Name: Bigly Sloppy Joes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 lb ground beef, 80/20; 1 large yellow onion, finely diced; 1 green bell pepper, finely diced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1/2 cup ketchup; 1 cup tomato sauce; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tbsp yellow mustard; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp chili powder; 1 tsp, plus more to taste kosher salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1/2 cup beef broth; 6 brioche buns, toasted; 2 tbsp, for toasting buns butter

Bigly Sloppy Joes

Prep

10m

Cook

20m

Total

30m

Bigly says

Sloppy Joes. SLOPPY JOES! The BIGLY ones. The ones with names, with personality, with a reason for being on your plate — not the sad orange goo from a can that lazy cooks pour over toast and call dinner. That stuff is a CRIME. Somebody should investigate. I have asked. I have looked into it. The can people will not return my calls. Suspicious. Very suspicious. But that's a story for another day. Today is about meat. Today is about flavor. Today is about the greatest Sloppy Joe in the history of Sloppy Joes, and there have been a LOT of Sloppy Joes.

Now some people — confused people, the kind of people who put RAISINS in chili — will tell you a Sloppy Joe should be sweet. They'll dump sugar in there like it's a dessert. Brown sugar AND ketchup AND maple syrup like they're trying to bake a cake on a hamburger bun. WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong. A Sloppy Joe is SAVORY. It's got tang. It's got smoke. A little heat. A LITTLE sweet — just enough to round the edges, not enough to make you feel like you're eating a candy bar with onions. That chef on TV — you know the one — does this wrong. Find a new chef. Period.

My Joes are built on properly browned beef, real aromatics, smoked paprika, a splash of cider vinegar, yellow mustard, and just enough Worcestershire to make you wonder what the secret is. The Worcestershire is the secret. I just told you. I always just tell you. That's the BiglyEats way — no popups, no 'unlock the full recipe' garbage, no newsletter signup before the ingredients. The recipe is right there on the page, like a recipe is SUPPOSED to be. Tremendous Joes. Bigly Joes. The Joes that other Joes aspire to be when they grow up. Believe me.

Ingredients

2 lbground beef, 80/20(leaner than 80/20 and you've got dry Joes, sad Joes)
1 largeyellow onion, finely diced
1green bell pepper, finely diced
4 clovesgarlic, minced
2 tbsptomato paste
1/2 cupketchup
1 cuptomato sauce
2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
1 tbspapple cider vinegar
1 tbspyellow mustard
1 tbspbrown sugar(just enough, not a dessert)
1 tspsmoked paprika
1 tspchili powder
1 tsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
1/2 tspblack pepper
1/2 cupbeef broth
6brioche buns, toasted(toasted, always toasted, raw buns are for raw people)
2 tbsp, for toasting bunsbutter

Steps

1
Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef in a single layer and let it sear undisturbed for 3-4 minutes before breaking it up. Cook until deeply browned, about 6-8 minutes total.
2
Drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook 4-5 minutes until softened.
3
Stir in the garlic and tomato paste. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the paste turns brick-red.
4
Add ketchup, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
5
Pour in the beef broth, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened to a spoonable-but-saucy consistency. Taste and adjust salt.
6
While the meat simmers, butter the cut sides of the brioche buns and toast in a separate skillet over medium heat until deep golden brown.
7
Pile the meat onto the bottom buns, cap with the tops, and serve immediately with napkins. Lots of napkins.

One more thing

That's the Joe. The Bigly Joe. Pile it high, hand out napkins by the dozen, and watch grown adults regress into eight-year-olds at the dinner table. They'll go quiet. The room will go quiet. The only sound will be chewing and the occasional 'oh my god.' That's how you know you've won. That's how you know BiglyEats has won. Tremendous Joes — and you, the cook, are the hero of the evening. You're welcome.

★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★

Ask Bigly about Bigly Sloppy Joes.

Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.

Bigly Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

Steps

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