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These homemade sloppy joes without ketchup are an incredibly easy 30 minute meal! Made from scratch with a quick smoky bbq sauce, they’re a super flavorful take on traditional sloppy joes.
With a homemade sauce and ground beef this recipe offers a rich, comforting meal that’s both quick and satisfying. Making them from scratch in just 30 minutes allows you to control the quality of ingredients, ensuring a fresher, more flavorful dish than store-bought alternatives.
Pair homemade sloppy joes with a simple apple fennel salad, crockpot mac and cheese with cream cheese, or apple slaw. And for more ground beef recipes like this, don’t miss my healthy beef enchiladas or healthy beef stroganoff.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
These sloppy joes without ketchup are one of our favorite weeknight dinners because it takes very little effort to make and is an elevated version of the traditional recipe.
Since all the ingredients are made from scratch, including the smoky bbq-like sauce, it is a super easy version you can feel great about serving your family!
- No added sugar or corn syrup – It only contains natural sugar, no added sugar.
- Lower sodium – Much lower sodium compared to packet seasonings from McCormick or cans.
- 20 minute meal – A great recipe for weeknights, you can put these on potatoes instead of buns and mix it up.
- Great for meal prep – This recipe will store for 2-3 days and freeze well!
- Special diet friendly – These healthy sloppy joes fit a multitude of diets including dairy free, Heal Your Headache diet, gluten free, paleo, and Whole30.
Ingredients
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients.
- Strained tomatoes – I used the Pomi brand, but this is basically just a tomato sauce that’s a thick smooth liquid. It’s smoother than crushed tomatoes, but thinner than tomato paste. And there are no added seasonings.
- Coconut aminos – These replace the Worcestershire flavoring and are a great soy-free alternative. Naturally sweet, they do add a hint of sweetness without any added sugar.
- Mustard – I used what I had on hand which was Annie’s dijon mustard. However, you could use regular mustard or even mustard powder (just cut it down to 1-2 teaspoons).
- Poblano – A Texas twist. Poblano is my substitute for green bell pepper, which is traditionally used in sloppy joes. I personally am just not a fan of green bell peppers and I love the added hint of spice that a poblano gives. They’re MUCH more mild than a jalapeño, but add more heat than a sweet bell pepper.
- Smoked paprika – This just takes these healthy sloppy joes to another level and adds that southwestern flavor. Trust me. You won’t go back!
- Ground beef – I like to use 85/15 ground beef for the best flavor, but 90/10 also works great.
- Buns – I serve these on regular burger buns (I recommend Martin’s Buns from Target or a favorite local brand) or whole wheat burger buns from Whole Foods.
Substitutions
- Ground beef – Use ground chicken or turkey instead.
- Poblano – Leave out or sub with a green bell pepper.
- Buns – Use baked potatoes!
- Gluten free – Use baked potatoes or gluten free buns.
How to Make Sloppy Joes from Scratch
- Step 1: Cook the ground beef, breaking up the beef into small pieces using a wood spoon or spatula. Once cooked through, drain any excess fat by carefully tipping the pan and scooping it up with a spoon to throw away.
- Step 2: Add the garlic, shallot, and poblano to the pan, stirring over medium heat till softened, another 5 minutes. Mix in strained tomatoes and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a low simmer over medium high heat.
- Step 3: Mix in strained tomatoes and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a low simmer over medium high heat.
- Step 4: Simmer the sloppy joe mixture for about 10 minutes till the peppers have softened and the flavors have combine. The liquid will reduce and the beef mixture become very thick! Spoon on top of warm buns.
Variations
Baked potato sloppy joes – Bake a russet or sweet potato till soft, and add the homemade sloppy joe sauce on top.
Want to add in more vegetables? Try on top of spaghetti squash as a “sauce” or zucchini boat style.
What to Serve with Sloppy Joes
For a weeknight dinner, we just paired these with a simple side salad and plain potato chips. If you want to get creative, I would recommend some of the following recipes.
- Butter lettuce salad
- Fingerling Potato Salad
- Gluten free Ranch Dressing
- Chickpea Pasta Salad
- Crockpot cream cheese mac and cheese
I hope you love these healthy sloppy joes as much as we do!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! It is so easy to make sloppy joes without ketchup and this recipe is the perfect example. All you really need is strained tomatoes (a plain tomato puree) for the sauce, or you could substitute a nomato sauce as well. This also decreases the sugar content and omits more high fructose corn syrup.
Sloppy joe filling is super easy to freeze. Just allow the mixture to cool and transfer it to a ziplock bag so it can be frozen flat. This way it will defrost much faster. Either use one large bag or freeze into individual smaller bags for grab and go lunches or quick dinners. Defrost in the microwave or overnight in the fridge.
Homemade sloppy joes allow you to control the ingredients. Although this recipe may take 10 minutes longer than heating a can of Manwich, you’re avoiding a much higher sodium content, high fructose corn syrup, and additional gums and flavorings.
Easy Ground Beef Recipes
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Ground Beef Nachos
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Beef Protein Bowl
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review in the recipe card! Don’t forget to tag me @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram, and follow along on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Easy Homemade Sloppy Joes (without Ketchup)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped poblano pepper*
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ⅓ cups strained tomatoes (plain tomato puree)
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos*
- 1 tablespoon mustard (dijon also works)
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 Burger buns (or baked potatoes)
Instructions
- In a large saute pan, cook ground beef over medium heat until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Drain any excess liquid/fat. Add minced garlic, shallots, and chopped poblano, cooking another 5 minutes until pepper has softened. Stir often so the garlic doesn't burn.
- Add salt, if desired, and strained tomatoes, coconut aminos, mustard, vinegar, and paprika along with 1/3 cup of water.
- Bring to a simmer and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. If it starts getting too thick, just add a little more water.
Notes
- If you’re sensitive to spicy food, consider cutting back on the amount of poblano pepper. Some are more spicy than others, but overall this pepper is very mild so 1/2 cup should yield a very light heat without burning your mouth. This can also be subbed with green bell pepper.
- I used Pomi brand strained tomatoes. These are just pureed tomatoes, like a thick tomato sauce with nothing added.
- If sensitive to sodium, adjust the amount of salt and check your coconut aminos for one that’s lower.
- Meal prep – This recipe is great doubled or tripled and freezes well.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I added lots of extra shallot and green pepper for an extra veggie boost. This is the second time I’ve made this and it’s so good
So delicious!! I
Hubby was excited about tonight’s dinner. Turned out so yummy! Great flavor and comforting. We will have this often. Thank you!!!
Tried these last night and they are delicious and were devoured by my whole family! In the nutrition facts, wondering what the amount per serving is?
It really just depends on your family, but it’s calculated for 4 people – so 1/4 pound of beef for each person. However, my husband can eat 2 of these easily.
Thank you! I think my husband could eat the whole recipe himself 🙂
LOL! My husband says “Serves 4? What are you having for dinner”
This met all my expectations for a good Sloppy Joes! It was easy to make and very delicious! My market didn’t have poblano peppers so I sub with Anaheim peppers which is similar. Wasn’t spicy at all! Will make it again! Thank you Alicia!
Just tried this recipe for the first time and it turned out super tasty! Easy to make and flavorful, will definitely cook regularly.
Easy and delicious! Do yourself a favor and definitely include the pickles.
I made this every week for a while since it was sooo good. It’s so simple and definitely use the poblano peppers, but green peppers are ok in a pinch. Thank you so much for this recipe!!