The Greatest No Ketchup Sloppy Joe Recipe

You won't believe how unbelievably fast, easy, and tasty this sloppy joe recipe is! My recipe is 100% from-scratch (no ketchup!) for the best sloppy joes you've ever had. Makes a great weeknight dinner!

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive oil
½ cup finely chopped yellow onion (about ½ a medium onion)
½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 lb ground beef (I like to use 90%)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder (or 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup tomato paste (4 oz/121g)
3-4 Tablespoons light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
½ cup chicken broth, beef broth, or water (118ml)
Burger buns, for serving

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Instructions
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
00:33 Add onion and pepper and cook until softened.
00:53 Add ground beef and cook until browned, crumbling as you cook. Drain off excess grease if needed.
01:17 Add spices (smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder (or mustard), salt and pepper) and stir into the beef.
01:43 Add tomato paste, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and worcestershire and stir until well-combined.
02:34 Drizzle in broth or water.
02:48 Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
03:08 Serve warm on buns.

Notes
Beef
You may substitute ground chicken or ground turkey for the ground beef.

Sugar
This may seem like a lot of sugar, but keep in mind most sloppy joe recipes add ketchup, which contains quite a bit of sugar, in addition to also typically adding more sugar on top of that. I typically use all 4 tablespoons called for, but you can start with just 3 Tablespoons and then taste-test after step 6 and add the last tablespoon if desired.

Broth/water
Beef broth will yield the richest flavor, chicken stock works well, and water is my least favorite (least flavor) but will absolutely work and yield tasty results if you have neither beef or chicken broth.

[christinedewitt]

Oh thank you for sharing this recipe!! This is how my mom made sloppy Joe's and I love the vinegar recipe the best with everything you also mentioned. It really needs that sweetness too. Tangy and sweet ❤ Mmmm so good and much better than all the rest of the recipes out there by far.❤😊

[JillDeberville]

I usually have dinner ready when my husband comes home, but not tonight. I am laid up with a lower spine issue and from my bed I relayed your ingredients & Instructions to my hubby and it came out very good! Of course being a Vermonter he had to add freshly grated cheddah... Thank you for a wonderful recipe. There hasn't been one of your recipies we haven't liked!

[Holmer]

I made this tonight, it turned out wonderful. So much better than the canned kind. Thanks for sharing.

[melodynakamura]

I am so going to make this soon. I have been looking for a sloppy joe recipe that does not use ketchup and this is perfect. I have some dark brown sugar that needs to be used. I love your recipes. Thank you for all of your hard work in putting these videos together for your YouTube family. Happy thanksgiving.

[raleighfan]

We had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Thank you for the recipe and video!

[melodynakamura]

I am making this again and it is such a big hit. We have our annual Harvest Festival on Friday and this is dinner for Wednesday night set-up for all the workers. I love, love, love this recipe and the best part is absolutely no ketchup. I love all things tomato except ketchup so this is the bomb and the flavor is as we say in Hawaii broke da mouth ono.

[ElizabethGamboa-rj]

Just tried this recipe and it was delicious!! Thank you

[kathy]

Trying this recipe! I love Sloppy Joes and these look great! Thank you 😊

[SavoryExperimentsCooking]

What a great, easy weeknight meal -- yum!

[DerekSpeareDSD]

I love Sloppy Joes! I used to have them when I was a kid in the early 70's. I think I will make your recipe for my grand kiddos this weekend!

[johnwall]

Sam, this is almost exactly the way I do it but use Black strap molasses into the ACV and then add it to the skillet, yum! Love this on a good sourdough bun too..

[lucindasutt]

That's about the recipe I have been looking for.. I will try this one, see how it taste. Thanks😊

[o_LL_o]

Finally just made this. Don't know what took me so long. Delish!!! As always.

[donnad]

I made this last night and wow, it's delicious! The best sloppy joe's we've had.

[marymcdonald]

Great idea for the ice cream scoop! Thanks - I'll try this recipe.

[GuildofThunder]

Ma'am, excellently done! If I may - the generally accepted correct pronunciation of Worcestershire (Sauce) is: "War-CHES'TER-shire" sauce. As it is named after the town where it was, accidentally created, by John Wheely Lea and William Henry Perrins; two pharmacists that attempted to recreate a flavorful sauce from India based on the description of a nobleman that had traveled there. They tasted the sauce they made, and decided that it was not good at all, and stored it in their cellar - only to discover it years later and now we have the condiment we all know and love. I must admit, however, that my favorite (incorrect) pronunciation comes from Chef Jean-Pierre (here on YouTube): "Woo-stah-SHEER".

Still, a WONDERFUL job, ma'am.

[angiemeyer]

Thats looks delicious Sam, have a blessed day in Jesus name!

[DustinDeweerd]

2 reasons you are awesome.
1. You put the recipe in the description.
2. You use 90%.

[nikolinasimic]

I have some leftover dry red wine, could that be used instead of the beef broth?

[Javaman]

Hi Sam. I hope all is well with you. I want to tell you that I appreciate that you respond to me. It means a lot. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I can attest that this is a good recipe. I'm sending well wishes your way today. 💙