OKAY.. Let's start with the people that said this was bland! If you are looking up recipes on this site, you must have SOME cooking abilities. Follow this....
I, like others suggested...added a little bbq sce..already open in the fridge.. like 1 Tbs. I threw in fresh garlic w/ the celery and onion. (buy one of those big jugs of garlic at the store) That brings me to the people that left out the celery and onion for the kids. Everyone has a little handy chopper in thier pantry, right? Add the onion, celery and whole garlic to the chopper and grind up really small. Then throw it in the dishwasher... Brown that with the meat, set aside after draining. (I also used 1/2 turkey) Then put the tomato soup (with no "E" on the end spelling it,, sorry it makes me crazy :) with the splash of W.sce, vinegar, ketchup & bbq in the pan and sautee. I did not add any b.sugar since I read the reviews first. I did however add ONE drop of liquid smoke. Cook a few minutes then add the meat/onion/celery/garlic mixture back to the sauce. Cover and simmer 15 mins or so... I guarantee it wont be bland! The whole thing took 25 minutes, maybe. Thanks for the post! Great way to use canned tomato soup in my pantry ($.25) It was delicious, and the kids loved it WITH the onion and celery, no body even noticed!
5++ stars, so long can mix. I changed just a few things, for 1 lb meat, 1/2 onion, 1/4 cup celery, 2 cloves garlic chopped, cooked all together, drain. Add can tomato soup, 2T ketchup, 2t white vinegar, 1T & 1t brown sugar, 1t worch sauce, 1/4 t salt, 1T + 1t BBQ sauce, 1/2 splash liquid smoke , mix all together, simmer with lid on for 15 minutes. My family love it.
We recently decided to get rid of everything in our pantry that's processed or has chemicals, and that included our old standby, sloppy joe mix. It's one of my 4-year old's faves, so I tried this recipe and it was really good! I modified it a bit by skipping the onion & celery (the kid won't eat chunky stuff) and substituted onion powder. I also used tomato puree b/c that's what I had on hand and it was just fine. Along with being incredibly easy, it's a great base recipe and easy to modify depending on your tastes. As my kid said, "Yum-o!"
No doubt, hands down, THE BEST sloppy joes on the planet. I didn't deviate from the recipe at all. Can't wait to make them again!
My picky bunch rarely can agree on a meal, but this was one that pleased my junk food junkie 17 year old, and my not so picky hubby. My 9 year old was not so thrilled with it.
I changed things up just a bit. I omitted the celery, used canned tomato sauce instead of soup and substituted real garlic for garlic powder. I used onion powder and instead of salt I used a few shakes of Lawry's seasoned salt to get the celery taste without the chunks. I also cut down on the brown sugar since the first few times it came out a little too sweet. I left out the vinegar and put in a healthy few dashes of A-1 steak sauce. I reduced the ketchup to a few tablespoons and put in a few shakes of hot sauce.
Other than that, I toasted the buns and put out shredded cheddar for those who wanted it. I put a few extra dashes of hot pepper sauce in my older son's sandwich since he likes hot and spicy.
It's a keeper recipe for me when I need a one dish meal.
I made this once as written. The celery was a little overpowering. I made it again, but used 1/2 c chopped onion, 1/2 c FINELY chopped green pepper, & 1/2 c FINELY chopped celery. I saved a step by cooking these with my ground beef. My kids enjoy these and don't realize they're getting their veggies! Also, these are even better heated up the next day after the flavors have blended.
My husband loved this recipe. We used ground turkey instead of beef. It was a delicious, healthier alternative.
Easy to prepare and delicious. It was just a bit on the sweet side. Next time I make it I might omit the brown sugar alltogether as the ketchup and soup have sugar pre-added.
Terrific sloppy joes - I didn't have any tomato soup so I used a can of tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. Really good! My kids LOVED it.
As is these sloppy joes were WAYYY too sweet for my family's taste and that was cutting back some on the brown sugar. I also used a can of tomato sauce instead of tomato soup again to cut back on sugar. I ended up adding much more vinegar some smoked paprika and mustard in an attempt to cut the sweetness. Turned out ok but they weren't this recipe in the end. Sorry but I won't be making this one again.
