Classic Sloppy Joes recipe made in the Instant Pot. Ground beef and vegetables in a tangy-sweet tomato sauce. Serve on toasted hamburger buns.
I wish I could tell you some lovely story about how when I was a kid my mom made Sloppy Joe’s and, blah blah blah, they were a cherished part of my childhood.
This isn’t that story. I grew up eating things like vegetarian chili and, of course, mac and cheese.
I can’t even tell you a story about how I make my kids Sloppy Joe’s because…I don’t have kids. But I do have readers who request recipes. A few weeks ago, I got one that simply said, “How do I make Sloppy Joe’s in the Instant Pot?” Brevity. I love it.
My answer: Um… let me get back to you on that.
Turns out, I had a lot to learn about Sloppy Joes. If you’ve eaten them, you already know that the traditional base for a Sloppy Joe is ground beef cooked in a sweet tomato sauce with some chopped vegetables thrown in for good measure. I say “traditional” because there’s countless variations on Sloppy Joes. Some use ground turkey. Some are vegan. Basically there’s a sloppy joe for everyone.
One thread holds most of the recipes together: they start with a Sloppy Joe base, either a can of sauce or one of those dry packets of seasoning.
If you want to use those ingredients, there’s really no need to make Sloppy Joes in the Instant Pot. Just follow the directions on the can or packet.
But I’d argue that you sacrifice a flavorful sauce for the sake of convenience. Thanks to the Instant Pot, you can have both. You get a deeply flavorful sauce in about 20 minutes, instead of simmering for an hour.
First, sauté the vegetables in the Instant Pot until they just soften. It might look like too many vegetables for Sloppy Joes at first. I promise it isn’t. To make quick work of this step, cut your vegetables the night before you plan on making Sloppy Joes. I swear, 99% of the work for this recipe comes from chopping!.
Once the vegetables are a little soft, add the ground beef. To make your life easier, use an extra lean ground beef–about 93% lean works great. If the ground beef contains too much fat, you’ll need to skim the fat. This isn’t impossible but straining fat an Instant Pot is a bit of a pain in the you-know-what.
Cook the ground beef until no large pieces remain. To do this, break up the ground beef with a wooden spoon, or one of those nifty meat breaker-up thingys. Cook the meat until it’s no longer pink. Usually this is a food safety issue. Not this time. When the meat goes under pressure, it will cook to the right temperature. (At least in this recipe. Always use good food safety practices.) The reason you want to cook the meat until it’s no longer pink is because if it’s still pink and not broken up enough, the chunks of ground beef in your Sloppy Joes will be too large.
Now it’s time for the sauce. Some recipes use all ketchup. Others only canned tomatoes. I found I liked something in the middle.
I use about half ketchup and half tomato sauce. (Not spaghetti sauce. You want to use a canned tomato sauce for this recipe. Regular spaghetti sauce has too strong of a flavor.) Then I add a little brown sugar, vinegar, and some chili powder. That’s it. This combination makes for a sweet sauce that’s not too sweet. It’s kind of like barbecue sauce without the smoke.
Then cover the pot and bring to pressure. After the cook time completes, allow the pot to cool for five minutes before releasing pressure. Spoon onto buns–I like to toast mine before serving–and you’re done.
Even though I’m new to Sloppy Joes, I see a lot of potential here. I’m going to play with different versions of this, some with more vegetables, maybe one with beans. I’ll keep you posted!
Instant Pot Sloppy Joes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil I used canola oil
- 1 small yellow onion finely diced
- 2 celery stalks finely diced
- 1 small green bell pepper diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced or put through a garlic press
- 1 ½ pounds lean (93%) ground beef
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, optional for thickening
- 2 tablespoons warm water, optional for thickening
- 6 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted
Instructions
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Select the sauté setting and adjust it to high (more). Add the oil to the pot. When it shimmers, add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
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Lock the lid into place and turn the valve to “sealing.” Select pressure cook (manual) and program for 10 minutes at high pressure. When the cook cycle completes, allow the pressure cooker to cool without venting steam for 5 minutes. It's fine if the keep warm setting turns on. After 5 minutes, turn the pressure release valve to “venting” to manually release the steam. When the pressure valve drops, carefully remove the lid. (Always remove the lid away from your face.)
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Stir the Sloppy Joe mixture. You can serve as is or you can thicken the sauce. To thicken, stir together the cornstarch and warm water in a small bowl until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture to the beef mixture. Set the pot to “sauté” (You might have to turn off your pressure cooker and turn it back on to do this.) Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, about 2 minutes. Taste. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
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Spoon Sloppy Joe mixture on the bottom halves of the buns. Cover with the bun tops and serve immediately.
Jackie Henkemeyer says
Sloppy Joes sound great
Violet Nordby says
I just buy a can of the bourbon manwitch. Really good
KitchWitch says
👎
Carmen says
Made this several times with ground turkey.. so delicious every time with or without buns! Thanks!!
Elizabeth says
Woot! Glad to hear!
macks says
Yummy.made jan 20 2018
macks smith says
Yummy made jan 20 2019
Gayle says
I also like to put it over rice or mashed potato.
Rochelle says
Those were really good sloppy joes! My family loves them topped w/coleslaw but was delicious w/o also. Thanks!
Nona says
I have made this several times. It is super flavorful. Great dish????????
Tina says
Yum, made this several times. Absolutely delicious. Serve with coleslaw on your bun and extra yummy and sloppy.
Hotm says
The recipe is really good! I did notice after I took the lid off that it was still very wet! I put it back onto saute and continued to stir it frequently until the juice cooked down to a nice thick consistency. I will make this again!
Elizabeth says
Perfect way to thicken it! Glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Michelle McAfee says
Today was my 2nd time making it. Since it turned out so GREAT the 1st time, I tried it again, but with a variation. Because of the likely upcoming beef shortage during COVID-19, I used 1 lb of ground beef and 1/2 lb of ground turkey. It was delicious! I can’t say which one was better. They were each uniquely delectable. This recipe is also versatile. Serve wrapped in a leaf of butter lettuce, on nachos, in a burrito, over rice. Delicious!
Ashley says
I realize this recipe was posted a few years ago—but I just had to comment how good it is. I used ground turkey but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. I did use the thickening option. We never had sloppy joes growing up either, but my husband did and requested a sloppy joe night which is why I went looking for this recipe. Definitely going in my regular rotation!
Sandie R says
This was delicious. I didnt measure the ingredients, just kinda went with what “looked about right” I added chopped carrots to the celery and onions. One of our new favorites
Sandie R says
This was delicious. I didnt measure the ingredients, just kinda went with what “looked about right” I added chopped carrots to the celery and onions. One of our new favorites
Chris K says
I also had sloppy joes growing up and I also make it now for my husband and daughter. Since I have been married I have made it in the crock-pot. I am going to try the Instant Pot method today and see the the result is. Sounds like a new way to make my sloppy joes. As a funny side note, when I was a little girl, my nick name for my paternal Grandpa was Sloppy Joe.
me says
So… Step one is wrong in the first sentence lol. You left out the step of putting oil into the pot. That’s what shimmers in the next sentence.
Elizabeth says
You’re correct. I fixed the typo. Since you didn’t leave an email address, you won’t see this comment. But thanks for the catch!
Allison M says
These were a hit! My newest #momhack is to serve them on hot dog buns, so much easier for the kids! I did use the corn starch so they’d thicken up a bit, but the flavor was just right. I am NOT a manwich girl.. ha ha ha…always had them from scratch as a kid so that stuff just tastes weird!! Thanks!
Rodney D. says
Absolutely delicious. I made this for my 11 year old boy nd my 5 year old girl tonight and they both loved it.
Carole Blaney says
I just found this recipe and tried it today in my Pampered Chef Quick Cooker. It can together very quickly, the smell is wonderful as it cooked, and it is really tasty! It’s a great recipe, one I will definitely be making again, and checking out some of you others. Thank you!
Kathi D says
Great and easy recipe! Thanks!