This is weeknight comfort food at its finest. We created a homemade sauce that is tangy and flavorful but also quick and easy. We used both ketchup and canned tomato sauce for lots of tomato-y zip and just a touch of brown sugar for a bit of sweetness and slight caramel finish. Green bell pepper is a key addition; it really enhances the other ingredients, elevating the flavor profile into the realm of a true sloppy joe.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 30 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 sandwiches |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 12 ounces (1 1/3 cup) tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 hamburger buns, toasted
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to caramelize in some spots, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon or spatula, until it is browned, no longer pink in the middle and cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, red wine vinegar, paprika, cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of black pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and heated through, 5 to 6 minutes. Spoon the meat onto the toasted buns.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 255 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 25 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 10 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 38 mg |
| Sodium | 548 mg |
Reviews
This is a great recipe. My kids love it and I find it’s an easy make ahead dinner that I can just reheat during the work week. Feeds a family of 5 with 3 happy kids!
Fantastic!
This is our new favorite sloppy joe recipe. Delicious!
Very good. We cut the salt in half to reduce the sodium and still tasted good. Will make this again. I agree with other comments that the simmer time needs to be increased to tighten things up.
Very good. Substituted one fresh, fine chopped Hatch Chili pepper for green bell pepper. Everything thing else exact as written. Requires extended slow simmer to tighten up wet consistency resulting in concentrated flavor.
The red wine vinegar is the secret ingredient. If you don’t have it, definitely start with half the ketchup and brown sugar adjusting as needed.
The red wine vinegar is the secret ingredient. If you don’t have it, definitely start with half the ketchup and brown sugar adjusting as needed.
Husband really enjoyed this, and it was great having left overs. I did use less of the ketchup than called for as he doesn’t like it too wet, probably on used 1/3 of what recipe called for. Will add to rotation.
This is pretty good , I do skip the ketchup and paste( add 2 tablespoons tomato powder , as well as 1 cup sliced mushrooms.
Excellent and quick recipe. The next time, I think I’ll decrease the brown sugar by 1/2 a TBS.
My husband loved it. I highly recommend this recipe.
My husband loved it. I highly recommend this recipe.
I made the recipe as is and thought it was great. Sweet and savory as a sloppy Joe is supposed to be. It did seem a little runny but I let it simmer for a while and it thickened up. Be sure to taste before adding salt. Will make again.
I had made this for my family and it was really good! I doubled the seasoning but not all the different tomato ingredients. We did 3 lbs of ground turkey. I only give it a 4 star because it was very runny but other than that we loved it!
Update! I got this down now & we absolutely love it! 5 stars!