| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 50 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 35 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 medium Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 to 2 tablespoons chipotle puree (depending on how spicy you want it)
- 1/4 teaspoon chile de arbol or cayenne
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 (1/2-inch) slices sourdough bread
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 pounds ground chuck (80/20)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup small dice red onion
- 1/2 cup small dice celery
- 1/2 cup small dice roasted poblano chile
- 1/2 cup small dice roasted red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup small dice roasted yellow bell pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 1 1/4 cups BBQ Sauce, recipe above
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- For the BBQ Sauce:
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Add the onions and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the ketchup and the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- *Transfer the mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool at room temperature. Sauce will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator stored in a tightly sealed container.
- For the Garlic Toast:
- Combine the butter and garlic in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the butter is melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from the heat and let sit 5 minutes.
- Preheat the broiler.
- Put the bread on a baking sheet and broil until both sides until lightly golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove from the oven and brush them with the garlic butter. Transfer to a serving platter and set aside until ready to serve.
- For the Neat Joes:
- Heat the oil over high heat in a large high-sided saute pan until the oil begins to smoke.
- Add the beef, breaking it up into small pieces using a metal spatula or wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan. Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the poblano, bell peppers and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the ancho powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add the BBQ sauce, 1/4 cup of water and the ketchup, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the mustard, Worcestershire, honey, brown sugar and molasses. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the cover, return the meat to the pan and continue cooking until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes longer. Add the vinegar, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir in the 1/2 cup of parsley or cilantro.
- Top slices of the garlic bread with some of the sloppy joe mixture, sprinkle with cilantro or parsley.
- *When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.
Reviews
Made a lot of Sloppy Joe recipes over my 70+ years — so I tried this one. It was good, but lacked the pizazz other recipes gave me. Also, the length of time to prepare and cook was extreme!
WAAAAAYYYY too sweet I couldn’t even eat 3 bites!
We made this today for my birthday. It’s good, but it is just not worth all the prep time. I put about 75% as much sweetness as it calls for, since my whole family doesn’t like sweet overload. My first bite, I said Manwich was better. As I ate it more, it got better. This recipe was hyped up to be so “spicy” on the throwdown episode and when I ended up making it, it became apparent that it is not spicy at all. It was very expensive to make this, and in the end, Bobby Flay did not impress me on my birthday like I thought, but it was still good enough. I guess I was expecting it to be 10x better than Manwich, and it just turned out to be equal to Manwich, but in it’s own way.
Best Sloppy Joe recipe ever! Love it and I have been using it for years. Always a big hit! I must confess I use Kraft original BBQ sauce. It is a little labor intensive but you won’t regret the time spent. The way the flavors are layered throughout makes them simply amazing. Thank you Bobby!
Best Sloppy Joe!
I was 1/2 # short on Gr. Beef – so I used 8 oz hickory smoked bacon.
What an inspired improvement. Loved the sweetness of this and the tamed heartiness. Yum!
What an inspired improvement. Loved the sweetness of this and the tamed heartiness. Yum!
After seeing Throwdown, I found the Schnippers’ recipe and tried it — it was excellent. Then I tried Chef Flay’s recipe — wow! It’s wonderful. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients going in with the meat, but don’t skimp on adding them all in, and don’t rush the cooking. Those ingredients make layers and layers of flavor. It’s worth the effort.
After watching the Throwdown episode where this was made and beat the restaurant competitor, we decided to give it a try. The depth of flavors that come together from combining the roasted peppers and red onions with a little bit of sweet from the ancho chile powder, honey, and molasses is what makes it work so well. The sourdough bread toasted with a bit of garlic butter is a perfect choice over a regular hamburger bun. We used a high end bottled Bar B Que sauce to save on time, and while I’m sure the home made version of sauce is excellent, this is a five star recipe with a good bottle of sauce. This is one recipe we would give ten stars if possible.
Holy cow! These are awesome! Although it takes a bit of time & effort, they are well worth making! I added a couple of links of chorizo to the ground beef – really nice under note. It made enough to freeze for another meal or two, and I had enough BBQ sauce left over. The next night we made chicken legs & wings on the grill and used the BBQ sauce and they were great! It has just the right ‘bite’. And we still have enough to do something else on the grill. Great recipe Bobby…and I also LOVE your red wine BBQ sauce. No more bottles from the store in my house!!!
I made this last night and tweaked it a little, needless to say it was AWESOME! Put in a bottled BBQ sauce and added a bit more ketchup and worchestershire. Also cut back on the vinegar and put on potato rolls. Not a big fan of sloppy joes, always thought of manwich but this was amazing. Kids loved it! Definitely will make again.