I have only the fondest memories of sloppy joes served up at childhood birthday parties, Halloween carnivals, and even the elementary school cafeteria. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, I do remember all the other kids moaning and groaning about their sloppy joes and how freaking excited I was that it was sloppy joe day. I am a completely unapologetic lover of the sloppy joe. I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a Hawaiian sloppy joe, or a Hawaiian-style sloppy joe, but this is my take on sloppy joes with a few little tropical twists. You can make these with either ground beef, or ground turkey. And if sloppy joe sandwiches aren’t your thing- the beef mixture is equally delicious over a bowl of rice!
Ingredients Needed
- Ground turkey or beef
- Bacon
- Onion
- Green pepper
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Ketchup
- Brown sugar
- Cider vinegar
- Hickory-flavored liquid smoke
- Soy sauce
- Pineapple juice
How to Make Hawaiian-Style Sloppy Joes
- First you’ll cook some bacon, and save some of the drippings.
- Next, cook your ground meat and veggies in the bacon drippings and add some garlic and ginger too.
- While that is cooking, you’ll make a sauce with ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, liquid smoke, and soy sauce. Add the sauce to the browned meat and add some pineapple juice to the mixture, keeping in mind that the sauce will thicken. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the mixture is done simmering, crumble the cooked bacon and add it to the sloppy joe mixture. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve on sweet Hawaiian rolls with a slice of pineapple, a slice of red onion, and, if desired, a few banana pepper rings.
Storing and Alternate Cooking Methods
- Store finished sloppy Joe mixture in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within 3-4 days for best results. You could also portion this and freeze for easy lunches during the week!
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Brown the ground turkey or beef with the onion, green pepper, garlic, and ginger. Transfer to the slow cooker and add the sauce and combine well. Before serving, add the bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 3-4 hours and serve as directed.
- Freezer Instructions: Brown the meat and onion, green pepper, garlic, and ginger. Transfer to a heavy-duty Ziploc bag or freezer container. Add the sauce and crumbled bacon and freeze. When ready to cook, transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low for 3-5 hours. Serve as directed.
Frequently Asked Questions
My family is gluten free. Can I serve these in another way?
Sloppy Joe meat is excellent served over rice!
I have picky eaters. Can I leave the veggies out?
Shhh! Sloppy Joes are great for hiding veggies! Sauté your veggies then run them through the food processor. Add them back to the sauce and simmer and your picky eaters will be none the wiser!
Hawaiian Sloppy Joes
This tropical twist on the traditional sloppy Joe boasts an unexpected tropical flair.
Servings servings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey or beef 93% lean
- 8 ounces bacon ½ standard package
- 1 onion, medium finely diced
- 1 bell pepper, any color finely diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced, fresh
- ¾ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon hickory-flavored liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ⅓-½ cup pineapple juice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook your bacon. I do this in the same extra large skillet that I'm making my meal in, but feel free to cook your bacon in the oven if you prefer, or the air fryer. Both methods are in the notes section at the bottom.
- To cook bacon in the skillet: I slice my entire package of bacon in half the short way, and then slice the slab of bacon strips into small pieces. Cook in an extra large skillet until crisp and then remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels.
- Reserve about 2 tablespoons bacon drippings in your skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey or beef, onion, and pepper. When beef is fully cooked through, add the garlic and ginger and stir for about 30 seconds.
- While the meat is cooking, whisk the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, liquid smoke, and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Add the sauce to the browned meat and add the pineapple juice to the mixture, keeping in mind that the sauce will thicken. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the mixture is done simmering, crumble the cooked bacon and add it to the sloppy joe mixture. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve on sweet Hawaiian rolls. If desired, you can add a slice of pineapple to the bun, a slice of red onion, and a few banana pepper rings.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Brown the ground turkey or beef with the onion, green pepper, garlic, and ginger. Transfer to the slow cooker and add the sauce and combine well. Before serving, add the bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 3-4 hours and serve as directed.
Freezer Instructions
- Brown the meat and onion, green pepper, garlic, and ginger. Transfer to a heavy-duty Ziploc bag or freezer container. Add the sauce and crumbled bacon and freeze. When ready to cook, transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low for 3-5 hours. Serve as directed.
Notes
- Oven Cooked Bacon: For the oven- Preheat oven to 425℉. Lay each slice of bacon flat on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the bacon is crisp. Remove from the oven and drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.
- Air Fryer Bacon: Line air fryer basket with foil and lay bacon in a single layer. It’s okay if it overlaps just a bit. Cook at 350 for 10 minutes, flipping it over half way through.
- Storage: Store finished sloppy Joe mixture in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within 3-4 days for best results. You could also portion this and freeze for easy lunches during the week!
- Nutrition facts were calculated for the meat mixture only, not bread.
- Makes 6 – 8 servings, depending on size of rolls or buns.
Nutrition
Calories: 280kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 18g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 72mg, Sodium: 652mg, Potassium: 392mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 292IU, Vitamin C: 20mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 1mg
Calories: 280kcal
Cost: $15
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
This has been my go to recipe for years. We really love it
Just made these last night…OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!!! These blew our minds delicious!!! They will to be on repeat in our home, at least monthly. Life changer for sloppy joes!!! Can you tell I loved these? Hahaha thanks for a great recipe!!
YAY!!! I’m so glad!!
i just gotta say. i love myself a good sloppy joe ( or sloppy tom, rather since i eat more turkey than beef) and i love this recipe. its a hit all around. yum.
My grandkids are teeny bit picky. I suspect I would have a winner with this recipe. And of course Grandmas want to be winners! Thanx for the good
idea.
Just finished eating these for dinner tonight; they are truly awesome. Thank you!
My WHOLE family loved this! Thank you! Another easy dinner to add to the fall/winter menu 🙂
Made this tonight, delicious and easy!
I made this recently, and it was delicious! I’m going to make it again for my son’s birthday party. With the freezer instructions, you just plop the frozen meal into the slow cooker and it’s done in 3-5 hrs? Sounds too easy!
When you cook it in the crockpot do you add the Pineapple Juice the same way you would if you were to cook it in the skillet? Thank you.
Yep!
Everyone gave these a big thumbs up tonight! Wonderful flavors! Thank you for another family favorite!!!
Just finished eating these for dinner – they are FANTASTIC!! 😀
So glad you loved them!! 🙂
We love sloppy joes around here. Your dressed-up ones are our fave. Can’t wait to try this version.
Is cider vinegar the same as apple cider vinegar?
Yep! 🙂
These look tasty!!
looks delicious. ever tried mixing little pepperonis into your sloppy joes and some shredded mozz. cheese on top?
What is Liquid Smoke and where can I get it?? Thanks!
It’s just a smoke flavoring–I can usually find it near the sauces like ketchup, BBQ, Worcestershire, etc. Hope that helps!
I love it. Today was Sloppy Joe day at our school and my daughter was soooo excited!
I am going to give these a try. I think this would be really good with chicken breast too – Just cut your chicken into bite size pieces and serve on a bun or over rice. Yummy.
It seems like we tend to prefer the kind of Sloppy Joe that we grew up with. For some that was Manwich, for me it was made with ketchup, a tiny amount of mustard and some brown sugar. Now that I think about it, with the sugar in the ketchup and brown sugar, it was pretty much candied ground beef on a bun! lol
Oooh, good call on the chicken.
That bacon picture is not a very nice thing to do to a person who’s trying to watch what she eats. I’m not sure I can make it through this day without a big old slice of nice, hot, crispy bacon. Do you know a good way to clean drool off my keyboard?
HA! So yeah, I totally buy those packages of pre-cooked Hormel bacon that have 35 calories for each slice or something ridiculously awesome. #justifyingmybaconaddiction #usinghashtagsheredoesnothing
I also LOVE sloppy joes. This recipe sounds delicious.
Yum sounds good! We use turkey instead of beef in a lot of things. We just had your meatballs last night but made them using turkey and hot Italian turkey sausage and it was so good (I’ve made it with beef too, both ways are great!) Thanks for the great recipes!
LOVE these!! Such a fun idea!
Hi Kate! I’m Rita and I love sloppy joes too:) This recipe looks great and I love that I can put it in the crockpot! You rock!
PS I think I just crossed an item off my bucket list- first to comment!:)