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This is a simple dinner idea. Sloppy Joes Recipe has only 3 ingredients and there are no excuses to not try this family friendly dinner idea that everyone will love.
This 3 ingredient Sloppy Joe recipe taste so much better than the can sloppy joe mix. The best part it is so easy to make and delicious too. You probably already have most of the ingredients to make this easy stovetop recipe for the best sloppy joe recipe.
My family loves this meal. We will often plan on eating this for lunch on the weekend. It is so easy to put together and we have a homecooked meal for lunch in between our basketball games.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
In under 30 minutes, you can have this quick, easy classic dinner idea that your family will love. You can probably cook this in 20 minutes. The sloppy joe mixture is really easy to modify for what you have on hand and so versatile.
We have even added a tiny bit of Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder to the ground beef mixture. You can try using chili powder, red pepper flakes, bbq sauce, olive oil or whatever you prefer.
It really is such a great recipe and we all love sloppy joe meat. It never gets old and we enjoy this recipe so much. Try toasted buns next time to make a delicious sandwich. It is really good!
Ingredients
Besides ground beef, you only need three ingredients to make this delicious Sloppy Joes recipe.
- Yellow Mustard
- Ketchup or tomato sauce
- Brown Sugar
Yep! That is all you need to make a fast sloppy joes for your family. What makes it even better is one of my kids does not like the traditional sloppy joes, but loves this recipe!
Once you make this, you won’t ever buy that store bought stuff again. This has so much more flavor than the canned sloppy joes. For the full recipe, scroll to see recipe card.
How to Make Sloppy Joes
- Step 1 – Brown the ground beef in a large skillet on medium heat until no longer pink. You can use ground turkey too. Once browned, drain the excess grease from the beef. I like to season with salt and pepper while the beef is cooking.
- Step 2 – Add in brown sugar, mustard, and ketchup. Stir to combine.
- Step 3 – Reduce the heat and allow the meat mixture to simmer on low for about 5 minutes to combine the flavors.
- Step 4 – Serve on hamburger buns and with your favorite sides.
Recipe Tips
- Make Ahead – The prep time is very easy on this recipe, but you can prepare ahead of to save even more time.
- Ground Beef – Before mixing in the sauces makes sure to drain the meat to remove any grease.
- Simmer – Allow the mixture to simmer on low to combine the ingredients.
Can I Double The Recipe?
Yes, this is a great recipe to make a double or triple batch and freeze the left overs. It does not take anymore work to make extra. We love to cook once and eat twice or more. This is such a huge help during busy weeks.
It really isn’t any extra work to double the recipe and you have a super easy dinner for another night. I try to do this as much as possible and keep a few quick meals in the freezer.
Serving Suggestions
Here are a few of my favorite side dishes for sloppy joes.
- Easy Homemade French Fries Recipe
- Deep Fried Pickles
- Baked Mac and Cheese Recipe
- Check out our full post on What to Serve with Sloppy Joes
- Top a baked potato for a complete meal idea.
- Potato Chips
It’s really good served with Grilled Corn on the Cob and Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries. These are both so easy and really delicious side dishes. Just keep it simple. This meal can easily be ready with hardly any work at all.
Try adding green bell pepper or onion to the ground beef while cooking. Onion and green pepper really give it an amazing flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the leftovers in an airtight container and place in the fridge. Leftovers will stay great for up to 4 days.
You can freeze the sloppy joe sauce in a freezer bag. We also like to freeze them in silicone cupcake pans, Then pop them out and place in a freezer bag. Now you can have a lunch or dinner for 1 in no time. This is such an easy dinner idea, but when you freeze them it makes it an even faster dinner idea.
When you are ready to reheat, place in a crockpot or in a pan for an even faster dinner idea. Try sloppy joe recipe slow cooker version and come home to dinner ready to enjoy. This is great for reheating what you put in the freezer and makes dinner so simple. If you have a smaller portion, just thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat in the microwave.
Try these other Sloppy Joes
- Quick and Easy BBQ Sloppy Joes Recipe
- Big Mac Sloppy Joes Recipe
- Ultimate Sloppy Joes
- Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Easy Crock Pot Sloppy Joes Recipe
- Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes Recipe
- Easy Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
- easy Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes recipe
We love to hear from you. If you make this homemade sloppy joe sauce recipe, please leave us a comment or star review.
Sloppy Joes Recipe
Equipment
- 1 skillet
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup mustard
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- hamburger buns
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet.
- Once browned, drain.
- Add in brown sugar, mustard, and ketchup. Stir to combine.
- Allow it to simmer on low for about 5 minutes to combine the flavors.
- Serve on buns and with your favorite sides.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it – Thank you for sharing and for your review!
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for leaving a review.
Wow! The best with minimal ingredients!
I made the recipe today for a party I’m having where there will be some vegetarians in the crowd. I followed the recipe as is, tasted tested, and then made some mods:
1. I agree with others that the lentils need to cook longer.
2. I added 1/8 cup brown sugar and 1/8 ketchup to give it more of a true sloppy Joe taste.
3. I put a cover on my skillet and simmered for another 30 minutes or so.
4. Then I removed the cover and simmered another 15 or until most of the liquid had absorbed.
DELICIOUS!
I love that!
I love this recipe. It is so quick and easy. I can’t do the can mix to tangy. Enough for 3 people to enjoy.
I use this recipe tonight and made sloppy joe pockets with canned pastry dough. These turned out amazing. Will definitely be my new go to for sloppy joes
I replaced the beef with plant based meat and it was delicious! I also added some onions and cheese. Definitely will make again.
Super easy tks
Thank you!
Delicious! And EASY ?
Perfect taste and consistency. Will definitely make this again!
It’s so easy, and it tastes wonderful! I’ve had this pinned for years and it is the only way I’ll make sloppy Joe’s??
I hope they love it! My family doesn’t love canned sloppy joes but they love my homemade sloppy joes recipe!
Gonna try sloppy joe tonite.My family use to not like this.hope they will like this recipe
I usually use light but either will work in this recipe.
Need to use a little less mustard, next time. Otherwise easy and good tasting.