Family-Favorite Homemade Sloppy Joes
“Easy, flavorful homemade sloppy joes full of spices, onions, garlic, celery, and peppers! Slightly sweet, tangy and smokey!”
Visual learner? Watch me make these homemade sloppy joes from start to finish!
Let me tell ya something about my dear, sweet husband; the man is obsessed with tater tots and hash browns. Like y’all, I’m talking really obsessed. I never ask him for side dish suggestions because I already know what he’s gonna say.
He could seriously live off of tater tots for breakfast, tater tot burritos for lunch and tater tot casserole for dinner. Not even kidding.
I don’t share his passion for tots, but there is one meal where I absolutely MUST have tater tots, and that is SLOPPY JOES! Because for real though, what other side dish goes better with sloppy joes than tater tots? Nothing! Absolutely nothing I tell ya!
Sloppy joes were a regular meal when I was growing up. I didn’t appreciate them until I got older. My grandmother always made them from scratch and it was her go-to meal the day after a cookout. She would use the leftover grilled burgers and create the most savory sloppy joes. Keep that in mind if you have leftover cookout burgers. Grilled sloppy joes are amazeballs!
Last week I made these downright delicious sloppy joes and couldn’t wait to share them with you. I have another sloppy joe recipe on my blog as well, but this one has all the yummy add-in’s like onions, garlic, celery, and peppers! It’s the type of recipe that tastes great the day you make it but is “ohmagerd” good the next day. All of those onions, garlic, peppers, and spices have had a chance to become really acquainted. I usually make a double batch so that we’ll have some for the next day or for the freezer.
The liquid smoke and light touch of brown sugar give these sloppy joes a slightly sweet and smokey taste that I love. Not to mention the tang from the mustard and savoriness from the spices! They are amazing!
Serve them with tater tots and a fresh salad, and you’ve got yourself an easy, quick dinner that the whole family will love!
Wanna dress these Sloppy Joes up a little? Try on some these for size!
- Add shredded cheddar cheese
- Swap out the ketchup for BBQ sauce
- Want that slight sweetness without the brown sugar? Add some minced carrots.
- Like Worcestershire sauce in beef? Add in a few teaspoons.
- Brush the buns lightly with garlic butter and toast.
Get the Recipe: Family-Favorite Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup green bell peppers, finely diced
- 1/4 cup onions, finely diced
- 1/4 cup celery, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 lb. ground beef, use a good quality
- liquid smoke, several splashes
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1-2 Tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 buns, buttered and toasted
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet.
- Add bell peppers, onions and celery and saute until tender.
- Add garlic and saute until fragrant (about 2 minutes).
- Remove vegetables from pan and set aside.
- In the same skillet, brown the ground beef, add in several splashes of liquid smoke.
- Drain the ground beef (leave beef in skillet) and stir in the cooked vegetables. Set aside.
- In a bowl, stir together tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, paprika, cumin, chili powder and black pepper.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
- Add sauce mixture into the skillet and stir until everything is combined.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes (stirring occasionally) and then cover and turn off the heat to allow the sauce to thicken.
- When the sauce is no longer runny, spoon mixture onto the prepared toasted buns. (We like to add mayo and a pickle)
- Serve tater tots and a side salad.
Video
Notes
Like Worcestershire sauce? Add a few teaspoons.
Like BBQ sauce? Try swapping half the kitchen with BBQ sauce.
Soooo good! I didn’t make any adjustments 🙂
Living in France, I’ve never tasted Sloppy Joe.
I made it using bbq sauce as suggested and homemade brioche bun and it was really delicious, what a hit !
I bought a bottle of liquid smoke from Amazon so next time I’ll make it with it.
My family loved it and it’s now a part of my dinner rotation.
Thank you very much for the recipe.
Oh my goodness this was so delicious and so proud of myself for making something so dang good! I am trying out a lot of your recipes and they have all been perfection. My husband loved this and even said it was better than his mom’s- and you know when husband’s say that, it must be good! Lol. I did not like sloppy joes as a kid, but I never had a good quality joe like this recipe. Thanks Monique, I am trying out the spaghetti bake and cheesy garlic bread tomorrow : – D
I have never made Sloppy Joe without using Manwich. Recipe was easy to follow, and end result was Delicious!! Definitely will be making this again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This sloppy joe is the best sandwich on earth.
Isaiah 63:7 (King James Version Bible)
I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
My fast go to meal. The kids love it. Do you have a recipe for tator tots??? I’m still using the frozen kind lol..