Jump to content

Do you make homemade Sloppy Joe sauce?


MickinMD

Recommended Posts

I was watching "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS and they were making Sloppy Joe sauce.  Basically it's ketchup or tomato sauce, a little Worcestershire Sauce, a little sugar, and a little fried onion or onion powder.  That works, though better versions add garlic and other spices.

I always try to keep 2 cans of Sloppy Joe Sauce in my cupboard, in case I can't find one in the supermarket after I use one.  I thought, "Gee. I have the stuff on hand to make Sloppy Joe Sauce so I don't have to hoard a can."  So I looked for the best recipe I could find online after checking out several.

The comments on the recipe below were consistently excellent and often said it blows away Manwich - one said he doesn't like Manwich anymore after making this.  An avg. of 4.9 stars out of 5 from 259 people says it can't be awful, so I'm going to try it once.  The volumes don't seem to come close to the 15 oz. of canned Manwich and the comment from the site listed at the end says double it.  I assume you can double it without doubling the 1 lb of ground beef.  So I'll try it once and report. If it blows Manwich away, I'll make it again since it's a simple recipe.  If not, I'll buy Manwich when I want Sloppy Joes.  But this looks like fun!

 

The Best Homemade Sloppy Joes

https://www.thechunkychef.com/best-homemade-sloppy-joes/

4.9 out of 5 stars from 259 votes

Step away from the canned sauce and give these homemade sloppy joes a try! They're truly the best version of a childhood favorite!

Mick’s Note: I have a 15 oz. can of the standard, "Manwich Original Sloppy Joe Sauce," on hand and it says, "Ingredients. Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Corn Syrup, Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Sugar, Carrot Fiber, Dried Green and Red Bell Peppers, Chili Pepper, Guar Gum, Spices, Xanthan Gum, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid.

Prep Time: 5 mins  Cook Time; 20 mins  Total Time; 25 mins

Servings: 6 servings  Calories: 266 Cal

 

Ingredients (some sub tomato sauce for ketchup else too sweet)

l 1 Tbsp butter

l 1 tsp olive oil

l 1 lb. ground beef

l 1/3 green bell pepper, minced (Mick: I like a whole red bell pepper)

l 1/2 large yellow onion, minced  (Mick: I like a whole medium sized sweet onion)

l 3 cloves garlic, minced (garlic powder also works)

l 1 Tbsp tomato paste (most leave this out)

l 1/3 green bell pepper, minced

l 1/2 large yellow onion, minced

l 3 cloves garlic, minced

l 1 Tbsp tomato paste

l 2/3 cup ketchup (8-15 oz. Tomato sauce or 50:50 ketchup:BBQ sauce also tried)

l 1/3 cup water

l 1 Tbsp brown sugar (or less, if you prefer) = 0.5 tbsp honey

l 1 tsp yellow mustard

l 3/4 tsp chili powder

l 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (1 to 2 tsp in others used sounds right)

l 1/2 tsp kosher salt

l 1/4 tsp black pepper

l 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

l dash of hot sauce (optional)

l Added by reviewers: 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp smoke flavoring, 1 tsp A1 sauce

 

Instructions

1. Heat butter and oil in large skillet over MED/MED-HIGH heat.  Add beef and brown, breaking apart into crumbles as it cooks, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to colander to drain.

2. Add onion and bell pepper to same skillet and cook 2-3 minutes, until soft.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds or so, until fragrant.  Add beef back to the skillet and add tomato paste.  Stir well.

3. Add ketchup, water, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, red pepper flakes (if using), and black pepper.  Stir well to combine.

4. Cook over MED heat for 10-15 minutes, until mixture has thickened to your liking.  Remove from heat and serve over toasted buns.

Notes

Sloppy Joe meat mixture can be frozen!  Cool the mixture completely, then add to freezer containers and freeze for up to 4 months.

Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.

Nutrition: Calories: 266kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 547mg | Potassium: 357mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 385IU | Vitamin C: 8.4mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1.7mg

Comments

 Debby — September 25, 2020 @ 2:57 pm Reply

This is a great recipe but with a few tweaks. First of all, I double it because even with my husband and I, it goes too fast! I add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce instead of tomato paste (no leftover paste in the fridge) and I cut down the water to just enough to rinse out the can and cut down catsup to 2 Tbsp. I sauté the minced onions, peppers and garlic in the butter and oil because I don’t want to drain off that wonderful butter and olive oil flavor with the hamburger.  I add all the rest of the ingredients to the onions/pepper mix and add cooked hamburger last. We like it with a little kick so we add the red pepper flakes, hot sauce and a splash more Worcestershire sauce.

This is so good— no need to buy the canned sauce again as I have all the ingredients on hand in my pantry and it is so quick to make. Yummy!!!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t believe  I have had sloppy joes since I was a kid so no, I don’t make my own sauce.  I think I’d rather have pulled pork smothered in a tangy bbq sauce on a bun but to each their own.  

Damnit, now I’m gonna want sloppy joes now that I have had my chicken & dumplings & bought some sardines! 

  • Heart 2
  • Awesome 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WoW has a recipe from when I raced RC cars. For a few years we raced in an old auditorium of a small town with no place to eat. WoW made sloppy joes, hotdogs, nachos and sloppy dogs. The recipe is for a large amount. We scale it down, but it never tastes like the big batch. Toast the bun and sprinkle on some Parmesan. Yum!

  • Heart 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Airehead said:

I have never bought it in a can. I use not meat crumbles sometimes instead of ground meat. You cannot tell. 

Some commenters with the recipe I posted also used meat crumbles, Impossible Burgers, or chicken and said it was great.

  • Heart 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...