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The only thing better than a traditional sloppy joe is a Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese! It’s the ultimate comfort food mash-up with easy homemade sloppy joes in between melted cheddar and crispy buttery slices of bread. My recipe is so easy and there isn’t a can of store-bought sauce anywhere in sight.
Table of Contents:
- Table of Contents:
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients for Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese:
- Tips & FAQs
- Recipe
- Check out these other great recipes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Take the original sloppy joes you make for dinner and add some gooey sharp cheddar and put it all between buttery slices of toasted bread—you have one of the greatest comfort food mash ups in history. This recipe is both kid friendly and adult friendly. It’s also college dorm living friendly! It’s so delicious and worth making at least once because of its mild savory flavors with a touch of sweetness to cut through the savory. You can make the sloppy joe mix in advance and make the grilled cheese’s for a quick weekday lunch. This is made with common pantry/fridge items and cheeseburger condiments—not only is this recipe easy, but it doesn’t break the bank at all.
Enjoy these grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. If you don’t want soup, you can also serve it with coleslaw.
Ingredients for Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese:
- Ground Beef, 80-20 lean: I personally like using 80-20 lean ratio in ground beef. It’s juicer than ground beef that’s 90% lean. However, use whichever ground beef you like! You can even swap for ground turkey, pork, or chicken.
- Yellow Onion & Garlic: Just for a flavor boost.
- Tomato Paste, Ketchup, Yellow Mustard, Brown Sugar, Worcestershire Sauce, Hot Sauce: These are the sauce ingredients I use for my sloppy joes. The brown sugar allows some relief to the savory goodness of the other ingredients. The hot sauce is completely optional!
- Chili Powder, Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder: The seasonings I use for my sloppy joe mix. I like using chili powder because of its ability to give a smoky element to any sloppy joe.
- Sharp Yellow Cheddar: I shredded my own cheese because it melts better. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with an anti-caking powder that prevents it from melting to its gooiest potential. Sometimes, the blocks of cheese are cheaper than the already shredded cheeses. If you’re on a budget, use whichever is cheaper.
- Sandwich Bread: Whatever bread you use for sandwiches/toast will work just fine! If you want to get a little fancy, try sliced french bread or even thick slices of brioche.
- Butter: This is used for spreading onto the sandwich slices so you get that beautiful golden brown crispy bread.
Tips & FAQs
- Storage: These grilled cheese sandwiches are best consumed right away and can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours. If you need to store leftovers, do not make the whole sandwich. Instead, store the sloppy joe mix separately and make the grilled cheese when you’re ready to serve. The sloppy joe mix can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze the sloppy joe mix! Again, freeze the sloppy joe mix separately. Do not make the whole sandwich. Freeze in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months. When you are ready to make the grilled cheese, make sure you thaw it completely in the fridge before reheating it.
- Variations:
- Switch out the ground beef for ground turkey or ground chicken, or leaner ground beef (90%+ lean). You may need to add an extra tablespoon of butter to make up for the fat loss of the meat.
- Switch out the shredded cheddar for provolone, pepperjack, a smoked mozzarella, or gouda cheese. You can also opt in for sliced cheese instead of shredded.
- Change up the flavors by adding some taco seasoning, bbq sauce, or bacon.
- Instead of sandwich bread, try making it fancy by using sourdough bread, french bread, texas toast bread, or even brioche.
Want the recipe? Click print below! Let me know how it came out for you by tagging me on Instagram (@missravenskitchen) and using #missravenskitchen! Follow my Facebook page for updates as well! Let me know if I need to tweak anything.
Recipe
Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef, 80-20 lean
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
- Few dashes of hot sauce, optional
- 2 cups shredded yellow sharp cheddar
- 8 slices of sandwich bread
- Butter, for spreading onto the bread
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the ground beef with the onions and garlic until the beef is browned, breaking it up as it cooks, about 10 minutes.
- To the ground beef, add the tomato paste, ketchup, salt, onion powder, pepper, mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, and hot sauce if using. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens slightly. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- Spread about 1/2 tsp of butter on one side of each bread slice. Heat a small skillet or saute pan over medium-low heat. (If you want to use the same skillet, transfer the sloppy joe mix to a bowl and wipe out the skillet completely.)
- Place the bread into the skillet buttered side down, then layer with 1/4 cup of cheese, 1/4 of the sloppy joe mixture, another 1/4 cup of cheese, then top with another slice of bread, buttered side up.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes, checking the bottom after 1 minute to see if your bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Carefully flip the grilled cheese and cook on the other side for about 2-3 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches if you’re making them all.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: These grilled cheese sandwiches are best consumed right away and can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours. If you need to store leftovers, do not make the whole sandwich. Instead, store the sloppy joe mix separately and make the grilled cheese when you’re ready to serve. The sloppy joe mix can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze the sloppy joe mix! Again, freeze the sloppy joe mix separately. Do not make the whole sandwich. Freeze in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months. When you are ready to make the grilled cheese, make sure you thaw it completely in the fridge before reheating it.
Variations:
- Switch out the ground beef for ground turkey or ground chicken, or leaner ground beef (90%+ lean). You may need to add an extra tablespoon of butter to make up for the fat loss of the meat.
- Switch out the shredded cheddar for provolone, pepperjack, smoked mozzarella, or gouda cheese. You can also opt-in for sliced cheese instead of shredded.
- Change up the flavors by adding some taco seasoning, bbq sauce, or bacon.
- Instead of sandwich bread, try making it fancy by using sourdough bread, french bread, texas toast bread, or even brioche.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
653.87Fat (grams)
30.84 gSat. Fat (grams)
16.32 gCarbs (grams)
51.55 gFiber (grams)
2.07 gSugar (grams)
22.62 gProtein (grams)
43.31 gSodium (milligrams)
1608.47 mgCholesterol (grams)
137.13 mgThe nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and the brands of ingredients used.
Miss Raven's Kitchen 
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