Here’s a quick and easy comfort food recipe that makes some great sandwiches. I’ve loved a good
Sloppy Joe sandwich since my early days in school. Say what you want about school lunches, but
I always seemed to enjoy mine. I especially enjoyed the Yeast Rolls they served and they were
even better on the days they used them as buns for Sloppy Joes.
I’m going to try and re-create those Yeast Rolls one day soon so watch for it. Our school made
these rolls practically every day of the school year. Sometimes they were just bread with our meals
and then some days they would be hamburger buns, pizza crust or the buns for Sloppy Joes.
It’s been quite some time since I’ve made Sloppy Joes from scratch. It’s too easy to buy that mix that comes in the can these days. And, I have to admit that it’s not all that bad. It’s just….these are BETTER.
Sloppy Joes are really easy to prepare and perfect for a quick and easy lunch or dinner meal. They are
great when the kids have friends over, or when everyone gathers around the TV for a big game.
You can serve them on store bought hamburger type buns or perhaps make “sliders” out of them by
using packaged dinner rolls as buns. You can also make them a little more “grown-up” if you bake up
some homemade rolls of your own like those school Yeast Rolls or some crusty bread type of roll.
Ready to give them a try? A printable version of the recipe follows the step-by-step photos.
Let’s Get Cooking!
You’ll need these ingredients. I’m using Ground Beef with an 80/20 fat content. I’m also using some
frozen chopped bell peppers that I keep in the freezer for just such purposes.
Begin by chopping up about one half of a small to medium sized Onion.
Either chop up about 1/2 cup of fresh bell pepper or, if you have it in your freezer, measure out
1/2 cup of what you already have.
Bell Peppers get up to around $1.78 EACH sometimes during the winter months around here.
I can usually find them around 5 for $1.00 during the summer when they are coming fresh
out of the gardens so I stock up. I chop them up, and then freeze them in Ziploc type bags for later.
It’s thrifty and convenient at the same time. Try it.
Place your large skillet on medium heat and then add your ground beef.
I used a wooden spoon to start breaking up the hunk of beef and stirring it as it begins to brown.
When it gets mostly brown, check to see how much fat (grease) you have in your pan. Mine had
hardly any at all. You don’t want a lot of grease but you do need about 2 or 3 tablespoons of it. If
your ground beef has produced a lot of fat, use a spoon and scoop some of it out or carefully pour
it out of your pan.
Add in the chopped Bell Peppers.
Add the chopped Onions.
Stir it all up real good. Don’t let the meat stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Simmer over
medium heat for about 5 minutes, letting the onions begin to turn translucent.
Sprinkle in the 1/2 teaspoon of Granulated Garlic Powder.
Sprinkle in the 1/2 teaspoon of Chili Powder.
Add the 8oz. can of Tomato Sauce.
Then add in the 1/4th cup of Ketchup.
Give it another good stir.
Add the 1/2 cup of water.
Add 1 teaspoon of Mustard, the regular old yellow stuff in the bottle.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper.
Finally, add the 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar. Give it all another good stir.
Reduce the heat down to medium-low and let it all simmer for about 20-25 minutes. You’ll need
to stir it every once in awhile and make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pan. You
shouldn’t have a problem with sticking if you have the heat turned down to a proper simmer.
Let the juices reduce down but don’t let it get all dried out. You need some good juice…thus the
“Sloppy” part of the name. If it’s too watery, it will just soak down your buns and that want
be good….soaked buns that is. (Smile) It’s not necessary to cover the pot while it simmers either.
When it’s cooked down to your liking, remove from heat and serve immediately. It will cool down
rather quickly once it’s out of the pan so you need to have everything else ready to go at this point.
Enjoy!
