I’ve got a fun and frugal dinner idea – Sloppy Joes. Now, this isn’t what you are thinking… this was not poured from a can. This is a much better version, but just as easy to make. In fact, I’m often asked how to make sloppy joes with ketchup and this is my super easy recipe.
Besides ground beef, you only need three ingredients to make this delicious Sloppy Joes recipe. How to make sloppy joes with ketchup:
- Mustard
- Ketchup
- Brown Sugar
Yep! That is it! Seriously… that is all you need to make a fast sloppy joes for your family. Oh my…. these are good. I even have one who doesn’t like traditional sloppy joes but he loves this recipe. 🙂
How to make Sloppy Joes with Ketchup:
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet. You can use ground turkey too!
- 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.
This Sloppy Joes is so easy to make and taste way better than sloppy joes in a can. How to make sloppy joes with ketchup and just two more ingredients.
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup mustard
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- hamburger buns
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Brown the ground beef in a skillet.
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Once browned, drain.
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Add in brown sugar, mustard, and ketchup. Stir to combine.
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Allow it to simmer on low for about 5 minutes to combine the flavors.
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Serve on buns and with your favorite sides.
3 ingredients, that is all you need to make a fast sloppy joes for your family. You are going to love this recipe!
Hey… are you following me on pinterest? Make sure you follow me so you don’t miss another money saving recipe. 
Sloppy Joes Freeze great too!
Make a double or triple batch and freeze the left overs. You can freeze them in a freezer bag. Then reheat in a crockpot or in a pan for an even faster dinner idea! We also like to freeze them in silicone cupcake pans, Then pop them out and place in a freezer bag. Now you can have a lunch or dinner for 1 in no time! This is such an easy dinner idea, but when you freeze them it makes it an even faster dinner idea.
Frugal Tip:
Did you know that you can mix ground turkey in with your ground beef? With my big family of 8, this is is a nice money saver. Ground turkey is about half the cost of ground beef, but when you mix it with ground beef the turkey actually takes on the flavor.
Your family won’t even notice and you will have just easily saved your family money. 🙂
Take traditional sloppy joes to the next level with this delicious and easy Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes recipe idea.
Here are some easy and delicious side dish ideas:
Cathleen Christ says
This is how I’ve been making my sloppy joes for years. Everyone loves it every time I make it. =)
Marcy says
My husband and I both agree this is the best sloppy joe recipe we have ever made! Yum!
Erica says
These were delicious, just like my mom used to make! My fiancé loved them! The only thing I added was a drizzle of honey bbq sauce.
Debbie says
made this tonight for dinner, was so easy. added chopped onion and green peppers to the ground beef. Much better then any can mix.
Janice says
Have made sloppy joes this way for over 50 years. This is the way my mom made it. Like any recipe, this can be altered and ingredients added. Try sauteing onions with ground beef. Green peppers are also good. But just making the basic recipe is what I use most of the time!
Wouldn’t let me rate this over three stars……..why is this
Larry says
It’s a great place to start. We decided at the last minute to leave out the sugar add chopped green onions that we needed to use. Worked out beautifully. Next time we’ll use a tiny bit of garlic instead of the onions.
Carolyn says
These were excellent!
Carrie says
I’m so glad you liked them. We love this easy recipe.
Carrie says
Thanks Janice – We have done sauted onions too and love it!
Stephanie says
This is a great recipe. I have been using this for years. My mother taught me this one while I was still in school. The only difference is a teaspoon of pickle relish for ours.
Carrie says
Oh that is a great idea! 🙂
jess says
Sved my butt today with this recipe and it was awesome 🙂
Carrie says
That is awesome Jess!
Sue says
Just wanted to make sure, yellow mustard right?
Carrie says
Yes yellow mustard Sue, but you could probably try any kind for a slightly different flavor. 🙂
Cindy says
What a great recipe. I had left over meat from taco night and this was a great, easy, fun recipe. Everything I already had in my Kitchen. Thumbs up.
Kathy says
made this for years but used tomato soup instead of ketchup
Mar says
Can you give me an idea of how many this recipe will serve?
Sherl says
I made this recipe tonight for dinner it was really easy my husband loves sloppy joe! But I’m not a big fan of a can or homemade. This recipe didn’t seem to make up a lot my husband liked it I did not but great recipes for quick dinner!
Tina says
Can you use ground turkey instead of ground beef
Cindy From Iowa says
This is my favorite recipe for Sloppy Joe’s!
Jessica says
does anyone know how many serving this recipe is, I’m tempting to make this tonight 🙂
Sharon says
We loved these! ? When my husband chooses not to eat potato chips with a “burger” because it would take away from the taste of the Sloppy Joe, I know I have found a WI NNER!!!! He also told me I had found a KEEPER with this recipe. The only changes I made was I I halved the recipe and sauted 1/4 c. diced, yellow onion and 1/4 c. diced green pepper before adding the ground beef to the skillet. I also sprinkled between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp. celery salt into the ground meat as it was browning. I just halved the amount of mustard and catsup. ????
Tigra says
My son is a picky eater so we started going through pinterest pictures bases on what i had shopped for or was in my freezer. I had ground beef so I left him look through the pictures for something he thought he would like to try/looked good. He picked this recipe. I made it tonight and he really liked it. He loves ketchup and smelled it right away. I’ll make this again and slowly add in more veggies like onions and bellpeppers and maybe even sneak in some shredded carrot while adding less and less sugar. I loved sloppy joes as a kid but as an adult the can stuff scares me. Thanks for the mom win and feelings of nostalgia.
Crystal says
Oh my gosh I am SOO incredibly glad I found this recipe tonight!! I was surfing Pinterest trying to figure out a simple, quick recipe to use for ground beef, after a long day at work, stumbled across this one, and decided to give it a try. And IT IS SOOO INSANELY GOOD!!! I made it exactly as it is in the recipe (other than adding a slice of cheese) and it was so easy, and so perfect, I know I will make this time and time again!!
Lauren says
Recipe was a real lifesaver thank you Carrie!
Wendy D says
I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for about two months, but my husband doesn’t like sloppy joes. I finally decided to make it for myself and he decided to try it. My two adjustments were that I added 1/4 cup diced onions to the browning meat (as I had them in the freezer from another recipe) and finely shredded cheese on top (also already had from another recipe). I opted for sweet Hawaiian slider rolls (not tiny, but about 2/3 the size of a regular bun at the grocery store). The combination was perfect, just a little extra sweetness and very soft to go with it. My husband LOVED it! Said it’s not like other sloppy joes he doesn’t like and, since I have buns, I’m making it again for lunch tomorrow. He’s happy about that, since he polished most of it off. Fabulous recipe and one of the easiest I’ve seen with ingredients most of us already have. My only side was dill pickle spears already in the fridge. Thanks, Carrie!
Teresa says
I add onion, garlic and a splash of vinegar and worchershire sauce to the ingredients you listed. My mom never bought the canned sloppy joes and neither do I.
Carrie says
Great ideas – Thank you!