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This 3 Ingredient Sloppy Joes Recipe is one of the easiest, most budget-friendly dinners you can make. Skip the canned sauce, this homemade sloppy joe mixture comes together quick and easy using simple pantry staples. It’s family-tested, affordable, and perfect for busy weeknights.
Why You’ll Love this Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe!
This 3 ingredient Sloppy Joe recipe tastes so much better than the canned sauce and comes together in about 20 minutes. It’s one of our go-to stovetop meals when we need something quick, affordable, and homemade.
My family loves this for easy weekend lunches between basketball games. It’s simple to throw together, and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. We’ve even added Worcestershire sauce or a little garlic powder to switch it up.
Try serving it on toasted buns — it’s a classic that never gets old in our house. Check out our Easy One Pot Dinners for Busy Families Series for even more budget-friendly ideas.
Recipe Snapshot
- Ready In: 20–30 minutes
- Cooking Method: Stovetop
- Ingredients Needed: 3 pantry staples plus ground beef
- Freezer-Friendly: Yes
- Budget Tip: Uses simple ingredients you likely already have.
- Family Approved: Even picky eaters love this version.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef – Use whatever is on sale. Ground turkey works great too.
- Yellow Mustard – Adds tang without needing extra spices.
- Ketchup or tomato sauce – A pantry staple that replaces canned sloppy joe sauce.
- Brown Sugar – Adjust slightly depending on how sweet you like it.
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.
Tips for Success
- 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.
- Freezer Tip – Freeze in small portions for quick lunches.
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
- Ranch Carrots 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.
Storage & Freezer Instructions
- Fridge – Store the leftovers in an airtight container and place in the fridge. Leftovers will stay great for up to 4 days.
- Freezer – Yes! Let the mixture cool completely, then freeze in a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop or microwave.
- Reheating – Reheat in a skillet over low heat or in the microwave in 30-second intervals until heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can reduce or substitute with honey if needed.
Yes. The flavor actually improves after sitting for a few hours or overnight.
Ground beef is traditional, but ground turkey or ground chicken works well.
Yes. Brown the meat first, then cook on low for 2-3 hours to blend flavors. See all the details in this Easy Crock Pot Sloppy Joes Recipe.
Sloppy Joes Recipe
Equipment
- 1 skillet
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ⅛ cup brown sugar
- ⅛ cup mustard
- ½ 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.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts
More Easy Sloppy Joe Recipes
Easy Stove Top
Quick and Easy BBQ Sloppy Joes Recipe
Quick and Easy Chicken
Cajun Chicken Sloppy Joes
All Recipes
Big Mac Sloppy Joes
This simple Sloppy Joes recipe has been a lifesaver for us on busy days, and I hope it becomes one of those dependable, go-to meals for your family too. If you try it, I’d love for you to leave a comment and star rating — it helps other families find affordable recipes that really work.
I haven’t made this Sloppy Joe recipe as yet, but due to all the very positive reviews, I gave it a 5-star rating. The only things I may add are a chopped onion and S&P, as I can’t remember ever browning ground beef without chopped onions along with it. But I would drain the browned beef/onion mixture before adding the S&P so that the spices do not drain along with the grease. Others also included BBQ sauce, but did not specify whether they substituted the BBQ sauce for the ketchup and/or mustard. I love the idea of the small amount of brown sugar to cut the bitterness of the mustard, though. I think maybe the BBQ sauce is the sub for the ketchup only, but I’ll have to experiment with that, I guess. This really is an easy and sounds like a delicious recipe for a nice quick, and tasty Sloppy Joe dinner. Thank you for the great idea to make Sloppy Joe so much easier, but without any fuss.
Marie – Thanks so much! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you try it!
Simple and delicious recipe!
Thanks so much Carrie!
Wahoo! Thanks for sharing! So happy to hear this.
Easy recipe! Delicious! Thanks Carrie!
Wahoo! Thanks for sharing! So happy to hear this.
Forgot to tap on the stars
Michelle – Wahoo! Thank you so much for the 5 Stars! I appreciate so much that you took the time to comment!
Had cherry tomatoes that needed to be used and frozen green peppers from our garden brown sugar, ketchup yellow mustard. Zapped everything in food processor and cooked down and a few dashes of hot sauce turned out great
Michelle – Love that you put all those delicious veggies to such good use! Thank you for sharing and I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Made it and the family loved it. No doubt this will be a favorite. You had me at four ingredients…Easy and delicious!
Wahoo! So happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Linda! Thanks for letting me know!
Easy quick good recipe! Ty
Joyce – Thank you so much for sharing and for the positive review!
Oops used the Sweet baby Rays BBQ sauce half and half with ketchup.
Perfect! I have food Allergies so like to make my own. Super tasty, I did use Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce for some zing and added water just a touch at the end to make them sloppy. Thank you for sharing, can’t wait to look at your other recipes!
Carol – You are so welcome! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it.
Best recipe EVER!!
Thank you SO much Sandra!!!
This is delicious!!
Vicki – Yay! Thanks for sharing your feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Definitely one of my family’s go to. Love the basic recipe. We love using spicy brown mustard every so often.
I have made this recipe so many times! It is tasty and flavorful while being easy. The fun part is experimenting with different brands and kinds of ketchup and mustard. I have served this on buns, but most often I serve it in a bowl with some cut corn or chopped veggies. Last night, I served it with edamame in the shell. Easy peasy.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Christine. Thank you so much for sharing and I love the idea of trying different kinds of ketchup and mustard. What a wonderful idea! Thank you so much for the positive review.