What's your favorite sloppy joe recipe?

Hmmm ... usually I use turkey - I'm not a big meat eater - but whether it's turkey or beef I just look around at what's in the fridge and go from there. BBQ sauce, habanero ketchup, hot sauce of one sort or another, veggies, maybe add rice or beans, fire roasted tomatoes - it's really a free-form thing here.

Shel

Our family like their sloppy joe kinda sweet so here's what we like.

1 pound ground beef (85% lean) or turkey
1 med onion diced
3 cloves garlic diced
1 med carrot diced
1 stalk celery diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 teaspoons of brown sugar (reserve 1 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 can (12 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can of beer(mostly for the cook)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes

Start by dicing onions, carrot & celery. Heat pan over med heat and add the olive oil, once oil is shimmering add onions, carrot, and celery adding and pinch of salt and pepper and stir to coat veggies with the oil. Adjust heat so that the veggies are not cooking too fast, don't wanna burn them. Next finely chop garlic (or use garlic press), then add garlic, chili powder, and red pepper to pan once the veggies are translucent. Add meat, tomato paste, and two teaspoons of brown sugar a minute or so after the garlic and cook until meat is done. At this point I open the beer and pour about 1/4 of the beer into the pan to deglaze pan and the remainder of the beer to refresh the cook. After beer is cooked off taste the mix and add salt and pepper to taste. Now add the ketchup, worcestershire, and the crushed tomato, let sauce simmer for about 10 minutes then add the last teaspoon of brown sugar. Continue simmering until sauce has thickened.

I like mine on a large toasted hamberger bun with cheese and mustard, and dill pickle on the side with potato chips or roasted potato wedges.

Just made this last weekend:

2# ground beef
Onion (medium size, chopped)
celery (2 ribs, chopped)
green pepper (1 medium size, chopped)
3/4 bottle of ketchup (about 1 1/2 C +/-)
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz can)
1 T brown sugar
1 T vinegar
1 T dry mustard

Brown the ground beef and drain off grease and return meat to pan. To the meat, add the remaining ingredients, cover and simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally.

Ground chuck,onions, brown then add woreshire sauce,hienz57,A-1 sauce and some ketsup to bind. This is from our olf family recipe from the 40`s

One week, back in January I believe, both Michael Chiarrelo and Rachel Ray made their version of Sloppy Joes. Chiarello's recipe was called Sloppy Giuseppes Rachel Ray's was called Messy Giuseppes. Both, I think, are worth looking for by doing a search on the FN web site.

Shel

Results of Food Network Search for Sloppy Joes

Shel

Give this one a try.

4 lbs. browned and drained ground chuck
1 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp. Molasses
1.5 cups tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
.5 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Paprika
2 Teaspoons oregano
2 Teaspoons Penzy's Chicago Steak seasoning.
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire
4 Tbsp. Yellow Mustard
4 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Cider Vinegar
1.5 Large onions diced.
1 Green Pepper diced.
3 Celery Stalks diced.
1 or 2 Jalapenos diced. (Optional, my daughter won't eat it spicy, so sweet it is in our house)
2-3 cups beef broth.
Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown the chuck in a large pot or Dutch Oven, drain and remove. Soften the onions, pepper, and celery in the pot in a little olive oil. Add the beef and other ingredients. Simmer for several hours until you have the desired consistency. We like it on soft bakery buns so the meat almost soaks in when you eat the sandwiches. If they're chewy too much meat slides out the sides. I like a slice of cheddar cheese, the wife goes no cheese. This makes quite a bit, but the leftovers go quickly. If you're family is patient, (they won't be because they smell too good) they are actually better after a night in the frig.

Eat with Ruffles or that type of chip. Scoop up what does fall out of the sandwich with chips. That's a man's dip. :D

Kevin

Smokey's First Annual Pre-Opener BBQ. 5/4/07. Feeding hungry musky anglers.

Forgive my Antipodean ignorance :o - what on earth is a Sloppy Joe?? Sounds messy!! :eek:

(I take it that its ground beef in a sauce inside some form of bread with various accoutrements.....)

That pretty much covers it, although one needn't use beef - turkey or other meat or poultry can be used, but finely chopped or ground beef is probably most common. There are also vegan or vegetarian versions made with TVP which are quite good depending on the sauce/spice mixture.And, as I'm sure you gathered from the recipes and techniques posted, a sauce of sorts is created for the meat or poultry that gives the final result a relatively loose texture. The whole darned thing is put over bread like a hamburger bun, but it could be other types of bread that will support the mixture. It's a bit of a mess when you try to eat it, hence the name, "sloppy joe."

The recipe, as you can see, can be most anything that strikes your fancy just so long as there's a certain "looseness" to the mixture.

The sloppy joe has a foggy history, but it seems to have arisen during the Depression as a way to stretch ground beef during hard times. Several sources place its creation in a small cafe in Sioux City, Iowa, where it was called a "loosemeat" sandwich. No one knows if there was an original Joe, but they sure are sloppy!

Shel

Thanks Shel for the explanation - sounds like a recipe for bibs and stacks of napkins! Maybe the original cook was called Joe...

I enjoy my sloppy joes with cheese on them, usually colby jack or mozerella

I saw a SJ recipe today based in chili sauce. I can see that being a bit more flavor than ketchup would provide.

Phil

I make sloppy joes occasionally. My method is simple and similar to others here. Brown ground beef and onions. Drain off any grease and add some ketchup, yellow mustard, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder (unless I threw in minced garlic earlier), brown sugar and let it cook until it all thickens up some. Serve on a bun with swiss cheese.

add some sausa to it and use it as chili for top of hot dogs, I like mine on a roll with cheese

What's "sausa?" Couldn't find it with a Google search ...

Shel

sorry I can be brain dead at times salsa:confused: