I know it gets redundant reading recipes that start with “the best” or “the ultimate” but these really are the best sloppy joes I’ve ever had. Really. The best. To be honest, I never liked sloppy joes until I tried these. It was the dreaded meal (that and Shepherd’s Pie) that my mom made growing up (sorry mom!). I never even thought about making them for my family until I came across this recipe a few years ago and decided to take a chance. They were delicious and I’ve been making them ever since. These are less tomato-ey and more smokey and BBQ-ey than traditional sloppy joes. Keep in mind that the roll makes all the difference – good bread equals a fabulous sloppy joe! (I served these sloppy joes on my french bread rolls.) Quick, easy, classic and totally delicious.
The Best Sloppy Joes
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 ½ pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup smoky BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce is in your fridge)
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
8 to 12 potato rolls
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is finely crumbled, the liquid boils off and the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Drain the grease off the meat and onions. Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring until the meat is coated. Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. You can make the sloppy joe meat up to 2 days in advance and reheat it over low heat or in the microwave.
Wrap the rolls in aluminum foil and warm in the oven for about 10 minutes. Serve the sloppy joes hot with the warmed rolls.
*Freezable Meals: The leftover sloppy joes can be frozen. I store it in a freezer-safe container and then thaw in the refrigerator prior to serving. I reheat on medium-low heat in a saucepan on the stove.
Recipe Source: adapted from Dave Lieberman
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
I loved sloppy joes as a kid but could never get my kids to eat them – it’s been years since I tried so think I will give it another try with your recipe – thanks!
I loved sloppy joes as a kid but could never get my kids to eat them – it’s been years since I tried so think I will give it another try with your recipe – thanks!
So…I am anxious to try this recipe. I also have a family who are not too keen on sloppy joes and I keep trying to find “the one” because I love sloppy joes. I will let you know what they think. Thanks Debbie
Maybe I just didn’t have the most flavorful BBQ sauce, but my family thought this recipe was pretty bland. It definitely doesn’t have the traditional Sloppy Joe flavor (which is probably why you liked it), but I think we will stick with a more traditional recipe next time.
I’m finally getting the chance to make these tonight. Im so excited!! all of the reciepes i have tried from you are wonderful! Thank you
Natalie – thanks for letting me know you tried them. I’m glad you liked them! That is always a relief instead of you commenting that they were terrible.
They are a huge fan of my kids, also.
Mmmm, this is so funny. I have been begging Nate to let me make sloppy joes but he says he “hates” sloppy joes. Maybe these are rooted in your shared childhood experiences? Anyway, I think I am going to try this out and tell nate to eat a corndog
haha
mmmmmm! I can’t wait to try this one!
Those sloppy joes look good. It has been too long since I last had sloppy joes.
Anonymous – you are right about this recipe – the flavor is different than a traditional sloppy joe, which is why I like it because I’m not a huge fan of traditional sloppy joes. Sorry it didn’t turn out so great for you. Sloppy joes are one of those things that people have their “favorite” recipe and you either love it or you don’t. Sorry this one didn’t work out for you!
I love sloppy joes, but this version sounds even better to me. I’ll have to try this one out.
I have to confess I’ve always liked sloppy joes, if they are made well. I’ve had plenty that have NOT been good, but I like a well made sloppy joe. I can’t wait to try this. Yum.
We had these last night and they were sooo good! Kids loved them. So did our company. My husband (picky eater of the universe) told me to make them again. Thanks so much for a delicious, easy, family pleasing recipe!!
I love sloppy joes, they’ve been my favorite since I was a kid! These look sooo good!
These are definitely not the sloppy joes I grew up with (um, those would be the McCormick packet!). My family would love these, and it would be a great recipe for a crowd! Yum!
I love a good easy sloppy joe.Looks good.
Hey, I’m glad to see BEST in front of a sloppy joe recipe since the last SJ recipe I tried was a major flop! I’ll bookmark this one to try next time.
what, no manwich? i kid, i kid. this is my kind of sloppy joseph, the ol’ manwich can’t even hold a candle to it.
Lauren – I’m excited you are trying these – let me know how they turn out!
Hey Danielle – I always forget that this would be a good meal to take to someone so thanks for the reminder. I’m glad you liked them, thanks for letting me know!
I am also not a big sloppy joe fan. I made these the other night for us and to take over to a neighbor. You’re right, it does make a ton. They were a HUGE hit. My pickiest child had four sandwiches and ate more the nest day. I like the BBQ flavor twist. Thanks once again.
Best Sloppy Joe recipe ever! My husband has always like them but I never found a recipe I’ve liked til this one! He kept saying all night, “Those sloppy joes were soooo good!” Thanks again!!!
Jordan – I was thrilled to read your comment – so glad these were a hit with your husband!
Melanie once agian you came through for me. I was having a hard time trying to figure out a meal for ballet night. I checked your blog and came across your sloppy joe recipe. It was a huge hit and fast to toss together. I changed a few things (one kid likes BBQ sauce and one doesnt') to fit our family, but it was great. Thanks again.
Sonya – I'm glad that this meal fit the bill for your family (albeit a few changes). Thanks for letting me know!
I haven’t found a BBQ sauce that I love….what kind do you use?
Jill – I have started making my own (I posted it at this link: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/03/the-best-barbecue-sauce.html) but when I buy it, I always buy KC Masterpiece because it’s my husband’s favorite.
I made these & they are amazing! Thanks!
Erinn – glad you liked these!
I thought these were way yummy! I made them last night for dinner using your recipe for homemade bbq sauce and your french bread rolls. They were definitely a hit and will become part of our “favorites”.
Carlin – thank you! I’m so glad you liked these!
Yum yum. Made these and the rolls on Friday night. We never go back to my old Sloppy Joe recipe again. Delicious.
Tanya – your comment reminds me I need to make these. It’s been a few months since I made them last. I’m glad they were a hit!
The sloppy joes were yummy. I made them with your Cheesy Au Gratin potatoes, also yummy. Comfort food to the max. Thanks!
Wow .. wow … wow. Amazing!
these are delicious! and my kids loved them. thanks for the recipe : )
Now I have to say I loved sloppy joe’s growing up but I’m so with you on the Shepard’s Pie thing – gross!!! But this looks yummy.
To make sloppy joes a little less sloppy you might try serving them in a hot dog bun…it really cuts down on the mess! I have 5 kids and it works like a charm!
Mel,
I made these tonight. I made a 1/2 recipe because there are only 3 of us, but I can tell you the whole pan is gone! I was a little skeptical because I’m not a huge sloppy joe fan, but they were delicious. I’m glad because I had already failed on a black bean soup recipe that I slow cooked yesterday! Thanks again for your great blog.
Another hit! I used ground turkey, since that’s what I had on hand, and I shredded a zucchini and sauteed it with the onion. I love “sneaking” veggies in.
Delicious on whole wheat slider buns. My husband commented that he’d never had homemade sloppy joes, and I realized I probably hadn’t either. We’ll certainly never go back to the canned stuff now! Thanks!!!
My family didn’t like this as well as the one I have always made. They thought it had too much Worcestershire sauce in it. I did think that it was better a few days after.
We had this for dinner tonight – it was a huge hit with my 3 year old finicky boy, my 2 year old twin girls AND my husband – thank you so much for a great meal that everyone enjoyed – finally!
These were yummy-o!!!! Made them for the fam + our neighbor who just had surgery; they were a hit!! No leftovers for us, we ate it all!! Thanks for sharing your great recipes! I love following your blog!!!
My 19-year-old daughter is home from her first year of college and just made these delicious sloppy joes for dinner and we all completely loved them. She made one slight change, instead of the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, she used an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce since I’m a huge fan of tomatoes. Then also made the french bread rolls and used your tutorial on forming the rolls, which turned out perfectly. We added a few pickle slices to each roll with the hearty sloppy joe mixture. So, so good! We can hardly wait until she makes them again in about a week! This will be an excellent, inexpensive recipe for her to use when she moves into her first apartment with a kitchen for her sophomore year this fall. Thank you, as always, for sharing your talents with us!
My husband and I LOVED these! I made my bbq sauce a little sweeter and spicier just a tad by adding a very little brown sugar and very little Pace Picante hot salsa, and followed everything else, and we absolutely loved em. When I tasted the meat mixture I used a lettuce leaf and fell in love with them on that so on the side of our sandwiches I made us little sloppy joe lettuce wraps. Sounds weird I know but we loved them! Haven’t tried your rolls you serve them with yet but that’s on my list!
Another winner! Even my non-sloppy joe eating husband liked it!
I’m a little obsessed with your recipes right now. I feel like I’ve stumbled onto a goldmine!!
These sloppy joes were so tasty! I do like Manwich from a can, but this was a whole other level (for a more refined palette – ha!!). Awesome flavor! Don’t know that I will ever buy Manwich again. This was too good – no turning back now!
I did not brave your french bread rolls, but will be trying them later this week when I make the pulled pork bbq sandwiches. A little obsessed.
i tried this recipe, this is amazing! i added jalapeno for some kicks with spicy habereno bbq sauce. will do this every once in a while! thumbs up! i skipped the soy sauce because there’s a allergy in the family but it still tasted good!
These turned out great! I made a triple batch so I could take meals to three families with new babies (and saved a bit for us). That much meat required browning in two batches, but otherwise was a super-easy recipe with a great flavor. I paired it with the cheesy au gratin potatoes (again, tripled is a LOT of potato-washing/peeling/slicing, but so tasty) on your site. I’ve never been much on sloppy joes but these turned me into a fan.
Made these last night, including the french bread rolls. They were a big hit! Thanks Mel! I must say though that they are best eaten when the rolls are fresh out of the oven. They are much softer. I had a few leftover rolls from the other day when I made some and just heated them up in the microwave. Not nearly as enjoyable as the uber-soft fresh rolls out of the oven!
I bought boneless skinless chicken breast and ground it up for the meat. I sprinkled with beef soup base for more of a beef flavor. These were delicious!
That looks really good, I love sloppy joes!
My husband hates sloppy joes and I love them. I made these for dinner last night and I finally won him over! These are AWESOME! He even said we could add them to the rotation. Thanks SO much!
This was absolutely delicious, and was made in about 30 minutes, so it would make a great weekday meal.
One tip, and please forgive me if someone has already said it in these comments as I didn’t read all of them: If your BBQ sauce isn’t smoky, and perhaps even if it is, add 1/4 tsp of liquid smoke. I looooooved the additional flavour this supplied.
Your blog is awesome! Thanks!
Hi Mel. I’m having trouble with printing. When I click onto the Printable version with photo, there doesn’t seem to be a link where I can actually print from. Any ideas?
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