The last time I ate (or should I say tried to eat) a Sloppy Joe was on the way back from hiking in the Olympic Mountains for Helena’s birthday a few weeks ago. We were driving through a part of Washington where the restaurant choices were limited and ended up stopping at one of the only restaurant options for the next 2 hours. The Yelp reviews were bad but we remained positive the food could still be good. Once my Sloppy Joe (I think it was a Sloppy Tom there) arrived, I was pretty certain they had accidentally served me Sumo’s dog food over a bun. I only ate the fries and have longed for a good Sloppy Joe since that day.
Growing up in the South, I am always in the mood for any kind of comfort food. Ryan was leaving me for a bachelor party in Vegas for the weekend, so I decided to cook one more meal before he left. Ryan gets tired of my vegetables and lack of meat in meals so I felt this was a perfect send off meal for him. Sloppy Joes served with mac & cheese (simple truth organic white cheddar).
SLOPPY JOES (recipe adapted from the Neelys)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 vidalia onion, chopped
- 2 garlic gloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 8 oz tomato sauce (used simple truth organic)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste (used simple truth organic)
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (used a Local BBQ sauce called Biff’s Blue Ribbon)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (used Texas Pete)
- 2 tablespoon ketchup (used simple truth organic)
- Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the bell peppers and garlic. Saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the ground beef to the vegetables. Stir and cook about 8 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink and fully cooked.
3. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire, and hot sauce into the skillet. Stir. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve on hamburger bun with extra sauce.
The Neelys recipe called for 2 lbs of meat but I liked using only 1 lb of meat and the Sloppy Joes were more saucy. Next time, I plan to experiment with different BBQ sauces to see how the flavor changes.
