Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

A Sloppy Joe recipe from way back when

I grew up on these and didn’t know there was a recipe for them. Then my mother told me that the recipe she used most often for these sandwiches was in the Mennonite Community Cookbook. It has a different name there: Barbecued Hamburger.

As most of us do, I’ve tweaked mine a little at times, and most of the time I just dump in and stir the ingredients. Once I found a recipe that suggested adding cooked rice to the mix. If you don’t add too much rice, your kids won’t be able to tell. It does help stretch the mix, but it also adds more starch.We have a neighbor who doesn’t care for rice. The first time I decided to try adding the rice, he and his wife stopped in and we invited them for supper. He told me these were the best Sloppy Joe sandwiches he had ever had. (We never told him about the rice!)

Sloppy Joes – or Call it anything you like

Once I was asked to babysit kids of friends of ours who were heading to the hospital to have a baby. I already had this stuff simmering on the stove when I got the call. This recipe is pretty kid-friendly – unless you have a child who doesn’t like Sloppy Joes. Yep. One of their girls didn’t like Sloppy Joes.

When the kids arrived and asked “What’s for supper?” I told them I was trying a new recipe (it was the truth; I was adding a few other seasonings to the mix). I told them we were having Sassy Sadie sandwiches. It worked that time. The gal who didn’t like Sloppy Joe sandwiches  gobbled those Sassy Sadie sandwiches right down. So now you can make this recipe and give it any name you like; I won’t mind.

If you have fried and drained hamburger in the freezer like it is suggested here, this recipe will be a cinch. If your hamburger is raw, just go ahead and fry up some hamburger and onions. Add ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and some salt and pepper. Then let it simmer, and you’ll be done.

What to do with leftover Sloppy Joe meat

If you have some leftovers, serve this mix later in the week. When there’s not enough to serve later but too much to throw away, you can use it with a baked potato bar or add it to some chili soup. I’ve also added it to spaghetti sauce or taco salad. That’s what I usually do (unless my hubby has  snarfed it up for a bedtime snack).

If you plan your menus by the week, you can make extra of this dish and use half of it later in the week on top of baked potatoes.

Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

www.mywindowsill.com

Easy to fix and serve as leftovers. You won't need to buy anything special; just use what you already have in your kitchen.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course sandwiches

Cuisine American

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

• 2 pounds hamburger
• 1 onion
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

 

• Dice onion, then fry with hamburger
• Drain
• Put hamburger mixture into kettle and stir until smooth.
• Add all other ingredients, then mix together
• Simmer about 20 minutes.
• Serve with hamburger buns