Mom’s Recipe for Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes
It’s ok to be sloppy with this classic old fashioned sloppy joes recipe! Browned ground beef smothered in the easiest and tastiest homemade sloppy joe sauce and nestled in a pillowy soft bun makes this recipe a 5 star fan favorite dinner idea! This old school loose meat sandwich recipe from my Mom’s recipe box can be made in minutes in one skillet with simple, common ingredients from your kitchen.
What you’ll love about this recipe:
Ingredients You’ll Need for Homemade Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes
(A printable recipe card is provided at the bottom of this post for your convenience. You can print it on your home printer and put it in your favorite recipes binder!)
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium sized onion, diced (or it can be omitted if your big brother really detests onions!)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil (if using a cast iron skillet)
- 1/2 cup ketchup (Although brands aren’t usually a big deal at our house, ketchup is the exception. It must be Heinz!)
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
- hamburger buns
Step by step instructions for Mom’s Recipe for Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Peel and dice the onion.
- If using a cast iron skillet, add the olive oil and preheat until the an onion sizzles when put in the pan.
- Add the onion and hamburger to the preheated pan and saute until the onions are translucent and the hamberger is no longer pink (about 5 minutes).
Add all the sloppy joe sauce ingredients into the skillet of cooked hamburger.- Stir the ingredients together and simmer for a few minutes.
- Drain the extra grease off the meat by pushing all the meat to one side of the pan and tilting it down the other side until the grease runs to one side. Use a spoon or ladle and remove all the grease that pools in the pan and place it in a bowl or can to dispose of in the garbage later. (Never pour grease down the sink!)
- To the meat mixture in the pan, add the ketchup, sugar, vinegar, mustard and worchestershire sauce. Stir until all combined and the mixture is simmering hot.
- Serve the hot sloppy joe mixture by dividing the sloppy joe meat up and putting inside hamburger buns.
Where did this old fashioned sloppy joe recipe come from?
This sloppy joe recipe came directly from my Mom’s recipe box. She made this for our family many, many times when I was growing up. And, it was one of the first recipes I made on my own!
What do you serve with sloppy joes?
Since sloppy joes are often a quick meal solution, the quickest side dish to serve with them is potato chips. (Yum!) You can also add a slice of your favorite kind of cheese and sliced pickles if you like both or either of those things.
Here are some other side dish options to serve with sloppy joes:
- Potato salad
- Scalloped potatoes
- Smashed potatoes (the recipe to these is found below the easy meatloaf recipe!)
- Crock pot baked beans
- Cheesy potatoes with frozen hash browns
- Orange fluff salad
Other Loose Meat Sandwich Recipes
- Tuna melt in the oven
- We love this amazing pulled pork recipe for the crock pot
Pin this to remember it later!
Classic Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes Recipe
It’s ok to be sloppy with this classic old fashioned sloppy joes recipe! Browned ground beef smothered in the easiest and tastiest homemade sloppy joe sauce and nestled in a pillowy soft bun makes this recipe a 5 star fan favorite dinner idea! This old school loose meat sandwich recipe from my Mom’s recipe box can be made in minutes in one skillet with simple, common ingredients from your kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium sized onion, diced (or it can be omitted if your big brother really detests onions!)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil (if using a cast iron skillet)
- 1/2 cup ketchup (Although brands aren’t usually a big deal at our house, ketchup is the exception. It must be Heinz!)
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
- 6 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Peel and dice the onion.
- If using a cast iron skillet, add the olive oil and preheat the medium sized skillet until the an onion piece sizzles when put in the pan.
- Add the diced onions and hamburger to the preheated pan and saute until the onions are translucent and the hamberger is no longer pink (about 5 minutes).
- Drain the extra grease off the meat by pushing all the meat to one side of the pan and tilting the pan down the other side until the grease runs to one side. Use a spoon or ladle and remove all the grease that pools in the pan and place it in a bowl or can to dispose of in the garbage later. (Never pour grease down the sink!)
- To the meat mixture in the pan, add the ketchup, sugar, vinegar, mustard and worchestershire sauce. Stir until all combined and the mixture is simmering hot.
- Serve the hot sloppy joe mixture by dividing up the sloppy joe meat and put in a hamburger bun.
This looks so yummy!!