Sloppy Joes

By Sam Sifton

Sloppy Joes
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
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4(2,828)
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. Put a Dutch oven over medium-high heat on your stove, then add a glug of olive oil and sauté in it a handful of chopped onions, a couple diced ribs of celery, a diced jalapeño and a small diced red pepper. When the mixture is supersoft, add a few cloves of minced garlic and cook for a couple more minutes, then dump a pound and a half of ground beef into the pot — ideally the sort that is 20 percent fat — and stir and sizzle until it is well browned, about 10 minutes. Bring the heat down a bit and add a lot of tomato paste — say 3 tablespoons, maybe 4 — and let it get a little toasty before adding a cup or more of puréed canned tomatoes. Cook that down for a few minutes, then add quite a few glugs of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to taste, and continue cooking until the mixture is quite thick, another 15 or 20 minutes. Season to taste and serve on toasted potato buns. I like steamed broccoli on the side, a walk for the dog and bed.

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2,828 user ratings
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Comments

John F.

Hey Sam. Just wanted to make a moment to say I enjoy your writing as much as your recipes/non-recipes.

Dee K

A recipe from my childhood (1960s) used ketchup instead of pureed tomatoes which imparts a sweeter flavor: 1.5 lbs of hamburger, one chopped sweet onion, 1 cup of ketchup (or more to your taste), 2 T. yellow mustard, 1 T. of Worcestershire sauce, 2 T. vinegar, 1 T. brown sugar, 1 T. celery seed. Brown meat and onion, drain fat, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer.

Tavis Dockwiller

Thanks Sam. It’s my son Joe’s 17th birthday today. There is a pandemic. My larder is a bit slim. I’m trying to keep my business running from home. People are stressed. All I could think of was the comfort of my Mom’s sloppy joes, but I’m tired. You saved me. Sloppy joes, biscuits and a green salad. Voila! It’s beautiful. I could cry. Thank you.

Rheta

Was going to make burgers, but then saw this no recipe recipe. Super easy. Served with french fries to mop up any sauce on the plate.

Britta

Tloved this recipe!! I took liberties and substituted a couple of the tablespoons of tomato sauce with chili sauce and added about a tablespoon of light brown sugar ! I also didn't have a can of tomato puree so l roasted a few vine tomatoes in the oven, peeled skins and threw em in the pot. It was amazing! Loved the "no-recipe" recipe concept !

Lynn Thompson

Thanks for this. I experiment a lot with my sloppy Joe recipes, but one thing is for sure: NO KETCHUP ALLOWED. adding ketchup makes it way too sweet and cloying. I do almost always add yellow hot dog mustard to mine, and then squirt more mustard on top when serving.

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