Sloppy Joe Bowls
Published 1/12/2025
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What’s better than sloppy joes? Sloppy Joe Bowls! These bowls have all the mouthwatering flavors of a classic sloppy joe sammie packed in one nutritious bowl with 29g of protein per serving. Yah welcome.
We love bowl recipes, and it’s honestly how we eat most of our meals as busy moms and business owners. They’re absolutely great for meal prep because you can prepare the elements ahead of time, and then when those busy weeknight dinners come around, all you need to do is assemble and enjoy! These sloppy joe bowls are just that — we hope you love these as much as we do 🥰
Components of our Sloppy Joe Bowls
- Sloppy joe meat: our ground beef sloppy joes use a homemade sauce. Why? It’s more flavorful, and uses simple ingredients like tomato sauce, dijon mustard, worcestershire and brown sugar (aka pantry staples most of our kitchens already have on-hand).
- Roasted sweet potatoes: we like to cube our sweet taters and roast them while prepping the rest of the bowl ingredients.
- Cabbage slaw: a simple cabbage and red onion slaw tossed in a vinegar dressing adds the perfect tang and crunch to these sloppy joe bowls.
- Sliced pickles: growing up in the midwest, we ALWAYS served our sloppy joes with either a pickle spear or sliced pickles.
here’s a tip!
Make sure to let the meat simmer for at least 10 minutes in the sauce. This will allow all the flavors to combine and create a deliciously bold taste.
Can I use another kind of ground meat for sloppy joe’s?
Sure! Ground turkey, chicken, or a plant-based ground can also be substituted for ground beef in this recipe. Just keep in mind that depending on the fat content of the meat you choose, it may produce less oil / liquid than ground beef.
Other Sides to Include in Sloppy Joe Bowls
We paired our sloppy joe meat with sweet potatoes and pickled cabbage and onions. But there are many other delicious options you can serve with this dish. Here are a few of our favorite ideas:
Cornbread: Serve your sloppy joe bowls with a side of warm and buttery cornbread for a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors.
Coleslaw: The creamy texture and tangy dressing in coleslaw pair so well with the bold flavors of sloppy joes if you’re looking for something a little more jazzed up than the simple slaw this recipe calls for.
Baked Beans: Baked beans complement the tangy and savory flavors of sloppy joe meat.
Mac and Cheese: Who doesn’t love a good mac and cheese? Serve this classic comfort food alongside your sloppy joe bowls for a delicious and filling meal. Our toddlers absolutely LOVE this combination 😋
Storage Suggestions
If you have leftovers, store the components separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days — this is also a great way to store this recipe if you’ve made it for meal prep. When ready to eat, simply reheat the meat and sweet potatoes in the microwave or on the stove, assemble the bowls and enjoy.
Sloppy Joe Bowls Recipe
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ white onion, finely grated (~¼ cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¾ cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Other Ingredients
- 6 cups shredded green cabbage
- ½ red onion, sliced
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sea salt, separated
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup sliced pickles
- 2 lbs. ground beef, we used 90/10
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium/high heat.
- Add the grated onion to the olive oil along with ½ teaspoon of salt and the chili powder. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and saute for another 1-2 minutes.
- Then, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, mustard, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium/high heat. Turn to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes and remove from the heat.
- Prepare the salad. Add the cabbage and red onion to a large salad bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and sugar. Toss until coated. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Spread the sweet potatoes out on a baking sheet. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt. Massage the salt into the sweet potatoes.
- Roast the sweet potatoes for 25-30 minutes in the oven or until fork tender.
- While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the meat.
- Heat a large medium/large skillet. Add the beef and cook until browned, 5-7 minutes. Strain the grease and return the meat to the pan. Pour the sloppy joe sauce over the meat and stir to combine heat over medium heat until it reaches the desired temperature. Remove from the heat.
- Assemble the bowls. Evenly distribute the sloppy joe meat to 4-6 bowls, along with the cabbage slaw, sweet potatoes, and sliced pickles.
- Enjoy immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
