"My family loves Sloppy Joes, so I came up with this recipe. It works well with just about any combination of vegetables. When I want a change from bell pepper and celery, I substitute a package of broccoli slaw, chopped eggplant, and shredded carrots." -Rebecca Fulcher, Monument, CO
On vacation and not having my old fave Southern Living recipe with me, I decided to wing it on this version -pretty good if a little sweet. I used what was on hand - 1/2 c ketchup with 1/2 cup Bone-Sucking Sauce and only about 1/2 cup water per other reviewers. I only used a cup each onion and green pepper, sautéing first then adding garlic then browning the meat. I thought it might be too sweet so only used 1/2 T brown sugar and used 1 T Worcestershire sauce, regular yellow mustard, raspberry balsamic vinegar (on hand), smoked paprika, and skipped fennel and lemon juice. I know it's probably not fair to rate a recipe I had to change, but I will say I would definitely use this recipe again - with the celery and mushrooms, but I don't think I'd bother with lemon and fennel.
These were excellent, definitely would make again and will not be going back to other recipes OR the can variety :)
This was Fabulous!!! I did leave out the mushrooms and fennel. I used half the water called for and it was still too runny, so I added a small handful of oatmeal! Thickened right up, and healthy too!
Totally delicious! Used Rich's Sweet Heat Sauce instead of ketchup.
An excellent sloppy joe recipe. Love the idea of chopped mushroom as filler. My husband I both rate these as the best we have had but the kids weren't big fans. They are 4 and 7 though so it was more of a texture issue although I diced the veggies as small as I could get them. But the adults give them 5 stars.
I guess I am one of the few who didn't think this recipe really measured up to the normal deliciousness of Cooking Light recipes. I thought it was a bit too vinegary or maybe too sweet. Just tasted off. I did love the idea of the mushrooms and while we didn't hate it, I won't be making it again. I will try another recipe for sloppy joes from cookinglight.
The best sloppy J recipe I've ever made. Just right texture, just right flavor. We whooped it up with cayenne pepper in the mix and sauteed the mushrooms with the other vegetables, otherwise followed the recipe exactly. And portion size is good. Amazingly, my husband was satisfied with one, though a big-eater teenage boy type might want two. Served with a delicious coleslaw from a CL of 1995 I found here on the website and steamed potatoes that I browned on an iron skillet sprayed with cooking spray.
This was excellent! I'm not a sloppy joe fan, and my husband is no veggie fan, but the whole family (including our two children - 4 and 1) LOVED this. They even ate all the left overs. I reluctantly followed the recipe completely, thinking though that it called for too much green pepper, mushrooms, and celery. I figured I would try it out this time and then change it around next time - but it did not need any changes. I served this with wonderful candied carrots (steamed carrots mixed with some honey, lemon juice and butter). This meal was an all around hit!
This was super easy and delicious! I did have to add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to help thicken it up, because it was taking a while for the water to cook down. I made a vinegar based coleslaw to put on top of it and it made it even more yummy! I definitely recommend adding this to your family's weekly rotation.
Yummy! Instead of the ground round I used low fat ground chicken (put 2 T of water in the pan to start), also I used a pinch of ground fennel instead of the seed (what I had on hand), and chipotle chili powder rather than hot sauce. This was tasty, though I think next time I will brown the mushrooms and then add the veggies before I cook the meat (take the veggies out of the pan and set aside while cooking the meat). Thanks for a great recipe!
This is a really solid good recipe and very easy to make. I substituted ground turkey for the ground round and omitted the fennel (only because I didn't have any on hand) and used baby portabella mushrooms... YUMMY!!! I will definitely make again.
Thank you, Rebecca! The aroma when this is cooking will bring everyone into the kitchen. My family wasn't happy when I told them I was straying from the "usuaL", but, boy, did they woof this down! Many ingredients, but none exotic--I had all on hand. A must-try!
How good can a sloppy joe be? Fantastic. I'm not sure why others thought the fennel seed was overpowering. I, frankly, could not taste it at all and love fennel seed. Great way to get veggies into kids. Will definitely make this again. Even my 3 yr old loved it.
This recipe is excellent - fennel and mushrooms and all. I hadn't made sloppy joes in forever, but this recipe has become a new habit! Thank you -
These are dynamite sloppy joes! Based on the other reviews, I omitted the mushrooms and fennel. I also increased the brown sugar a tad to give them a little extra sweetness. They were even better the next day. I'll never go back to my old recipe!
Great recipe . . . much like my Mom's, although I think hers had more kick. I did not add the mushrooms or fennel (one of the reviews spooked me on the fennel), and was pleased with the result. May try adding jalapeno to give it a little oompah-pah. Never the less, great recipe.
