Easy Homemade Sloppy Joes (Plus Homemade Buns!)
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This easy homemade sloppy joe recipe is a hit at family gatherings. Even the picky eaters enjoy it. I make it for Christmas Eve every year. It uses common ingredients from the fridge and pantry – no high fructose corn syrup required.
The flavor improves the next day, so it’s a great recipe to make a day ahead and reheat in a crock pot. It also freezes and freeze dries well. Try some of Betty’s No Can Dill Pickles on the side for an extra treat.
Sloppy Joes are a Classic
Our homemade sloppy joes are adapted from the Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book from 1961. (I love this cook book. They use lard.) They call it “barbeque hamburger mix”. The recipe calls for four pounds of ground beef and makes 30-40 sandwiches.
Sometimes I make a whole batch, sometimes I cut it in half. If you prefer, you can substitute ground turkey or ground venison for the ground beef. We use homemade ketchup or non-HFCS ketchup.
This is a good recipe to introduce kids to cooking. My boys have been making it by themselves since they were around 10 and 8. One would brown the beef and chop the veggies while the other measured the rest of the ingredients.
PrintEasy Homemade Sloppy Joe Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 30–40 sandwiches 1x
- Category: sandwich
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 pounds ground beef
- 14 oz ketchup
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Lawry’s Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
Saute onion in butter. Add ground beef; brown lightly. Drain off excess fat, if needed. Add rest of ingredients and simmer covered 30 minutes. Use to fill 30 to 40 hamburger buns.
Homemade Buns Make Sloppy Joes Better!
If you want, you can pair your sloppy joe meat with store bought buns, but if you have a little extra time, I highly recommend homemade. I usually start the buns in the early afternoon and they’re done by supper time.
Visit the article “Easy Bread Recipe” for a step by step video showing how to make and shape buns and bread. Or scroll down the page to get the printable recipe without the video.
With the bread machine or mixer I can multi-task more easily, but it’s not that much more work to do it by hand if needed.
A single batch of the bun dough will fit in most bread machines, so you can use the “dough” cycle for mixing. I normally use my Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine and mix up a double batch at one time. That way I have enough dough to make two loaves of bread plus one dozen medium sized hamburger buns, or 30-40 smaller buns.
If you want to get fancy, you can team up your homemade sloppy joe meat with the homemade pretzel buns featured in my book, Never Buy Bread Again. Those will take a bit longer to prepare, but are sure to wow your guests.
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Easy Hamburger Buns
Easy “no fail” recipe for homemade hamburger buns.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 15 buns 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 egg plus enough warm water to equal 1 1/3 cups
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast/bread machine yeast or 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in mixer or bread machine and mix for 6-8 minutes, until ingredients are well mixed and gluten has had a chance to develop.
- If mixing by hand, blend all ingredients except flour. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. (You may need to adjust the amount of flour based on humidity conditions.) When dough is stiff enough to mix by hand, dump onto a well-floured counter and knead for 5-10 minutes. Continue as below.
- Cover and let rise for 20 minutes. Punch down dough, let rise until double in size.
- Divide dough into desired number of buns and loaves and shape accordingly. Remember, the bread will rise again and double in size, so small buns will get much larger.
- Cover with a clean dish cloth and place in a warm location until buns double in size. Preheat oven to 375 °F while buns are rising.
- Bake buns around 15 minutes at 375 °F, until lightly browned.
- Cool on wire rack before slicing.
Notes
If using active dry yeast, add the yeast to the warm water and allow it to warm and dissolve following directions on yeast package before adding the rest of the ingredients.
To freeze the buns. Make sure they have cooled completely, otherwise you’ll have condensation and soggy buns when they thaw. (No one likes soggy buns.) Place the cooled buns into a gallon zipper bag, and remove as much air as possible. Label with date and contents. Use within a month for best quality.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
The right tools make cooking and baking a little easier. I like to prep our sloppy joes in a heavy bottomed stock pot. We always make sure to keep our knives sharp for chopping veggies, and use wooden cutting boards. You can prep directly in a slow cooker if you prefer, but I like the flavor that’s added by browning the onions before you brown the beef.
When making the buns, I suggest either a large bowl and a sturdy wooden spoon to mix by hand, or a solidly built mixer like the KitchenAid or Bosch Universal Stand Mixer.
I like stainless steel baking sheets, and line them with reusable parchment paper as needed. The reusable parchment paper works so much better than silicone baking mats. It doesn’t get stinky and tacky like silicone.
My preferred cooling rack is a 16×20 inch with a grid pattern, because it’s large enough to hold a double batch of buns for sloppy joes, but the grid pattern keeps small cookies and such from falling through.
More Homemade Bread Recipes and Baking Tips
I hope you and your family enjoy this sloppy joe recipe as much as we do. Don’t forget to check out the other posts in the Bread Recipes Roundup. We also have over 100 recipes, sorted by category, on the Common Sense Recipes and Kitchen Tips page.
If you’ve struggled with bread baking in the past, be sure to check out “Troubleshooting Tips to Help You Make the Perfect Loaf of Bread“.
I also have a book out featuring over 20 bread recipes, including quick breads, plus tips for par-baking and freezing, high altitude adjustments and more. You can read all about it at “Never Buy Bread Again – The Bread Book for Beginning Bakers“.
Originally published in 2011, last updated in 2019.
Can you make this bread using a bread machine. I currently use a 2-lb Cuisinart Bread machine. Also, do you have any bread recipes that DON’T use eggs or bread flour. I make my own bread because my daughter is unable to tolerate the store bought breads with all the preservatives in them. The gluten free recipes will be a TREMENDOUS help since my sister just found out that my eleven year old niece is lactose AND gluten-free intolerant. Thanks for the help.
You don’t have to use bread flour in the recipes with gluten, it just gives better results. Yes, a single recipe of this can be made in the bread machine on something like a “basic” setting.
Other recipes on the site without eggs include rye bread – https://commonsensehome.com/bettys-buttermilk-rye-bread/
Sourdough bread – https://commonsensehome.com/super-sourdough/
Potato bread – https://commonsensehome.com/leftover-mashed-potatoes-make-potato-bread/
and French Bread (which can also be used to make bread bowls for soup) – https://commonsensehome.com/cheese-soup-in-homemade-bread-bowls/
Hi. I tried to make the bread today, but my dough didn’t rise like yours. Any advice for the next time I try this?
What sort of yeast did you use? Was it fresh? Is it cold in your kitchen? Bread needs warm temps to rise. if it’s cold in the house, I’ll preheat the oven and move the bread next to it to rise. My mom used to fill a very large bowl or sink with hot water and place her proofing bowl inside of it.
Little late but I had the same issue with the dough not rising. I tried your mother’s tactic of placing the bowl in the sink with hot water and my dough doubled in size really quickly. Hope this helps someone else!
Thanks, Giana. Warmth is needed for happy yeast. 🙂
Hot tap water (whatever the recipe call for) and mix the yeast and the sugar in, let it start to work, then pour it into the rest. If you don’t see it working, your yeast is no good.
Made bread and rolls for the first time today using this recipe. Lets just say YUMMY!!
Thumbs up!
I just made this bread (or attempted to) and it’s not rising. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I’m using bread machine yeast and I used 1 1/2 tsp. Should I have used 2 tsp? And also, should I have used warm water?
Yes, warm water is better, especially in cold weather. I just added that to the post. Do you have somewhere warm you can place the dough?
What is the dough suppose to feel like? Sticky? Mine feels not so sticky and is heavy after the kneading part.
The dough should be a little bit tacky and quite elastic after kneading. If yours bakes up too dry, try using less flour next time around. Flour amounts will vary due to different moisture levels in the flour and how tightly it is packed.
Hi! What could I sub for butter without greatly compromising taste or texture? My newest baby has proven to be highly sensitive to dairy. 🙁
Coconut oil, lard, organic palm shortening, rendered poultry fat – I use all of those for cooking.
I just want to thank you for this recipe. We make it all.the.time. I made the rolls 2 days in a row this week. It is a favorite in this family! Thank you!
You’re welcome.
Was hoping this was a wheat free recipe for the buns. Such a bummer. Wonder what healthy seasoning can replace the Lowry’s? I don’t use that.
There are links to several gluten free recipes in the Bread Recipe Roundup post.
Spike seasoning it is really good.
@ Laurie you can buy a large 3 ring binder and sheet protectors and put individual pages in those in the binder and it will also keep pages clean when using.
Carrie – I’ve got three of those going. 🙂
Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know. I grew up making baked goods with my mom, but when I was a new bride (oh my – nearly 17 years ago now!), I had a hard time getting them as good as I remember my mom's tasting. Between the grain mill and the bread machine (and now my Bosch), it is so much easier!
Okay, So I tried the bun recipe this evening and they came out great!! Thanks so much for sharing. Now I have a go to bun recipe that is quick and easy. I just placed all my ingredients in my sunbeam breadmaker on dough and shaped it when it was done and let it rise again with a damp cloth before putting it into the oven. I use to be so intimidated by bread till I got my wondermill.
Good luck! I hope it turns out well.
I think I know what's for dinner tonight!
Allison – wonderful that your boys cook regularly! My guys are still a "work in progress", although I do get them cooking more in the summer when I'm working in the garden. I'll send the oldest in to start supper while I'm finishing chores with the younger one.
Jo – yes, chances are he will likely eat some junk, but since he was raised eating real food he probably won't like the taste. I know the boys prefer "home food" options compared to "store food".
The buns look good. My daughter likes to cook but my boys don't show much interest. With that said, I'm teaching my 17 year old teenager to do some cooking since he is almost ready to go to college. I don't want him to find excuses to buy junk, sigh, he probably will buy some anyway but at least I feel better knowing I taught him about food and nutrition..
Thanks for helping me plan my menu this week. I usually look for ideas on Sunday nights, but was too tired, so with all of the Easter leftovers, I'm good for a couple of days 🙂
My boys (17,15,11) take turns with meals, so I get at least a couple of nights "off". The kitchen is fun when they cook together!
Any of you know how to repair the binding on an old book? I tried once to repair my copy of the Betty Crocker cook book, but the cover is falling apart again. It's well loved. 🙂
Cyn – I decided to get the Bosch after burning out my third bread machine. It's pricey, but it handles the whole wheat breads and sourdoughs MUCH better than my old machines. (It's still functioning.)
Brigid – I should have known you would have that cook book. Lots of old fashioned comfort food.
I used rubber cement it was pliable so it made it easy to paint on the glue and get to the pages without a wet mess hope it works for you I have one old cook book from 1800’s I read cook books like people read fictional novels lol.best of luck!
It’s been a while since I did scrapbooking, but doesn’t rubber cement have acid that damages the paper, or have they changed the formula?
Mine is held together with duct tape. Not classy looking but works.
I did scann and made a DVD from my old cookbook
That looks wonderful! Especially with the homemade rolls. I have that cookbook, it was a favorite of my Mom's as well. Swiss Steak that was in there, was always our family favorite.
I.MUST.GET.A.BOSCH.
I have been wanting one of these for a long while…wish they weren't so dang costly!
I think my bun recipe is very similar..so good!
Sloppy joes sound real nice for dinner this week…something that doesn't take too much effort after the holiday!
Sometimes Bosch has sales on their mixer and attachments around the holidays. (That’s when I bought mine.) Once you get one, you just add accessories. It’s a great mixer! It’s October…hang on until December!
That is totally a Bosch. I have one my mother in law used for 30 years and it still runs like new.
I just made up another double batch today. 🙂
I’m going to try this! 🙂 How much will one batch make? One loaf or two?
A single batch makes one large loaf or two medium loaves.
can you use kitchen aid? if so and you do step 1 do you skip step 2 or what? sorry if this sounds stupid
I’m not sure I understand the question. If you have a heavy duty mixer, you can put everything in and let it mix.
If you prefer, it won’t hurt anything to mix together everything but the flour, and then mix in the flour one cup at a time, followed by an additional 6-8 minutes of mixing after all the flour has been added.
Either way will work.
That's the cookbook that taught me how to cook! I worked my way through it when I was first married. I still refer to it for several favorite recipes like baked custard or cornbread. Love it 🙂