Sloppy Joes are always a family favorite. On top of being quick and easy to make, everyone in the family loves them! And while this homemade sandwich recipe is pretty simple to make, did you know you can reduce your prep work even more by freezing it? This simple recipe for freezer sloppy Joes is a quick and easy dinner idea for a busy weeknight. 
Using a pre-made sauce is a great way to cut down on your prep work when you’re making sloppy Joe’s for dinner. But if you have a batch of meat and sauce already prepared, there’s no need to use the pre-made stuff! And since the homemade sauce in this simple recipe tastes so much better than the canned version, you’ll never go back to the store-bought sloppy Joe sauce again.
How do you make Sloppy Joe sauce from scratch?
Making your own sauce from scratch may seem intimidating – especially if you’ve always used the store-bought sauce for your sandwiches. But creating your own sauce at home is pretty simple. And the best part is that you can use items you probably already have in your kitchen right now.
Sloppy joe sauce is made by combining a few fresh vegetables, like onions, garlic, and green pepper, with a variety of seasonings. After that, you’ll stir in chili sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice.
How many pounds of meat do you need to make Sloppy Joes?
The amount of meat you need to make your sandwiches will depend on the number of people you’ll be serving. My recipe uses one and a half pounds of ground beef and feeds six people. If you’ll be feeding a crowd or want to make extra, it’s a good idea to double the recipe to ensure you have enough sauce to cover all the extra meat.
It’s just as fast to double or triple or quadruple the recipe and you can then have many of them in the freezer ready to go.
Can you freeze Sloppy Joes?
Of course! This simple recipe is so easy to freeze. Simply brown the ground beef, add the sauce, allow the meat to cool, then pour it into a freezer bag. Don’t forget to label your bag before you put it in the freezer so you know what’s inside! Flatten the bag for easy storage in your freezer and allow the meat to freeze. Sloppy Joe meat can be frozen for up to six months.
When you’re ready to reheat your meat, remove it from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator to thaw for at least 24 hours. After the meat has thawed, you can reheat it on the stovetop or in your slow cooker.
If you have leftovers after reheating your sloppy joes, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
You can also find freezer-friendly recipes for variations such as this Instant Pot Turkey Sloppy Joes or this Taco Sloppy Joes or Tater Tot Sloppy Joes Casserole.
How to Make Homemade Sloppy Joes:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 cup onion, chopped finely
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped finely
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dry mustard powder
- 1/2 cup chili sauce
- 14 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 Tbsp. ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
For the day of serving:
- buns
Assembly instructions:
- Brown the ground beef.
- Put the ground beef in a large resealable freezer bag.
- Dump in all the other ingredients.
- Squish to combine.
- Remove the excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.
Slow Cooker Cooking Instructions:
- Thaw.
- Cook in a crockpot for 2-3 hours on low or cook in a pot on the stovetop until heated through.
Serve on regular or gluten-free sliced buns.
Stovetop Cooking Instructions:
- Thaw.
- Cook in a stovetop pot over medium-low until heated through.
- Serve on regular or gluten-free sliced buns.
To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free Worcestershire sauce and serve on gluten-free buns or baked potato.
How to Serve Sloppy Joe Meat
Once you have your sloppy joe meat prepared, you might be wondering what to do with it. There are a variety of ways you can use your meat, giving you a few different options for dinner. That means you can freeze up a few batches and make a new meal every time you reheat it!
- On a bun. The traditional way to enjoy a sloppy joe is on a bun. Use a regular hamburger bun or grab your favorite gluten-free bun to keep this recipe gluten-free. Try toasting the bun before adding the meat to keep the bread from becoming soggy.
- Over fries. Bake some crispy French fries, then top them with sloppy joe meat and shredded cheese to enjoy a messy dinner the kids will love.
- On nachos. Make sloppy joe nachos by spreading the sloppy joe meat over the top of tortilla chips. Top the chips with lots of cheese and enjoy them as a snack or appetizer.
- In a baked potato. Create a stuffed baked potato with your meat for a quick and filling dinner. Bake your potatoes as usual, then cut a slit in the potato. Add some butter to the potato and loosen the filling. Then, top your potato with cooked sloppy joe meat and cheese.
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 cup onion chopped finely
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup green pepper chopped finely
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dry mustard powder
- 1/2 cup chili sauce
- 14 oz. can tomato sauce
- 2 Tbsp. ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- buns
-
Brown the ground beef.
-
Place the ground beef in a large resealable freezer bag.
-
Dump in all the other ingredients.
-
Squish to combine.
-
Remove the excess air and seal. Lay flat and freeze.
-
Thaw.
-
Cook in a crockpot for 2-3 hours on low or cook in a pot on the stovetop until heated through.
-
Serve on regular or gluten-free sliced buns.
-
Thaw.
-
Cook in a stovetop pot over medium-low until heated through.
-
Serve on regular or gluten-free sliced buns.
You may also enjoy these other recipes:
Growing up in a meat and potatoes type of family, I had never heard of Jambalaya, but in my teen years, I would sometimes go to a restaurant where if any person ordered Jambalaya, the entire wait staff and kitchen would all shout out “Jambalaya” at the top of their lungs. Naturally, this made me curious. What could this mysterious dish be and what would it taste like?
Stovetop cooking instructions:
Crockpot pizza casserole is an extremely family-friendly freezer meal. It has the flavors of pizza in a pasta dish. So if your family likes pizza and likes pasta, it’s guaranteed they will be fans of this dish. 
Cooking instructions: 
Pizza casserole variations:
I know this recipe is super simple, but the best-tasting recipes usually are. I think that’s what makes this such a big hit with kids.
I love a good all-in-one casserole. As a busy mom, it’s so nice for supper to be as easy as possible. One dish means fewer dishes! And I’m all about making clean-up as fast as possible.
Assembly Instructions:
Stovetop Cooking Instructions:
If you want, you can set out salsa, hot sauce, Thai Sweet Chili sauce, or ketchup. Some of us like to eat this plain while others (ahem…my kids!) like to slather it in the sauce of their choosing.
