Sloppy Joes

Serves 4

10$ – 15$

If you want classic, American comfort food then right after the grilled cheese comes the sloppy joe!  A relatively quick and simple meal, a sloppy joe goes with just about any side, and it’s easily adaptable to the ingredients you might already have on hand.  

Let’s get one thing straight – if you want to cook up some hamburger or turkey and dump a can of premade sauce over it, we’ll still call that cooking!  And on a busy night, a can of sauce and meat makes for a low stress meal.  Sloppy Joes Wednesday might be your new favorite thing.

That said…homemade sauce is going to be tastier, and healthier!  Every can of store bought sauce I looked at is loaded with high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.  Homemade sloppy joe sauce is also easy to make, and it’s another one of those recipes that oddly impresses people at parties when you say, “I brought homemade sloppy joe mix!”  People are strange, but don’t let them know how easy these recipes are to make.

The heart of a good sloppy joe sauce is the tomato sauce.  You COULD make your own – here’s a recipe I’ve used in the past – but we’re trying to keep this fairly simple.  Pick up a good 15 oz can of tomato sauce and you’re set.

Flavoring after that is up to you.  A little Worcestershire sauce, garlic, onion, mustard, and brown sugar is all you need.  You can up the game with salt and pepper, more or less sugar (I use less), bell peppers, and any other flavors you like.

Big tip – cut everything really small, or run it through a food processor, if you have picky eaters.  Nothing stops everything at dinner like an angry child discovering a little green “things” in their food.

Leaner meat is healthier, but if you’re on a budget sloppy joes are a great way to use budget meat.  I prefer hamburger, but turkey or chicken works fine too, depending on your needs.

Sloppy Joe Ingredients:

• Hamburger buns
• Butter
• 1 lb lean hamburger meat
• 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp mustard of your choosing (yellow is fine)
• 1 tbs of brown sugar
• 1 tbs worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup of water
• 3 cloves of garlic OR ¾ tsp power.  And lets be honest, I double this
• Fresh salt and pepper

1. Finely chop the garlic and onion.  If your kids will let you get away with it, add ½ a bell pepper, without seeds.
2. Lightly brown the meat in a large skillet, draining off the extra grease.  I prefer to lightly salt and pepper the meat as it’s cooking.
3. In a bowl, mix the tomato sauce, mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and water.
4. In a separate skillet, lightly cook the onions and bell pepper for about five minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add the vegetable mix to the meat.
5. Pour in the sauce from the bowl, and continue to mix over a low heat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Lightly butter the hamburger buns on the inside, and either toast or lightly grill
7. Serve warm over the buns, and enjoy!

A few more thoughts:

• You can freeze the sloppy joe sauce mixture, and the sauce will help protect the meat in the freezer.  If you make a larger batch, defrosting and reheating (I recommend in a pan) is great for week night meals.
• All of the ingredients above are subjective in quantity.  Less water and the sloppy joes will be less sloppy.  Less brown sugar and they won’t be as sweet, but a little healthier.  You can also season lightly with an Italian herb mix or seasoning of your choice.  A little chili powder gives it a nice bite.  Different mustards will also leave a different flavor.
• You can cook everything in one skillet, just don’t overcook the meat.  Lightly brown the meat and add in the vegetables for the same time as above, followed by garlic and then the sauce mix.