ever, Rhea! So happy to hear that your family enjoyed these sloppy joes so much. 🙂
I thought these were bland. All I could taste was sweet ketchup. I actually had to add half of a can of organic sloppy joes mix to my batch to salvage it. Not sure how my family is going to react to these as the two sample spoonful I add made my stomach sick from the sweet.
Hi Julia! I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy these, as this is a recipe that typically gets very positive reviews. I wonder if the brand of ketchup you used had extra added sugar? You may certainly reduce the amount of brown sugar in the sauce to compensate for a sweeter brand of ketchup, or to suit your tastes in general. At any rate, I hope you have better luck with the next sloppy joe recipe you try! 🙂
I made this and it came out amazing!!!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Christine! Simple as it is, my family never seems to get tired of this recipe… 😉
Made these tonight and it was pretty much perfection! Great recipe. And i get to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Win!
Leftovers are the best when you really enjoyed a meal the first time! 😉 So happy to hear that these Sloppy Joes were a hit, Sarah…thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know! 🙂
I can’t figure out how to comment so I hope you don’t mind me piggy backing your post!
Anyway, I found them to be slightly sweet so I tried to counter the sweetness by adding some vinegar. I think because tomato sauces vary so widely in the amount of hidden sugar in them I would probably use tomato paste next time and dilute up with some water, or just reduce the amount of brown sugar. I think it’s important to simmer these longer than just heated through sot he flavors meld together so I simmered them on low about an hour. But they smell great and I think they won’t go to waste.
Thanks so much for sharing your tips, Kami! I totally agree that sweetness is subjective and that certain brands of ingredients can affect how much sugar the final dish has…but it sounds like you were able to make the right adjustments to tweak the recipe to your liking. 🙂 Hope it was a hit!
I don’t want to buy a bottle of yellow mustard if possible since I won’t use it for anything else and it will end up expiring. I already have a bottle of stone-ground brown mustard and I also have mustard powder. Could I use either of those instead? If so, would one be a better substitute than the other?
Hi, Leanne! You can definitely use mustard powder instead of prepared yellow mustard in this recipe. Just cut the amount in half, since the powder is more concentrated. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
This is pretty much the best homemade sloppy joe recipe EVER. And I’ve made a LOT of sloppy joes since we love them soooooooo much! This one is going straight into my printed Favorites binder. My kids inhaled them!
That’s so great to hear, Stacy…thank you for the compliment! These sloppy joes are a hit with my kids as well…and the parents of the household rather enjoy them as well! 😉
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! It’s always nice to find new recipes to make from scratch (saves money!)! I made these for my family the night before last and they were a huge hit…LOVE the slightly sweet aspect to it as well!
I made these last night and they were amazing! I added green peppers, left out the onions and followed the recipe. Delicious! thank you for sharing
Do you need Worcester sauce?
Hi Thomas! Worcestershire sauce is an important ingredient in this sauce, so leaving it out is probably going to somewhat affect the final flavor. But if you need to leave it out, the recipe will still work…you just may want to adjust the seasonings to taste to make up for it. 🙂 Good luck!
Not to kibbitz, but for Leanne, yellow (or any) mustard will essentially never expire, regardless of dates on the bottle. So if you think you might use it going forward, it’s not a terrible investment. Although this recipe also seems so flexible you could do almost anything. My version used Dijon.
And for Thomas, if by some chance you don’t have Worcestershire but do have anchovies or anchovy paste, I bet they’d give the same umami kick.
And for Samantha – thanks! I woke up craving sloppy joes, which I literally probably haven’t had in decades, and this recipe was by far the best out there!
Thanks for sharing your tips, Ann…and glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Thanks for sharing your recipe. We loved it! I used turkey meat and added finely chopped zuchini to add to our veggie intake. Served with sweet potato fries. Very good dinner, quick and easy!
So glad this was a hit, Cindy! And I often sneak shredded veggies into the meat, too…it’s easier than fighting my kids — ha. 😉 Hope you’re having a great week!
These sloppy joes are the best homemade variety I’ve ever had. They are really flavorful and fantastic. I did use only half the sugar and half the ketchup; I added sautéed onions and peppers and some salt. I’ll save this recipe and make often! Thanks so much for sharing!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed these, Hollie, and I love that you were able to tweak the recipe to your tastes. 🙂 Thanks for the comment and I hope you have a great weekend!
Been making these for awhile now..still love the recipe. The other day I didn’t have any ketchup so I used BBQ sauce instead. Still declicious
Sounds yummy, Katie…thanks so much for sharing! And very happy to hear that you enjoy these so much. 🙂
Have you ever froze your Sloppy Joes? I’m apart of a frozen dinner club found this recipe and thought it would be a good one to share. I was going to combine all the ingredients and freeze (meat uncooked). Do you think it would be ok to freeze?
Sorry I should also specify I would put the sauce in a different bag to freeze also.
Hi Amanda! I think this recipe could be adapted to be frozen, but I wouldn’t freeze it with the meat uncooked. Rather, I would just make the entire recipe — cook the beef, add the sauce — and then freeze it in a bag to thaw and reheat later. Alternatively, if you just wanted to make the sauce ahead of time, I’m sure it could be frozen by itself. Then when ready to make the sloppy joes, you could just cook the ground beef (either fresh ground beef or beef that’s been frozen & thawed), and then stir in and heat up the thawed sauce. Hope that helps! I love the idea of your Frozen Dinner Club… 🙂
I tried these several months ago and forgot where I found the recipe. Thankfully found it again. Guess what’s for dinner tonight?! This recipe is not only easy but it is delicious!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe enough to track it down again, Linda! Now just be sure to save it for next time… 😉
Thank you so much for this recipe! My guys loved it. I tripled this recipe since I’ve got teenage boys and a guy that loves to eat. I did scale back on the brown sugar by a quarter cup and I used one can of tomato paste and two cans of tomato sauce. It was perfect and this recipe is definitely going in the rotation. Thanks again!
So happy to hear this recipe was a hit with your family, Gigi! With two young boys myself (who already eat me out of house and home), I can only imagine the quantities I’m going to be cooking by the time their teen years roll around. Good to know that tripling a recipe seems to work! 😉 Thanks for taking the time to comment and hope you’re having a great week!
I made those tonight and observed the sauce to be so clean and this type of incredible balance of exciting favors. awesome recipe– regardless of onions! thanks for every other winner.
Just made these and OMG are they delicious!!! I used some diced onions and then honey mustard because that’s what we had on hand, and even though I hate mustard of any kind, I love, LOVE this recipe! Thank you SO much!!!!
Could you substitute a little molasses in place of some of the brown sugar?
I bet that would be fine, but go light. You can always add more, but you can’t add less.
My kids loveeeee Sloppy Joes. I’ve been making something similar for about 3 years now! It’s easy, cheap recipe.
Yes, Diane! It’s hard to beat easy, inexpensive, and something the kids will actually eat… 😉
Just made these and my husband told me to add them to the rotation. So easy and tasty. I had a slow day at home with a sick kid and was able to let this simmer for about 90 minutes and the flavor was awesome. Thanks!
You’re very welcome, Kirsten…glad your family enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
I made these tonight. Hubby really liked them. I added a splash of vinegar and I did use the onions and peppers. I only recently began making Sloppy Joe’s as we didn’t like the canned sauce. Will be making it more often. Thank you.
Those sound like great additions, Diana! Glad your family enjoyed this recipe. 🙂
I am not a fan of sloppy joes(I’ve only ever had the canned variety). This recipe was so delicious!! I do add a tsp of vinegar and 3 TBSP of BBQ sauce to the mix. Thank you so much for giving me an easy meal to prep that everyone loves!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe so much, Megan! And I bet your additions made it even tastier… 🙂
Just made these tonight and we LOVE them!! Love your page 🙂
Love this sauce with cooked lentils for a vegetarian version…”Sloppy Lennies” haha!!
What a great idea, Jini! We love lentils. I’ll have to try your version soon!
I had a recipe for home made sloppy joes but I can’t find it. This is a good recipe but 4 tblsps. of brown sugar seemed a little much so I used 2 tblsps. It was still a little too sweet. Next time I will use 1 tblsp. and adjust it if needed. Learn as you go.
Hi Patricia! Yes, as explained in the post, you can definitely tweak the brown sugar in this recipe to your liking. Everyone has a different idea of how sweet sloppy joes should be, and the sweetness of the ketchup you use can also affect how things turn out. I’m glad you’ve figured out the right amount of brown sugar for your tastes! 🙂
I just made this tonight for my family! DELICIOUS!
My husband cringed when I told him I was making sloppy joes for dinner! He kept thinking of the canned sloppy joes! He took one bite of this one and LOVED it! Thank you for sharing!
Ha ha, Grace…thanks for coming back to let me know! I’m so glad this recipe changed your hubby’s opinion of sloppy joes for the better. Hopefully next time you make them, he’ll cheer instead of cringe! 😉
This looks so good! I love to make these for a crowd!
Thanks for sharing! Can I make this and freeze?
Seems this recipe is a hit with others. I usually buy canned ones but kids wanted sloppy Joe’s for dinner and I’m to lazy to go to the store (I need bread too and it’s easier to make it myself so I have dough rising lol).
Anyways, I always make double portion then next night I just make mashed potatoes. Sloppy Joe’s ove mashed potatoes is the bomb. Like it better than traditional pasta sauce.
I’m out of garlic (can you tell I need to go grocery shopping soon), so I’ll have to use granulated garlic.
Have you ever canned sauces and could this be prepared ahead of time and canned? Without meat of course.
Hi Ana! I hope this was a hit with your family. 🙂 I’m not an experienced canner, so I’m afraid I can’t give advice on whether or not it could be canned. But please let us know if you give it a try! If canning doesn’t work, however, you could certainly freeze this sauce. 🙂
I’ve been making my sloppy joe’s this way for a few years now and I wanted to say thanks for the recipe. My family really loves it, we never have leftovers when I make it. ?
You’re so welcome, Dani! Thanks for sharing that! 🙂