Textual Chef Textual Chef

Sloppy Joes

A classic American diner sandwich of saucy, sweet-and-savory ground beef piled onto soft hamburger buns. Simple to make and always a crowd-pleaser for weeknight dinners or casual gatherings.

35 minEasyServes 4480 cal/serving

AmericanLunchStovetopStandardHigh ProteinNut-FreeAlcohol-Free

Ingredients

  • 1 lb lean ground beef (80/20)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2/3 cup ketchup
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp yellow mustard
  • 1/2 cup beef broth
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 4 hamburger buns, toasted

Instructions

  1. 1

    Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 finely diced yellow onion and 1 finely diced green bell pepper and cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes.

  2. 2

    Add 3 minced garlic cloves and cook 30 seconds. Push the vegetables to the side, add 1 lb lean ground beef (80/20) and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5-6 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.

  3. 3

    Stir in 2/3 cup ketchup, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp light brown sugar, 2 tsp yellow mustard, and 1/2 cup beef broth. Mix until fully combined.

  4. 4

    Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and coats the meat, about 10 minutes. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper to taste.

  5. 5

    Spoon the meat mixture generously onto 4 toasted hamburger buns and serve immediately.

Questions

Can I make Sloppy Joes gluten-free?

Yes. The gluten in this entry is 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 4 hamburger buns, toasted. Swap the soy-based sauce for tamari or coconut aminos; the bread or crumbs for a gluten-free loaf or gluten-free panko. Everything else proceeds as written.

How long does Sloppy Joes keep?

Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and eat them within three days. Reheat gently on the stovetop.

Can I halve or double Sloppy Joes?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. When doubling on the stovetop, use your widest pan or work in two batches so the food sears instead of steaming.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,512 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.