Sloppy Joe is not something from the imagination, it is made up of ground meat usually beef, put together with onions, tomato sauce or ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and various good spices, everything buried in a roll. The food was born in America in the start of the 1900s. Legend about its origin talks about a cook called Joe that worked in a cafe in Sioux City in Iowa, and he poured tomato sauce on a loose meat Sandwich and it took off from then.

In the first half of the 20th century, American cookbooks were full of recipes similar to Sloppy Joe, although people called them by many different names. The version that many folks know, the classic way, came probably during World War II. You start with ground beef, that cooks slowly in sauce based on tomato with tasty vegetables and spices, until everything thickens into a nice mix.

How to Make and Serve Sloppy Joes

The list of ingredients is great because of its simplicity. Ground beef forms the body, helped by onions and bell peppers. For the sauce, many recipes want ketchup, brown sugar, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, then you add garlic powder, chili powder, plain mustard and maybe a dash of Tabasco, if you want to feel the heat.

These are all things that usually sit in your kitchen, so mixing them does not require going to the store. The best home versions mix ketchup with canned tomato sauce to reach deep tomato flavor. A bit of brown sugar gives sweetness and adds a caramel finish.

Green bell pepper rounds out the hole thing and ties the flavors.

What makes Sloppy Joe really good? It has that thick, rich, almost smooth texture, that allows you to eat it only with your hands… No fork needed.

Even so, it stays a bit messy. Lay a sliding plate below wile you eat to seize all droplets before they mark your clothing.

There is lot of space for making changes. Try style of Philly cheesesteak with peppers, onions and melted provolone on top. Swap the beef for deer or pulled pig, if that pleases you.

Want a vegetarian version? Lentils or black beans work surprisingly well. You can remove the tomato sauce entirely and use BBQ sauce instead.

Texan toast beats average rolls, and toppings like edges, onions, cheese and coleslaw give texture and extra tastes.

One pound of ground beef gives around five to six sandwiches, so a ten pound batch reaches fifteen to eighteen meals, depending on how much you serve. Expand for many folks and you find recipes for fifty to sixty people. For fifty servings, four big batches answer well, giving every roll around three ounces of the meat mix.

Another fun serving idea: pile the mix of Sloppy Joe on baked potatoes and cover with shredded cheese. A big slow cooker on low flame works great.

Fun fact, in Australia Sloppy Joe means something totally different; it is actually thetop part of a tracksuit without closing. Totally unlike the Sandwich.