Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes are homestyle sandwiches, ground beef in a tangy, sweet sauce. Onions and green peppers add flavor and texture. I like to sauté the vegetables in bacon grease for some smoky flavor. Layers of tomato -- paste, sauce, diced, plus ketchup -- make up the sauce. Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and red wine vinegar amp up the savory and sweet-tart flavors. Piled onto hamburger buns, it's a hearty meal that feeds a crowd. Potato chips are the traditional pairing, because crunch!
EQUIPMENT
- 1 large saute pan or dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef 15% fat
- 1.5 Tablespoons bacon grease
- 1 large onion diced, about 2 cups
- 1 green bell pepper diced, about 1.5 cups
- 4 garlic cloves finely minced
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1.5 teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 14.5-oz can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- hamburger buns for serving
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large saute pan or dutch-oven over medium heat until cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer cooked ground beef to a clean plate, draining off some of the grease. Discard the grease (from ground beef) that remains in the pan.
- Add bacon grease to the pan along with onion and bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until vegetables are soft, stirring frequently. Stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute, stirring well. Transfer the cooked ground beef back into the pan with the vegetables. Add the brown sugar, salt, chili powder, paprika, oregano, and black pepper to the pan, stir well.
- Add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine vinegar. Stir well and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until sauce is reduced to a thick consistency. Taste and add more salt and brown sugar if desired. Serve on hamburger buns.
Notes
- I use inexpensive ground beef (more fat, less lean) and therefore take the browned beef out of the pan to drain some of the grease. Without this extra step, the Sloppy Joes would be too greasy. Still, there's still plenty of fat (and therefore beef flavor) that remains on the browned beef which along with the addition of bacon grease makes for a rich sandwich.
- Bacon grease adds smoky flavor. But if you prefer, you can skip it. One alternative is to leave about 1.5 Tbsp beef fat in the pan after removing the cooked ground beef. Another option would be to use olive oil in place of bacon grease to sauté the vegetables. With either option, you could use smoked paprika for a hint of smoky flavor.