Your family will love homemade sloppy joes with added veggies to boost flavor and nutrition!

If you are on the lookout for simple dinner recipes, this is the best sloppy joe recipe I have tried. I like that it is more than just meat and sauce. The addition of vegetables helps boost flavor and nutrition. Homemade sloppy joes are delicious and worth the little bit of extra effort it takes to chop the celery, onion and bell peppers. The tomatoes are easy – I use canned so they are already diced.

Don’t worry if you have never made them before – I’ll show you just how to make sloppy joes. Your family will love this one pot meal. 

This recipe makes a big batch of sloppy joe sauce. My family of six usually has leftovers, but the leftovers will freeze well. You can top any type of bread with sloppy joe sauce, but our favorite is toasted hamburger buns. Sometimes I even splurge at the grocery store and buy the fancy Brioche buns. I really like those. My kids probably don’t notice a difference!

Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced OR crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T white vinegar
• 1.5 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• Hamburger buns (split in halves)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and beef. Cook until the meat is browned and the vegetables are tender.

2. Stir in the remaining ingredients (but NOT the hamburger buns). Simmer uncovered for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Toast hamburger buns and top each half with about 1/2 cup of sloppy joe sauce. Serve open-face sandwich style.

Have you ever made sloppy joes? Let me know what you think about this recipe if you try it at home.