Use pantry ingredients to make sloppy Joes that will please a crowd. My grandmother never used a canned mix for making hers. Here is Grandma’s Sloppy Joe recipe.
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Delicious Homemade Recipe

Canned Versus Homemade Sloppy Joe Sauce
I do not have anything against using the canned sloppy Joe mix.
While I have used it many times throughout the years, it is really just as easy to make using a few pantry staples.
My family just loves these. Some people call these sloppy Joes while others call this BBQ. No matter which way you want to say it, these have a wonderful taste and they are super easy to make. Anytime you can use your pantry staples, recipes seem to be much more cost effective. So, save a few pennies with this Sloppy Joe recipe too.
BBQ Tastes From Childhood
When I want to remember the taste of Sloppy Joes from my childhood, that would be the Grandma’s. To be honest, I do not remember my mother making any Sloppy Joes. I have many warm memories of my Grandmother making them. When I was growing up, she would whip up a batch quickly and they always tasted amazing. We ate it on bread most of the time as she did not always have hamburger buns. To this day, I eat it both ways. My husband is a bun snob! He grew up only using buns for this; therefore, he complains if I don’t plan ahead and have buns on hand when I make this. 🙂
Make Your Own Family Memories
I hope that this recipe will be incorporated in your meal plan once in a while and that your family has many years of fond memories of your cooking too.
Quick, Easy, and Tasty Family Meals!



Pair This BBQ with Amazing Potato Salad for a Delicious Family Meal.
The potato salad has been a family favorite for over 30 years. Every time that I attend a party, people ask me to bring this recipe. At our house, this simple meal of BBQ and potato salad is comfort picnic food.
Grandma’s Sloppy Joes
Kitchen Essentials
Ingredients
- 1 Tsp. Oil
- 1 Medium onion any kind, diced
- 2 Lbs. hamburger
- 10 3/4 Oz. tomato soup do not dilute
- 1/2 Cup Catsup
- 3 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 Tbl. brown sugar Heap and pack into tablespoon
- 3 Tbl. rice vinegar (can be regular vinegar too)
- 1 Tbl. Chili Powder
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add the oil and diced onion. Cook about a minute until starting to become translucent.
- Add the hamburger. Salt and Pepper to taste. Break up during the cooking process so the hamburger cooks in small pieces. Once the hamburger is cooked, if there is a lot of grease, go ahead and drain and return to pan.
- Add all of the other ingredients: Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, chili powder, tomato soup, and catsup.
Your Own Private Notes
Nutrition
A few of my favorite things
The Power of Positivity
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I hope that you liked this recipe. If you are looking for more ideas on what to make, here are a few other recipes that you may enjoy.