Ditch the sloppy Joe stuff from the can! It’s just as easy to make homemade sloppy Joe’s with ketchup! Yup. Ketchup. My kids love sloppy Joe night and I love that they are super quick and easy to make. Let me show you how to these easy sloppy Joe’s.

One of my favorite meals growing up was sloppy Joe’s. I loved when my mom would slid over a plate with juicy hamburger heaping over the bun. I always asked for a huge serving because I loved using a fork to eat everything that fell off the bun.

I didn’t mind that they were sloppy! I’m glad my kids love them too because I still get to eat one of my favorite childhood recipes that’s super easy to make.

What are Homemade Sloppy Joe’s

Sloppy Joe’s are basically ground beef cooked up with sweet and tangy sauce and then slapped in between two buns. Homemade sloppy Joe’s meant the sauce doesn’t come from a can. Instead, you make your own sauce with ketchup.

Homemade Sloppy Joe’s Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• ¾ cup ketchup
• 3 TBSP of brown sugar
• 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• Ground pepper, to taste
• 4 hamburger buns
• Sliced pickles

Ground beef – The great thing about these sloppy Joe’s is that you can use whatever ground meat you prefer or have on hand. They are great with ground turkey, pork or even venison!

Ketchup – The star of the show! You can use your favorite ketchup for this recipe. If you want to make these healthier, try homemade ketchup or a sugar free version.

Brown sugar – The brown sugar gives these sloppy Joe’s the sweet taste you remember growing up. No brown sugar on hand? No worries! Try an easy homemade version!

Spices – The spices are kept pretty mild since your ketchup will have some flavor to it already. I highly recommend using the Worcestershire sauce in this recipe. It gives it that little extra zip.

Toppings – I like to keep my toppings pretty basic with some dill pickles. You can add sliced cheese, onions, or any other fun topping that your family will enjoy.

How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joe’s with Ketchup

This recipe only takes about 5-minutes to prep and 25-minutes to cook. Follow the steps below to make your own delicious homemade sloppy Joes.

Step 1

Set your stove to medium heat using a skillet. Once your skillet is hot, pour in a small amount of olive oil. Add in your ground turkey. Brown the meat and break into pieces.

Step 2

While the meat is cooking, prepare your sauce.

Step 3

Add and mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper.

Step 4

Once your meat is browned, add in your sauce. Mix together until the sauce and meat is well incorporated.

Step 5

Cover the skillet and allow the sloppy Joe mixture to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Step 6

Serve your mixture warm with a bun, and top with pickles! Enjoy!

Can I Make Sloppy Joe’s With Ground Turkey?

If you are trying to stay away from red meat, you can always substitute this recipe with ground turkey. I personally have not found that it makes much of a flavor difference. And, the recipe would remain the same. The only difference would be substituting your ground beef for ground turkey.

How to make sloppy Joe’s sauce

These sloppy Joe’s use a semi-homemade sauce recipe. If you are looking for an easy totally homemade sloppy Joe sauce recipe try this from scratch sloppy Joe mix.

Sides for Your Sloppy Joe’s

You could eat your sloppy Joe’s all to themselves because they are that good, but here are some side ideas you can try:

• Loaded Broccoli Salad
• Watermelon Feta Salad
• Creamy Pea Salad
• Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
• Instant Pot Corn on the Cob

How to Store Leftovers

You can store leftover Sloppy Joe’s in your refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You will want to store it in a Tupperware dish with a lid or in a ziplock bag. Obviously, you will store the sauce that has not been used on buns.

Can You Freeze Sloppy Joe’s?

The short answer to this questions is yes, you can freeze homemade sloppy Joe’s. You will want to completely cool your Sloppy Joe mix in the refrigerator before sealing in airtight containers or heavy duty freezer bags. If it is properly stored, it will last 3 to 4 months in the freezer.

When storing your sloppy Joe’s, you can store it in individual serving sizes to easily thaw or you can store it all in one container.

Other Ground Beef Recipes

Ground beef is such a versatile meat. It is easy to cook and whip up into different dishes. If you have some ground beef you need to get rid of this week, here are some other ground beef recipes to check out:

• Meatloaf Recipe with Ketchup
• Easy Homemade Recipes: Italian Meatloaf Muffins
• Instant Pot Lazy Lasagna
• Instant Pot Chili Mac
• Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole
• Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
• Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce

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