Classic Sloppy Joes Recipe - An Old-Fashioned Ground Beef Dish (2024)

March 29, 2017April 28, 2023

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Classic Sloppy Joes is a homemade sloppy joe recipe that is easy to make and tastes amazing.

These sloppy joes are made with just a few simple ingredients and can be served as a sandwich or used as a topping on a baked potato or sweet potato.

Sloppy Joes from Scratch

Sloppy joes are one of those dishes that almost everyone grew up eating and this recipe harkens back to those messy sandwiches of your childhood.

The recipe for these Classic Sloppy Joes is originally from Darene Gutschenritter published in the Pot O’Gold Cookbookcompiled by the St. Patrick Altar Society of Imogen, Iowa. Check out the bottom of this post for more recipes from this great cookbook.

1950s Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe sandwiches are truly a throwback recipe from the 1950s (maybe earlier). Ask almost anyone and we bet their mother served sloppy joes as an easy weeknight meal. Many may refer to these as “Manwich” sandwiches because their mom added a can of the classic sloppy joe sauce to a pound of ground beef and magically dinner was ready!

No need to go for the canned sauce since this recipe uses many ingredients that you probably already have in the house.

Classic Sloppy Joes

When Barbara can’t come up with any other dinner ideas, her fall back dish is Sloppy Joes. Why? Because her family always eats them and never complains. That’s a win in any mom’s book. And these ingredients are always on hand. Simple ingredients = Happy Mom.

Her husband eats his as a sandwich. Barbara says, “Do yourself a favor and butter and toast the bun. This keeps the sandwich from getting soggy.”

While he prefers a traditional sandwich, Barbara prefers to eat hers as an open faced sandwich with a fork. This keeps the meat to bun ratio higher.

What do you do with leftover Sloppy joes?

If by chance you somehow have leftover sloppy joes, then switch it up for a whole new meal. Try serving it over baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes, mixed with shredded cheese in a quesadilla, or make tasty Sloppy Joe Cups out of refrigerated biscuits. We sometimes mix it with Velveeta for a yummy new spin on queso dip to eat with tortilla chips.

How do you make sloppy joes thicker?

If your sloppy joe sauce is too thin, continue to simmer until the sauce thickens. On the flip side, if you want a saucier sloppy joe sauce, add a little bit of water to thin it out, approximately 1/4 cup at a time.

Vintage Sloppy Joes Recipe Ingredients:

• Lean Ground Beef
• Diced Onions
• Chopped Celery
• Ketchup
• Water
• White Vinegar
• Lemon Juice
• Dry Mustard
• Brown Sugar
• Salt and Pepper

How to Make Classic Sloppy Joes

Step By Step Instructions

1. Brown ground beef with onion and celery over medium heat.
2. Drain excess grease, if needed.
3. Add ground beef back to skillet.
4. Combine ketchup, white vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, dry mustard, water, salt and pepper.
5. Add ketchup mixture to ground beef; stir and cook for 20-25 minutes on low heat until sauce thickens.
6. Serve meat mixture on hamburger buns, over bread, or over a baked potato.

Storage Instructions

Let leftovers cool. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Full recipe and ingredient list for old fashioned sloppy joe recipe can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Recipe FAQs

• Substitute ground turkey for ground beef, if desired.
• Drain excess grease from ground beef, if needed.
• Bottled lemon juice works just fine in this old fashioned sloppy joe recipe.
• Regular yellow mustard is an easy substitute for dry mustard, if needed.
• For a cheesy spin, add a slice of your favorite cheese and under the broiled until melted.
• Serve on a toasted bun to keep your bread from getting soggy. To toast a bun, butter both cut sides, and broil on low until lightly browned. Do not walk away or it will burn quickly.
• Check out our Amazon store for our favorite kitchen and pantry essentials.

What do you serve with sloppy joes?

We’ve got a whole assortment of perfect side dishes.

• Creamed Peas
• Buttermilk Mac and Cheese
• Potato Salad (made with leftover mashed potatoes)
• Cheesy Potatoes (with Bacon)
• Mom’s Cucumbers and Onions
• Creamed Cheesy Corn
• Sweet and Simple Coleslaw

Old Fashioned Sloppy Joe Recipes

We love Sloppy Joes over here at These Old Cookbooks! Check out some other versions, including Italian Joes from The Farmwife Feeds.

Easy Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe Cups

French Onion Joes

Frisco Melt Sloppy Joes

Stroganoff Loose Meat Sandwiches

Ground Beef Stromboli on Hoagie Buns

Ground Beef BBQ

Want to try other recipes from thePot O’ Gold Cookbook?

Here’s our Great-Aunt Gertie’s Classic Orange Julius.

Some of our other favoritePot O’ Gold recipes are Crock Pot Ground Beef Acapulco Enchiladas, Instant Pot Buttery Chicken,Crock Pot Baked Beans with Pineapple, Campfire Potatoes, and Ranch Cauliflower Salad.