Many years ago a friend gave me this recipe for homemade sloppy joes. Prior to this recipe we did not make sloppy joes, if at all. Once again, I make this with ground turkey instead of ground beef.
I’m not sure how much healthier it is than something like Manwich because it uses a cup of ketchup but here goes anyway.
Brown one pound of ground meat with either a small onion, diced or 2 teaspoons onion powder. At this point I add the salt and fresh pepper without measuring it but the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Drain whatever fat you may have. I use ground turkey and there is seldom enough fat to mess with draining it.
Next you’ll need vinegar, sugar or honey, mustard, worchestershire sauce, ketchup, and water.
Here’s where I make some recipe alterations. 
I do not like tart or sour things. Vinegar and I are not best friends. So I only add 1/2 tablespoon (which is 1 1/2 teaspoons) of the 2 tablespoons of vinegar that the recipe calls for. Sometimes I don’t add the full 2 tablespoons of sugar it calls for either because of the sugar content in the ketchup. I recommend starting with half the sugar or honey called for and taste it to see if it needs more.
Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes if you can wait that long.
I use an ice cream scoop to portion it out onto the regular size buns. Sometimes I use a heaping scoopful.
Put on the top and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground meat
- 1 small onion or 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons vinegar (I used 1/2 tablespoon = 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 2 Tablespoons sugar or honey
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons worchestershire sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Saute onion, when translucent add ground meat and brown OR add onion powder to ground meat and brown.
- Drain fat.
- Add other ingredients, stir thoroughly.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Serve on buns.
Until next time, God bless
Michele ºÜº