Tuesday Dinners

Sloppy Joes

The meal that needs no introduction.

⏲️ Prep Time
10 Minutes

⏲️ Cook Time
30 Min.

🍴 Serves
8

Ingredients

  • Pound of ground beef
  • One onion
  • One bell pepper
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2-3 cloves garlic OR garlic powder
  • 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes and a spoonful of tomato paste OR Can of tomato sauce OR ketchup
  • Mustard OR Mustard powder
  • Onion powder
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Directions

  1. Dice onion and bell pepper (garlic if in clove form)
  2. Cook vegetables in pot or pan
  3. Keep vegetables in and add meat to pot, cook until browned
  4. Add remaining ingredients to pot, stir
  5. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes

Step by Step Directions

Cut up your peppers and onions (and garlic if you have it). The smaller you cut the onions and peppers the easy they will be to cook. In a perfect world you’ll want them to be the same size as what you expect the meat to cook down to.

Turn your oven on to medium heat and throw in your vegetables. There’s no real rhyme or reason for whether or not to do your meat or vegetables first, it’s up to you.

The objective should be that your onions are starting to turn a little translucent around the edges before moving on to the next step.

Next you should add your meat to your pan, cook it as you normally would until the meat is completely browned.

Now comes the time to make them sloppy. Add your assortment of tomato base, spices, garlic, sugar, Worcestershire and your little bit of mustard. Combine them all in the pot.

The spices you choose are really up to you and how you remember the sloppy Joes you had as a kid. If you were a kid that hated mustard then don’t add it, but it likely won’t have the tang you’re expecting. If you’re a vampire then don’t add the garlic, it’s up to you. All your ingredients are already cooked so you can taste test as you go (crackers and chips are great for this).

Turn your heat down to low and continue to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If the Joes are sloppier than you were expecting than add a little bit of flour or cornstarch and it should thicken up (don’t consume raw flour, so if that’s what you do then make sure you cook it until it’s no longer raw).

Enjoy.

Variations

  • Include/exclude onions or peppers
  • Make in a slow cooker
  • Use hot sauce to add some kick
  • Use any other seasoning you may want (steak seasoning also works well)

Unsolicited Feedback

  • ML: Why are they so messy?
  • PE: Why not just use the stuff that comes in a can?
  • MC: I like to not use a napkin until I’m all done eating, it’s easier that way.